What are Dissociative Disorders?

Introduction

Individuals who experience dissociation from reality may be suffering from a dissociative disorder. Moreover, dissociation is a mental process in which individuals disconnect from their thoughts, feelings, memories and sense of identity. Most of us think of amnesia when we hear of forgetfulness. While amnesia involves the loss of information in the memory due to trauma or illness, in dissociation, the memories exist in the individual’s mind. Still, they are present as repressed memory so deep that it is difficult for the individual to recall them. Then, it brings us to dissociative disorders!

What are Dissociative Disorders?

However, the dissociative disorder is a mental state where a person feels detached from reality. Though, the word dissociation means separated from others. But the main characteristic of dissociative disorders is dissociation in the way a person thinks and behaves. In addition, these disorders usually cause problems in memory, identity, emotions, behaviour and sense of self.

Here are a few characteristics of dissociative disorder:

• Dissociative amnesia

• Depersonalisation-derealisation disorder

• Dissociative identity order

Dissociative disorders can affect you irrespective of age, race, ethnicity, or socio-economic background. They are more common in women and occur more commonly in those between 25 and 40.

You can develop symptoms of a dissociative disorder by reliving past traumatic experiences such as child sexual, physical or emotional abuse. Stressful memories can affect your daily life.

Types of Dissociative disorder

According to I.C.D. 10, there are five types of dissociative disorders:

1.     Dissociative amnesia

In this condition, you start having difficulty remembering important things about yourself. You may forget about events in your life. The onset of amnesia is sudden, but it can last for a varying period.

2.     Depersonalisation disorder

In this disorder, you feel a disconnection from your actions. You will feel like observing yourself outside and living in a dream, and it could lead to a disconnection in your efforts.

3.     Dissociative identity disorder

Previously known as multiple personality disorder, the characteristics of dissociative identity disorder include having various personalities. You may feel that one or more voices control you, forming memory gaps.

4.     Other specified dissociative disorder

This group of conditions have symptoms characteristic of a dissociative disorder that causes significant distress or impairment in social, occupational and other important areas of your functioning but does not meet all the criteria for the other three classes.

5.     Unspecified dissociative disorder

However, sometimes the condition does not meet the criteria for a specific dissociative disorder. The doctor may diagnose a dissociative disorder as ‘unspecified’ at that moment. But the individual may show symptoms for which there isn’t enough information to analyse.

Symptoms of Dissociative disorder

There is a wide range of signs and symptoms for dissociative disorders, which depend upon the type and severity of the condition. These include:

• Feeling disconnected from yourself

• Inability or problems with managing intense emotions and feelings

• A sudden and unexpected shift in moods– you may be feeling unfortunate for no reason

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Feeling the world is not what it is (distorted view)

• Sudden memory loss, not linked to injury or medical conditions

• Cognitive issues like concentration problems

• Inability to remember personal information

• Feeling the need to behave in a specific way

• Loss or confusion of identity

The following are the characteristic symptoms of different types of dissociative disorders.

Dissociative identity disorder:

• There may be long-term gaps in your memory.

• There may be problems in your social life, which may lead you to self-harm.

Depersonalisation disorder:

• You may feel detached from your body, like observing rather than living your life, which will depersonalise your thoughts and actions.

• You may feel like everything around you is not correct.

Dissociative amnesia: 

• Rarest type, where the person cannot remember anything about their identity and life history

• Localised: The most common feature of this disorder is that you cannot remember specific events.

• Selected: You may also not remember specific details of an event.

The above are a few symptoms of dissociative disorder. Please consult a mental health counsellor if you show any of these symptoms.

Causes of Dissociative disorder

However, dissociative disorders are mental disorders that cause disconnection from reality and experiences of abnormal thoughts about your identity. You may develop the disorder when you attempt to escape a traumatic event in the past. The leading cause of the disorder is extreme stress, which causes detachment from reality.

Moreover, many mental health professionals believe that chronic childhood trauma is the major underlying cause of dissociative disorder. A few examples of childhood trauma include:

• Repeated physical, sexual or emotional abuse

• Neglect

• Unpredictable or hostile family environment

• An accident

• A natural disaster

Though these conditions may motivate the child to dissociate from reality to escape the stress, the severity of the dissociative disorder may be directly related to the severity of the childhood trauma.

Although, other traumatic events during adulthood may also cause dissociative disorders, such as war, torture or a natural disaster.

Treatment of Dissociative disorder

Though treatment for dissociative disorders is based on case studies, no research guidelines exist for their effectiveness. But treating dissociative disorders may take years; treating them early is relatively easier to manage. The treatment for this group of disorders depends upon its type and severity.

Available options for treating dissociative disorders include:

• Medications: Anti-psychotic drugs or anxiety-related medicine to cope with mental health symptoms.

• Psychotherapy: This is the primary treatment doctors use to treat dissociative disorders and involves treatment through counselling. Mental health professionals will help the patient understand the cause of the condition, and they will ask about trauma experiences and then counsel the patient.

• Counselling and talk therapy: May be required for a prolonged duration.

• Stress management: Avoiding stressors that may trigger dissociative disorder symptoms

• Hypnosis: It helps recover and recall repressed or deeply buried memories. However, the use of this treatment for dissociative disorders isn’t proven.

• Treatment for other disorders – typically, a person with a dissociative disorder may have other mental health problems such as depression or anxiety. Treatment may include antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications to try to improve the symptoms of dissociative disorder.

Coping with Dissociative disorder

If you suffer from dissociative disorder, you must stay strong mentally. It would help if you also learned how to cope with the disease. Some of the steps you can take to cope with the disease are:

Trying to live in the present

Be present in the moment. Keep yourself happy and find ways to live a satisfying life.

Exercise

However, exercise is the best way to take care of your physical health and helps you take care of your mental health. It does not mean you must go to the gym or lift weights, and it just means you should keep your body occupied with something; it could be as simple as dancing or cycling.

Indulge in compassion

In tough times, you must indulge in compassion and kindness, which will help you cope with any difficulty in your life.

Learn how to deal with the symptoms.

By learning to ground yourself, you can begin managing your dissociative disorder symptoms by yourself.

Firstly, a few grounding techniques that are effective include–

–       Deep breathing

–       Singing a song or reciting a poem

–       Explore things that amuse you or make you laugh

–       Walk barefoot on green grass

–       Wash your face with cold water

–       Sit with your pet

Engage your senses

Moreover, one of the main goals of treating dissociation is to feel the ‘here’ and the ‘now’. An excellent way to do this is to label everything you see, smell, touch, hear or taste—gauge which of your senses are becoming overwhelmed and which aren’t being used to their full potential. In addition, skin brushing is an effective way to engage your senses.

Conclusion

Although dissociative disorders are a group of mental conditions in which a person feels disconnected from reality or like living in a different world. If this condition remains untreated, it can become life-threatening.

UnitedWeCare has licensed mental health counsellors and therapists specialising in assessing, diagnosing, treating and preventing dissociative disorders and their symptoms. Contact us and start your journey towards mental well-being today!