Any Ddnos Or Did Patients Who Have Completed Therapy Successfully?

[Sideways]

@Sandstone - the frustration must be overwhelming. It's not like we're trying to get an ingrown toenail diagnosed, DID is a big deal. I get that. And I understand why you'd want to know for sure. That makes sense to me.

I had the pendulum swinging back and forth on the diagnosis before I finally confronted one of my T's with it. The only reason I believed him was because I knew he was one of those rare people that are actually pretty impartial about it. I don't get why all these therapists have so much personally invested in whether or not this condition "exists" - that war that's raging in the psych world is really unhelpful when all you really want to know is what the hell is wrong with my head.

I hope you get an answer from a source you can trust. I hope that answer brings you some closure on this stage of the nightmare. And whatever the answer is, I hope it helps you move forward:)

 

[Powder]

@Ragdoll Circus do you think it's true that it takes a while for DID or DDNOS to actual show to therapist, and I mean really be clear? I have read 5 years average.

When after 5, and typical PTSD treatments do not bring enough resolution and the switching starts to show more dramatically. Or they say trust is established enough for alters to show. I am not expert, just read stuff.

Sorry for my wild theories. I want to help and reach out but I have some zany life experience and beliefs.

 

[Sideways]

@Muse - absolutely.

Dissociating into parts is a coping mechanism that survives on being undetected, both as a child, and as you go through life into adulthood. Switches, for all of your life up until now, have gone undetected, that's one of the reasons it works so well.

We know that if you start getting treatment for DID, the parts tend to start coming out if the woodwork, because it's the first time in your life that anyone's basically said "I know you guys are in there, you can't hide from me any more..."

But yeah, all your life, your DID has worked because your parts have been able to fly under the radar, so it does often take several years of someone knowing you pretty well, and knowing what to look out for, before it can be accurately diagnosed.

 

[Leigh925]

@Girlgirlgirl I wanted to ask you about your orginal post. It kind of reminded me of a question I asked my therapist in the beginning. I too have Ptsd and DDNOS. I have parts but am not considered DID. But one of my grown up parts is a list maker and a job tackler. which is great for me because I can function really well at work. But I sat in my therapist office with a notebook ready to make a list.....Okay what does treatment look like? How many sessions do you think I need? What does the timeline look like and what kind of therapies will we use. He kind of chucked at me and gave a general outline of how he practices...but of course gave no definite answers.....because there are none. Since he wasn't specific I mentally gave myself a year.....when that year came and gone...I was devastated because I hadn't marked therapy off the list yet. So I would just caution you that therapy is very fluid...things change and evolve. Timelines change and approaches change. Heck I started off with this therapist going in for parenting advice for my bipolar son who was triggering the hell out of me...I thought I had taken care of my childhood stuff with previous therapist....I hadn't even scratched the surface....three years later I have a PTSD and DDNOS diagnosis.

To answer the rest of your question we use the internal family systems approach, we use attachment therapy, we use somatic experiencing and I go for massage and ground myself in nature quite a bit. But I really had to get over the hangup of having a timeline. It sucks because I like to count the days and keep up with successes and mark stuff of lists...but I have no idea when therapy will end for me. I am just trying to work my way down to one day a week!

 

[Leigh925]

because sometimes when the triggers get really bad, I feel like, will I really ever get better or is this just making me worse?

I got worse before I got better...no one told me this....I found that it was common on here....I asked my therapist why he didnt tell me and he said he did and then showed me a piece of paper that I had signed saying that I understand therapy often aggravates symptoms in the beginning and the relief comes a little later.

I know the abuse wasn't severe.

There really is no way I can see that anything enough to cause a Dissociative condition happened. I'm mystified.

@Sandstone IMHO I don't think the abuse has to be so severe for the repercussions to be severe. I have found in therapy that my parents reaction to my early abuse at 4years old was way more damaging than the actual abuse itself. I have more trauma from that. I did have more than abuser. I was 12 when I started to recognize that I had some different parts to me but of course I didnt understand it.

 

[BloomInWinter]

Ultimately, labels are only used to identify what is already there and come up with a treatment plan. In the US, it's also required for reimbursement. But having a label doesn't mean it's something new that's being added onto us rather than a description of what it already there.

I try not to worry about the labels my therapist has to put down so my insurance will continue paying. I had to decide if those accurately described my inner experiences, and to what extend. There is no cookie cutter "one size fits all" description.

It certainly was true for me that I had no idea I had DDNOS until my therapists starting pointing them out to me, gently. They are rapidly cycling now that I am dealing with the reality that yes, I was injured that badly and yes, it needs to be dealt with for me to have the life I want to have.

There's no such thing as comparative suffering. One trauma is not worse than another to a child. All traumas are traumatic. Some are not "bad enough" to overcome our overall functioning in a supportive environment, but some are. What is to one may not be another to someone else. Comparing our experiences and minimizing our pain is a form of denial. If we were hurt, we deserve to acknowledge that and heal from it.

My parents lack of any support nor acknowledgement of the traumas done to me greatly decreased my ability to recover from both big T traumas and little T traumas. My Mom simply didn't know how to be supportive, and my Dad didn't care and was the abuser.

A dissociative disorder diagnosis is a long journey for healing but it does get better. I do agree that the chronic suicidality is a part of life for me. We've discovered that there are two 'parts' of myself that are very suicidal so when they are triggered and 'driving the bus' (so to speak) that's when despair and hopelessness washes over me once again with the force of a giant crippling wave.

Those are my targets right now in therapy. Helping those 'parts' learn they are safe now. That they will never be alone and in that much pain ever again. I know that most of the time but those parts have yet to learn it.

It's been very frightening to me to learn that yes, I really am *that* bizarre and broken. But it makes sense now, at least. I understand what is happening even if I don't like it. It is getting better.

 

[Sandstone]

I'm not fussed about a label. I want to know if the things that label describes are there. If they are, then the label is accurate but incidental.

 

[Powder]

@BloomInWinter, (thank you for saying it all so well). Sounds like you're making real progress. I'm happy for you and always find your posts to help clarify thinking on the topic.

Yes, it can be a phase of denial but maybe also a form of the "bargaining" of grief, too? Like, maybe I do have this, but...I sure do this.

 

[BloomInWinter]

@Muse , thank you for the kind words. I do think it's a part of the bargaining that allows us to slowly accept reality in the timeline that our brains can safely do so. Though my overall life is much better, now that I'm out and around groups of people, the differences in their social functioning and the contact with warm, loving families that some of them have brings on an all-new level of grief for what was never to be in my life.

We just lose so much over to the dissociation. The decades where I could have been building happy memories are just fragments. I am hopeful that I'll lose no more of my life to it so the happy memories I make now will "stick."

It also brings me some peace knowing that while my family's pain in the past few generations wasn't treated, mine is now. I hope that means that there is a better future for not only my children, but the body of knowledge we are adding to by courageously deciding to live and fight for healing will mean much earlier diagnoses for others. I'll take some meaning where I can find it.

 

[Saria]

There really is no way I can see that anything enough to cause a Dissociative condition happened. I'm mystified

I have DDNOS and used to feel this way too. For me it was really a process to realize how much pain the emotional neglect had caused me. And I still doubt it from time to time, but that's apparently very normal according to my therapist. But then when I pass a 4 or 5 year old on the street, I do understand how much love and care they need to fully grow up in this world. So if you grow up in a house without warmth - no hugs or smiles, just yelling and criticism - that is obviously damaging for a child, and can cause dissociation. That was the case for me anyway.

As for @Girlgirlgirl 's original post, I'm wondering the same thing. How long will this take? I'm starting a program in a couple of weeks called "Coping with trauma-related dissociation" which is aimed at DID and DDNOS and lasts for about 20 weeks. Dead Link Removed

I don't know if you have similar groups in the US, but I would check it out if they do. My healing process will obviously take more than 20 weeks, but it'll hopefully help me in the right direction

 

[Sandstone]

I'm reading the book, a cautious few paragraphs at a time. It's good

 

[Saria]

a cautious few paragraphs at a time

Yeah, me too. I kind of read it like a year ago, but don't really remember any of it. I felt I got a lot worse after I bought the book. My therapist reminded me that when avoidance goes down, symptoms often gets worse before they get better, which has been really helpful in normalizing it all. I hope you have someone to help you figure this all out. It can be pretty confusing on your own. I've been on a wait list for about a year now, and it has been pretty rough.