Are Memory Blackouts Part Of Dissociation ?

[Lis2075]

Hi everyone,

Are untriggered memory blackouts part of PTSD symptoms ?
Several times a day, I get those 5 seconds when I just can't recall anything of my past, not even the second before, just like I had no past and my life started at the very second when I'm trying to remember. It's like facing the Nothing in your mind, not being able to picture even a shape or a familiar acquaintance, and it's quite stressful. For example, today, a friend of mine asked me my address and I just had no idea what it was, so I tried to think of other infos that could lead to it, but my mind was just totally empty, so I answered the only automatic answer I had : "it's 10min from school".
Also, do you guys know if it is a mini-dissociation moment or a proper memory blackout ?

Thanks a lot for your answers :)

 

[Carmen J. Brown]

Hi everyone,

Are untriggered memory blackouts part of PTSD symptoms ?
Several times a day, I get thos...

I get this too. I read an article that said it was common for people with PTSD to have memory problems (and I know I do. Including the nothingness thing you mentioned) but idk if they were talking about this or not.

 

[Deleted member 19804]

I think it could very well be a form of PTSD-related dissociation. I have similar memory problems, too, and I'm quite sure mine are linked to my ptsd.
Did you have this problem before your trauma(s)?

 

[Anarchy]

Hi Lis and Carmen, Welcome to the forum.

Dissociation covers a very wide range of human experience, from the very shallow end which everyone does, like zoning out on a long journey or in a boring lecture,

To a deeper end of serious feelings of unreality (everyone gets some feelings of unreality), out of body experience, losing time, major memory problems and sub personalities. Not knowing how you got to places or into situations.

I think that childhood trauma usually has memory problems attached to it.

What you might be experiencing Lis, is not being entirely present, being zoned out, thinking about something else?
That's something that "mindfulness" practice can help with, learning to stay present.

Hope that this helps

 

[Binkie]

You might like to look up 'dissociative amnesia'. It seems to be what you're describing and it is a part of PTSD for some people.

 

[Carmen J. Brown]

Hi Lis and Carmen, Welcome to the forum.

Dissociation covers a very wide range of human experience, f...

That was helpful. Thank you.

 

[Lis2075]

Hi Lis and Carmen, Welcome to the forum.

Dissociation covers a very wide range of human experience, f...

Hello Anarchy,

I do get those dissociation moments when I am just not mentally there, not really being conscious or understanding anything that is happening around. It lasts never more than 1 hour, during which I see the world just like through TV and can't process any of the infos I get, my body can't feel anything, I get a blank stare and a robotic way of acting (I either speak too fast or too slow) and can't recognize myself in the mirror. I even had a hallucination once.

But what I'm talking about in this post is 5 seconds moments when I just can't recall anything, this happening outside of any dissociation moment. But your answer helped me figure out they may be mini dissociation moments indeed, and now that I put myself back in those moments, I actually am positive of feeling the same thing as when I dissociate for hours.

Thanks a lot for you answer :)

 

[BlueOrange]

But what I'm talking about in this post is 5 seconds moments when I just can't recall anything, this happening outside of any dissociation moment.

Dissociation takes many forms, even within one person. I have a wide variety of symptoms, and being unable to remember is sometimes one of them.

Your description seems consistent with dissociative amnesia - if you need detail or certainty, then your therapist is the one to ask.