Because I Dissociate, Does It Mean I Have A Dissociative Disorder?

[Yogagirl]

Hi all, I am new here. I have had C-PTSD from repeated childhood abuse for the past 4 1/2 years. I repressed almost everything until it all slowly came back to me through flashbacks, etc. I used dissociation during the abuse. As a kid I was always called a "space cadet" because I was often in my own world. I have done that my whole life. But once the trauma came back, I started to have episodes when discussing distressing things with my therapist where I can hear what is going on but I am pretty much catatonic. This started a few years ago, but only happened in therapy. Now I find it happens more and more. I can usually control myself now so that I am not completely catatonic, but I still am not able to speak and have difficulty moving. My therapist would like for me to see someone besides her to work on this. Possibly some EMDR, which I have done a lot of. But two questions if anyone can help - does this mean I have a dissociative disorder? I know its not DID or anything. I am often foggy at times and need to ground myself. Second question is, do people learn to NOT dissociate anymore??? Thank you in advance for your help. I'm a 40+ year old mother of 3 and its so hard trying to keep it together and remain present for everyone.

 

[Missycat]

Hey there, gosh reading your thread and it really resinates with me.
I too had repeated csa and was only diagnosed with ptsd early last year.
Im afraid i cant answer your first question. Re your second question , i was speaking to my T about the same thing last week. I dissociated as a child and have dissociated alot in therapy , however i now can sometimes tell when its going to happen - i have become more atuned to whats happening with my mind and body and on some occasions i can do my grounding exercises to stay present - it doesnt work all the time but its affirming for me that is has and can happen.

 

[Friday]

Purely because you dissociate? Nope.
At the level, depth, & frequency you dissociated to? Maybe.

Diagnosis is tricky. Sometimes a severe symptom is just that; a damn severe symptom best explained as a facet of one (or more) disorder(s). Other times, it's best described as it's own disorder.

Does it make any difference in the end? Usually. Because different disorders have different treatment & prognosis.

***

As an example;
I have two different kinds of pathological disassociation -that I know of ;)- one linked to PTSD & one linked to ADHD. I have to come at them very differently. The stuff that helps one? Makes the other worse. & vice versa. Do I have a disassociation disorder on top of those two? Probably not. Because there isn't a lot left over that isn't exceptionally well managed by either one or the other's bag of tricks (treatments, tools, therapies). But it could very easily look like I had a dissociative disorder if we didn't already know about my 2 comorbids. I test reeeeally high for dissociation. Much higher than either PTSD, or ADHD, explain on their own. Add them together, though? Yep. Pretty easily explained by both. Especially when they cozy up & play so nicely together :wtf: ((When that happens I have to use both sets of tricks. Ugh.))

Worse? I get secondary symptoms from PTSD which long story short mean I will be starving (literally) & in severe/chronic sleep deprivation. ... Gues what each of those 2 things come along with? Yup. Disassociation.

So if I'm doing reeeally badly? Pfft. Planet Earth is soooo not where my head is at. I need food, and sleep, and ADHD tricks, and PTSD tricks. To even begin to be really present.

***

This sort of thing is why we tend to repeat ad naseam that none of us can diagnose. There are sooooo many different possible roads to the exact same symptom set. Including physical causes (like food, sleep, illness, imbalance, injury, etc.), neurological (TBI, etc.), psychological (whole lot of disorders out there), environmental/chemical (think meds; but there are other things, like low oxygen or compressed environments, or particulates that coal miners or city dwellers are dealing with) , or situational (grief is a good example). <<< And these are really just the tip of the iceberg in hundreds of data points that make up an accurate diagnosis. So you aren't being treated for the wrong thing.

So maybe it's a stand alone disorder on top of your PTSD.
Maybe it's a really severe symptom of your PTSD.
Maybe it's being caused by something else (physical, neurological, environmental, etc.)

Can it be treated? Yep.
Find the cause.
All causes have treatments. Some better, or faster, or easier, or more profound than others. But when you find the right cause? Throws open a whole world of things that actually work.

 

[NewBeginnings]

Hi all, I am new here. I have had C-PTSD from repeated childhood abuse for the past 4 1/2 years. I re...

Your experiences brought up a lot for me as some of your experiences sound familiar to me. Thank you for sharing. I have no idea where to begin regarding if you have a dissociative disorder but would that matter how you proceed? I would leave diagnosis up to the professionals if necessary and focus on what you need.

For me, I disocciate at lot in therapy too which really sucks but it is what I know and it was important at a time. Now my challenge is to learn what is helpful now and be present.

I have been told that my dissociating will not go completely away but one goal is for me to consciously be aware of it and choose not to dissociate- now it is seemingly unconscious but overtime maybe we can change that.

Ok - EMDR - I had no experiences with this until 3 days ago. My situation is atypical. I posted about My recent experience under the Therapy Forum "EMDR - are daily sessions ok?"

I think the process of looking for help and support gets us going in a better direction even though everything won't miraculously be solved.
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