Dissociation Diagnosis Issues Etc

[Deleted member 1860]

Number 1...

I am SO confused as to how a DDNOS diagnosis gets assigned. I had this slapped on me during my last bout of trauma treatment in an intensive trauma program. I have bouts of dissociation when dealing with the sexual abuse. I don't deny that I have experienced derealization, BUT it's always in the wake of intensive trauma work. As in, it's only happened three or four times.

AND... I took the same tests that I did two years ago, answered them the same way. The previous hospital said no DDNOS, this program says yes...

I *think* part of it was that I was exhausted, so what appeared to them to be dissociation was actually part of my sleep issues. Of course, when you're looking for a problem, it's much easier to say that my inattentiveness is due to dissociating rather than exhaustion...

Number 2...

Does anyone else feel that as sufferers of PTSD (and possibly dissociative disorders) that we're held to higher standards? I had a misunderstanding one day (about the program), and the immediate conclusion was that I was dissociating. No, I wasn't. I was unclear about something, plain and simple. But instead of thinking "hey, maybe we weren't crystal clear about the program" it was automatically thrown on me and attributed to my PTSD. I guess my feeling is that if I don't understand and remember 10,000% of a conversation, I MUST be dissociating!!! Well, reality is that NORMAL people don't have 100% recall!

Ok, enough for now. I know this upsets me because I feel invalidated. Oh, let's just slap another label on her without finding out whats really going on.

Needing Hugs,
SOL

 

[milbert]

((((((((SOL))))))))

1. I don't know how the diagnosis is made at all, or how much of it is based on the opinion of the person who gave you the test. Is DDNOS treated in a similar way to how PTSD with lots of dissociation is treated? I hope that the change in diagnosis won't limit your healing. Is the program you're in right now more specialized in dissociation than the previous hospital? Could they be biased towards recognizing dissociation? An extra label could be a way to help them specialize treatment so that it is better suited to your needs, although hearing about an extra label can feel invalidating or stigmatizing.

2. Sorry you got such an invalidating response, especially from people who are there to help you.

 

[Tinyflame]

Yes, mind-wandering, exhaustion, pain-interference, or day-dreaming is not dissociation, and we all have moments of it.

 

[Tinyflame]

(((((SoL))))

 

[Girl3]

Hugs and more hugs.

Yes I agree that when you have PTSD (and a dissociative issue as well) that others write off whatever is amiss as your disease not their problem.

Whenever I disagree with my husband about something or have an opinion that doesn't match his, he immediately insists that my PTSD/DID is creating obstacles and leading to a fight.

We are hamstringed by our diagnosis which is yet another reason I don't share mine with people.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Thank you all for being so supportive!

I'm not so much bothered by the DDNOS diagnosis, I just want to know what they're basing it on. And yes, this most recent program does specialize in dissociative disorders, so I know they're trained to look for the symptoms. I just don't want a dx based on misconstrued actions!

I guess I'm wondering what level of dissociation you have to experience in order to have DDNOS, as dissociation is a part of PTSD. I know I dissociate when triggered, but it is rare that I experience derealization (again, also when triggered). I know these disorders are on a spectrum, I just want to know where I fall, based on actual symptoms, not misunderstandings or a sleep disorder!

 

[Sterre]

Hi SOL,

Lately I've been reading a lot about DDNOS and DID. Here in the Netherlands it is a very controversial diagnosis, for the same reasons as you describe. It is very hard to diagnose DDNOS or DID, some say it doesnt even exist as an individual diagnosis.

They are trying to put togheter a checklist or qeustionaire to meassure the symptoms and to make a proper diagnosis, but the end result is still not conclusive.
That may be the reason that in the past you was not diagnosed with it, and with some other thearapy you fit the criteria.
I dont know either how they make up the criteria, I would say if you dissociate a lot, or most of the time, the diagnosis would fit, but if that is not the case....I dont know.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Yes, I would have to agree with the controversial part.

The written tests were flawed as they are written as "what percent of the time" and many of the symptoms happen infrequently, less than 1% of the time, but they do happen.

AND, I don't think it's fair to dx based on observation, ESP since these people only saw me in a trauma program doing intense trauma work.

I guess I'm frustrated with the whole dx thing. I know I have PTSD but beyond that, it's anyones guess.

 

[milbert]

I was just reading up on the Rosenhan experiment and it reminded me of what you'd mentioned about health professionals misdiagnosing completely normal human forgetting as being a symptom of mental illness. In the Rosenhan experiment, healthy people briefly pretended to have auditory hallucinations in order to be admitted into a hospital. Once in the hospital, they stopped pretending to be ill and acted as they normally would. All were forced to take medication, misdiagnosed with mental illnesses and confined, all as a result of the kind of social psychology that exists in hospitals. It might help explain why forgetting becomes interpreted as dissociating in a hospital program focused on dissociation.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

FUNNY! I should tell THEM that they must have a dissociative disorder because they "forgot" about multiple conversations we had about immediately contacting my outpatient therapist for continuity of care. Oh, noooooo, it's "ok" for them to forget, but if I forget it's because I'm mentally ill!!! Argh, this whole situation frustrates me, ESP since I have a great memory (people remark about the crazy random things I remember).

I know I need to let this go, but I'm struggling with it as it hits on my invalidation/not being listened to trigger. BUT...its only their opinion, and at the end of the day I don't have to accept their word as gospel.

 

[Girl3]

Dissociation is a spectrum and it is almost never like it is portayed in the movies. I have gone through times in my life where I have no memory at all - yet there are photos of me with people, doing activities, in places - and I have little or no recall. I dated a guy in college yet have only one vague memory of him, even though he said he wanted to marry me. I talked with him last year and remember nothing about our relationship.

 

[Kb3]

I have recently read about what your outpatient people have SOL - "BID" = Bureaucratic Insensitivity Disorder. The good news is that it should respond to intensive therapy and medication.;)