In this compelling episode of "Healing Our Hidden Wounds," Evan, our resident mental health and addiction therapist, addresses the complex symptom of dissociation, a common yet often misunderstood aspect of PTSD. He explains the nature of dissociation, how it serves as a coping mechanism during traumatic events, and its role as a symptom of PTSD. Furthermore, Evan breaks down various dissociative disorders, including Dissociative Identity Disorder, outlining their characteristics, differences, and connections to trauma. Dive deep with Evan as he unravels the mysteries of dissociation and its significance in the context of trauma and recovery.
Dissociation is a psychological problem that is protective in nature. It's when individuals detach from reality, whether it's while experiencing the trauma. There are separate dissociative disorders that can present on their own. What do therapists do when we have clients struggling with such a severe trauma reaction?
There is hope going through the trauma therapy and healing process. Like I mentioned, there are things that you can do to really help you gain a better sense of connection with yourself. Just know that a lot of people have gone through this.
There's a symptom of PTSD that can be so disruptive in individuals lives. There's actually a lot of mystique around it, but also misunderstanding, and that is known as dissociation. In fact, dissociation has its own categorization, its own set of disorders that are associated with it. I'm Evan, your resident mental health and addiction therapist, and this is my trauma series healing our hidden wounds. And today I'm going to be breaking down the trauma reaction known as dissociation and the different disorders that come from it.
Dissociation is a psychological problem that is protective in nature. Essentially, it's when individuals detach from reality, whether it's while experiencing the trauma or detaching from the memories, emotions, or even a sense of their physical body. Now, dissociation is often a symptom in the PTSD diagnosis. However, there exists separate dissociative disorders that can present on their own. Now, as I go through each disorder, these are all different symptoms of dissociation that can be connected with PTSD.
However, for individuals, that may be the primary symptom, the one causing the most issues in their life, and therefore each one of these would be a primary diagnosis. The first disorder is known as depersonalization, derealization disorder. And this is when individuals have a disconnect from who they are as a person, not really feeling like they are themselves or the derealization part is when individuals feel a disconnect from reality. They may feel like they're in a dreamlike world and that their surroundings are not how they typically are.
The next one's pretty common, and that is known as dissociative amnesia. And as I mentioned before, when someone experiences something severely traumatic, especially in childhood, their mind may dissociate to protect themselves, and therefore they may not have a memory of the trauma whatsoever. And you could see why that can be so protective. Now, this could be from just in the moment, but it could last months or even years. And individuals can have ongoing memory loss related to any triggers around the trauma.
The next one you may have heard of, because it was formerly known as multiple personalities, and this is dissociative identity disorder. This is often sensationalized in movies or tv shows because it can be quite dramatic. When someone experiences trauma, often their mind fractures into different parts. These represents different parts of themselves, just like we all have. However, these act separately from one another. They have different relationships with each other. It can be quite intense and disruptive in individuals lives.
The next one is pretty unique, and that's known as dissociative fugue. And this is when individuals have a very severe detachment from reality. It's an episode where they may not remember who they are or how they got to a certain place. In many ways, it's like a blackout when people drink alcohol. So what do we therapists do when we have clients struggling with such a severe trauma reaction? Well, there are quite a few things that we may do. For example, grounding exercises, really helping individuals mindfully connect with themselves, with reality.
It could be simple breathing exercises or just recognizing different things around you. It could be physical sensations that keep people in the moment and their feet on the ground. Now, when it comes to something more severe, like dissociative identity disorder, the work may be a little bit deeper for individuals to go back, understand the trauma and how their mind protected them with these different parts, and then working on a gradual process to try to reintegrate the best they can, coming back to being one whole individual.
Well, I hope you now have a better understanding of dissociation and how it impacts individuals with severe trauma. Just know that a lot of people have gone through this. It could be really confusing, isolating and dysregulating in someone's life. However, there is hope going through the trauma therapy and healing process. Like I mentioned, there are things that you can do to really help you gain a better sense of connection with yourself and everything around.
