Dissociation

People with Dissociative Disorder often go through years of treatment without getting properly diagnosed.

According to research, it takes 6-12 years in the mental health system before someone is diagnosed correctly with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

This is because of the lack of knowledge and education for both therapists and clients about dissociation and the fact that it’s not an extremely rare occurrence like we’ve been led to believe.

This is why I am not against self-diagnosis or finding community via social media. As long as you understand that there is a danger of misinformation in these sources, as there is for any information on social media.

That being said I think it’s also important to remember that if those spaces don’t fit for you or you don’t see your experience being reflected there, that doesn’t mean that you or your experience is invalid.

Take what you need – information, language for your experience, the knowledge that you are not alone, etc. and leave the rest.