Dissociative Disorders

There is a category of dissociative disorders:

• Depersonalization / Derealization Disorder
• Dissociative Amnesia
• Dissociative Identity Disorder

Depersonalization Disorder:

This involves a sense of detachment from self.

It may be experienced as being an observer of yourself, or of your actions, feelings, and thoughts.

Derealization Disorder:

This involves a sense of detachment from the people & things around you.

Things may seem foggy or dreamlike, time may slow down or sped up, & the world may seem unreal.

You may experience only depersonalization or derealization or you may experience both.

These symptoms may last only a few moments or may come & go over many years.

It is estimated that 1-2% of the population experiences a Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder.

Dissociative Amnesia

This involves memory loss that’s more severe than normal forgetfulness & that can’t be explained by a medical condition.

You can’t recall information about yourself or events & people in your life.

These symptoms can be specific to events in a certain time, such as during a traumatic event.

More rarely, it can involve complete loss of memory about yourself.

This may sometimes involve travel or confused wandering away from your life (dissociative fugue).

An episode of amnesia usually occurs suddenly & may last minutes, hours, or rarely, months or years.

It is estimated that 1-2.6% of the population experiences a Dissociative Amnesia.

And although it is true that these dissociative disorders are rare, they occur at rate equal to or higher than the rate of Schizophrenia in the general population.

Dissociative Identity Disorder

This is a big one and I will be posting more in coming posts