Dissociative Disorders - Symptoms and Causes

The word “dissociation” means to be disconnected from others, from the world around you or from yourself. Dissociative disorders are mental health conditions that involve experiencing a loss of connection between thoughts, memories, feelings, surroundings, behaviour and identity. Here, you will learn about the symptoms, causes, and risk factors of dissociative disorders.

What are Dissociative Disorders?

Dissociative disorders are mental health conditions that involve feelings of being detached from reality, being outside of your own body or experiencing memory loss. It involves problems with memory, identity, emotion, perception, behaviour and sense of self.

They may not be able to identify their emotions and feel detached. Some of them also cope with memory loss, where they completely forget about events in their life. Usually, they suffer from selective amnesia, where they forget painful memories. In severe cases, a person may forget where he/she lives and end up in strange places.

There are three types of dissociative disorders:

• Dissociative identity disorder

• Dissociative amnesia

• Depersonalization/derealization disorder

Symptoms

The dissociative disorder symptoms depend on type and vary between individuals. They can range from memory loss to disconnected identities and at times of stress these symptoms can worsen. Some of the common symptoms are as follows:

• A sense of being separated from your body

• A sense of separation from your emotions

• A feeling that people and things around you are unreal

• Unable to identify yourself

• Feeling severe stress at workplace and in relationships

• Unable to cope with work-related stress

• Unable to maintain a relationship

• Selective amnesia is where you forget stressful events and information in your life. At times, you also forget about people

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Suicidal thoughts

These symptoms can last for a short while, referred to as an episode, or for a longer period, which could indicate a dissociative disorder. If you're experiencing any of these symptoms, seeking professional help is essential.

Causes

Dissociation is a common experience that many people go through at some point in their lives. Different factors, such as extreme stress, traumatic events, or other mental illnesses like anxiety, can cause it.

Dissociative disorder often develops as a coping mechanism to deal with traumatic life events, long-term stress, and abuse. If a person suffers from early childhood trauma, they may develop this condition to protect themselves. Mentally removing yourself from the traumatic situation can help you escape the loss and pain. The traumatic situations that can cause dissociative disorders are as follows:

• Repeated sexual, physical, mental, or emotional abuse

• Meeting with a violent accident

• Experiencing a natural disaster

• Being part of any military combat

• Being a victim/witness of a violent crime

Risk Factors

People who have experienced physical as well as sexual abuse in childhood are at a higher risk of developing dissociative disorders. Most patients have experienced repeated overwhelming trauma in childhood. Suicide attempts and other self-injurious behaviour are common among patients with dissociative disorders. Most patients have attempted suicide.