Interesting stuff, this discussion of a continuum of dissociative symptoms. For years I was misdiagnosed with borderline personality disorder and was convinced I had it, read everything I could on it, etc. My new psychiatrist, whom I found (or actually, my husband found for me) strongly disagreed with my previous diagnosis, saying that I lacked the diffuse identity experienced by people with BPD. That was sort of a relief, though it was also confusing after all the years of getting used to the idea that I *did* have a pervasive, almost-impossible-to-change set of behavior patterns ... but on the other hand I also had a marriage of more than 20 years' duration and a history of working my way up to jobs of increasing responsibility, neither of which would be common for people with BPD; they're just too volatile.

I do experience (and have in the past experienced to a distressing degree) some of the symptoms of BPD, including dysregulation of affect and help-harm, but it turns out these resulted from Attention Deficit Disorder combined with (and for many years, mostly masking) Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. I went through a lot as a child and in early adulthood and don't even want to get into it at the moment...

When I was diagnosed with ADD, medication had the initial effect of making me suddenly VERY alert to all the triggers I had previously been able to ignore due to ADD distractibility, and I had a real crisis -- I almost didn't make it and was eventually found permanently disabled by SSDI on the first round, no appeal. I would estimate I was dissociated most of the time for about five months -- would suddenly find myself doing things I had no memory of starting, etc. I am gradually getting a bit better, but I think I'm definitely out of the running as far as vicious corporate environments go. Even after almost two years of treatment, I am easily triggered and feel very panicky or furious, though I think I dissociate very seldom anymore. Of course, I guess I can't be sure, since my dissociation included long periods of amnesia. Grimly humorous ... maybe.

Anyhow, thanks to all who shared on this topic.