Is anger a common trait which can cause dissociation?

For myself, I notice that if I'm irritable or agitated for a number of days I feel really disconnected and dissociated and can not relate to my other self one bit. I become a totally different person and also feel like I'm not really experiencing what is happening (ie. looking at it from an outside perspective). And I get thoughts that I would never have otherwise (hate my family, perpetual pessimism towards the World, etc.)

I guess anger is just one trait among many that can trigger dissociation (or maybe I'm on the wrong trail altogether since I also have a mood disorder)?

No PDOC or Psychologist has ever noticed this in me over last three decades (as inpatient or outpatient) which really frustrates me. And I've seen a lot of them, believe me.

I self-diagnosed this over the last year and brought it up a few times with PDOC. He told me that he knew 3-4 PDOCs in 1990's who treated dissociative disorders and he discovered that the PDOC usually knew more about the patient than the patient knew about him/herself.

here in the USA dissociation is considered to be a normal reaction to things just like if someone told you a good joke that you liked you would smile, laugh, giggle what ever your body's reaction to something good happening and if someone said something that made you angry you would react with anger.

dissociation (feeling numb, spaced out, disconnected, ...) happens on many different scales from normal dissociation reactions of feeling numb, spaced out, disconnected from oneself or others , to the abnormal which here in america are the dissociative disorders...

http://forums.psychcentral.com/disso...s-dsm-5-a.html

because dissociation is a normal thing just like feeling happy or sad or angry, other emotions is normal there is no gene or common trait. its all individualized. by that I mean what makes one person smile and be happy is different than what makes another person feel happy and smile, what makes one person angry may not make another person angry. what makes one person dissociate may not make another person dissociate...

one thing that makes me feel numb, spaced out, disconnected from my body is thunder storms. my wife on the other hand enjoys thunder storms. what makes my wife feel numb spaced out, disconnected from herself is geranium flowers, I love geraniums. and one of my friends feels numb, spaced out, disconnected from herself when she rides the subway, I dont exactly love riding the subway but I dont space out, numb out when riding the subway. heights make a friend of mine feel numb, spaced out yet her partner loves high places, its low enclosed places that affect her.

one thing I can tell you is that there are many many things /reasons behind why a person would feel dissociated when angry. some of those reasons can be age related, or any number of mental or medical health reasons. for me what triggers my dissociation symptoms is work stress, MS (multiple Sclerosis) PTSD, not getting enough sleep, not eating correctly for my body, Bipolar disorder, PTSD, an ear infection, and in the past medication reactions. I could continue listing many causes for my dissociation symptoms but you get the point.

what makes you feel numb, spaced out, disconnected from yourself is going to be different than others may be when they are dissociated. my suggestion keep working with your treatment providers they can help you to discover why being angry makes you dissociate and help you learn tools that will enable you to be more grounded and connected to yourself.

Hello, cool09.

Dissociative disorders Definition - Diseases and Conditions - Mayo Clinic

Angry and Critical Parts: DID, MPD, or Multiplicity: Responding to Parts Inside With a Focus on the Kids | KaliMunro.com

I wish you well.

One of my worst dissociation events happened when I got frustrated at my therapist. I think it has to do with PTSD from childhood abuse. I learned that whenever my father or sister got angry, that bad things were coming and I'd better hide. Anger was the worst emotion and was terrifying. As an adult (and child), I RARELY got angry. Maybe once every few years, only for a few seconds, and with barely any noticeable "angry" behaviors.

In therapy a few years ago, I had been trying to explain something to my T, and she wasn't getting it. I raised my voice and really stressed what I wanted her to understand. Me raising my voice is probably the equivalent to other people's normal talking voice. I had never done this before (especially to someone I cared about so much), and was fully dissociated by the end of my short sentence. Not DID dissociation, but detaching from the world dissociation (couldn't make out the words being spoken to me, but was occasionally aware of sound occurring; couldn't process visual input; not aware of time passing; unable to speak; barely able to move - no blinking, could sometimes wiggle a finger, could eventually slowly turn my head even though eye gaze didn't go with it), and those are the only things I remember. I eventually came back and my therapist was sitting next to me on the couch with her arm around me. She had put a blanket on our laps, and I was resting my head on her shoulder. I think that's the only way I could have become grounded, and that's the only time in 3-4 years of therapy with her that she sat next to me. Too bad I couldn't hear anything that she was saying because I bet it was kind and supportive.

In short, yes. Frustration (my equivalence of anger) resulted in dissociation.

Anger is a secondary emotion to fear. If we have parts or alters or internal people, they can react to those feelings if there was a reason to fear anger before. For us, we do react badly to anger; but getting angry doesn't cause a switch of people. Though, switching people sometimes allows anger to be expressed because only 2 internal people deal with anger. Often if there is a situation that suddenly turns angry or violent or scary, our runner will take off and escape or hide. But if someone comes at us angry and demands something of us or provokes us, one of the two will swap forward (or both... that gets interesting) and deal with it. Hope that helps.