[Peanut842]

Hi all,

I am new to psych central. Back in March 2014 I discovered in therapy that I use dissociative coping. I'm struggling a lot to figure the orgin of how, what, and why this happens. I use it quite frequently when stressed. I am just curious, have most of you had a significant past that brought this on. Mine consists of a traumatic brain injury, anxiety, depression, ocd, and a bipolar/schizoaffective parent and sibling.

Thanks,

D

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by Peanut842

Hi all,

I am new to psych central. Back in March 2014 I discovered in therapy that I use dissociative coping. I'm struggling a lot to figure the orgin of how, what, and why this happens. I use it quite frequently when stressed. I am just curious, have most of you had a significant past that brought this on. Mine consists of a traumatic brain injury, anxiety, depression, ocd, and a bipolar/schizoaffective parent and sibling.

Thanks,

D

here in New York Dissociation is considered a natural response...just like getting angry is a natural response to when someone says something you dont like or laughing is a natural response to when you hear or see something funny.

examples of completely normal dissociation....spacing off, daydreaming, high concentration, feeling numb, feeling disconnected, feeling like an observer outside ones body,feeling like floating, feeling like sinking, ....there are many ways normal dissociation affects a person just as part of normal every day living...it happens with people without mental or physical problems and happens with all kinds of mental and physical problems...

what turns normal dissociation into the abnormal is how it affects a person and that persons life.

example for one person it may be completely normal for them to dissociate (space off, daydream) a lot at work or school due to boredom. for someone else this may not be their normal.

for me I have dissociated at the normal and the abnormal severity. my family tells me before I was abused I had quite an active imagination and they would frequently find me sitting on the ground staring at an ant, just spacing off daydreaming. when asked what I was doing I would say nothing or just thinking. so in this respect no my dissociation was not because of any significant past. children and adults do naturally dissociate for many different reasons, just the natural way the thinking brain works.

when I was abused I used this natural dissociation skill to free myself mentally from the abuse and my abusers. doing this caused my dissociation to escalate into the abnormal severity of dissociative disorders...

here is what america now considers to be dissociative disorders...

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

I had each of these, now that my alternate personalities have been integrated I no longer have DID. but due to many mental and physical health problems and normal every day life sometimes I still have depersonalization/ derealization disorder related problems.

[kaliope]

my dissociation has to do with childhood abuse, both physical and sexual. living in an unpredictable world I used dissociation to protect myself. it just became automatic in times of stress and stayed with me thru out my life time. establishing other coping methods I was able to dissociate less,

[Peanut842]

Thanks Kali,

I had a stressful childhood, but I don't believe I suffered abuse. So I
Having trouble grasping the dissociation. I don't think it is DID, although I do think it's a little more than compartmentalization in times of great stress. I definitely depersonalize and derealize and have for a long time.

I did live in a home with a cycling psychotic mother. But I was 13 by then. The only other thing that bothers me. Is prior to my first gyn exam my mom stressfully told me that I was torn from an injury falling on a bar. Thinking that I hadn't healed. But never took me to be seen. Because she thought it would be too traumatic. It's all bizarre. I have no memory of the injury, and that is the only time we've spoken about it.

Thanks,
D

[Peanut842]

Thanks Amanda,

I don't think my dissociation is just normal daydreaming. In times of great stress I have a really hard time " keeping together". I then feel like the other parts of me are taking control as I hide. "The cynical/mocking part" and "the complete panic" part. But maybe this is just a panic attack. I do have lots of memory and speech problems when I'm dissociating. But usually remember the dissociation. It's so diverse and complicated its almost impossible to explain here.