is this possible.

While in session I was completely dissociated when I thought of the hallway that used to be in my childhood house. There was a lot of violence in that house. I also witnessed a lot of violence in that house. Unpredictable explosive violence. It went on for 10 years steady. By the time I was 11 I was staying out of the house for as long as possible. I was also abused as a child, but the biggest issue seems to be the violence I witnessed. Can witnessing violence for such a long period of time cause dissociation? I would think it could, I just want some feed back. Thanks

i believe anything that overstresses the minds coping capabilities can cause it...
violence is definitely part of my problem...

i would recommend therapy for sure... trauma sucks

have you read this article?
excerptDissociation FAQ’s

Yes. I do believe so. There was violence that happened in my home growing up also. My father would also erupt in explosive anger. There was a particular time that I witnessed his violence toward my mother first hand, and triggers can take me back to that place and experience very quickly. Even though it was not directed at me, I was still there in that moment and my brain had to process it. I actually don't remember past a certain point of that particular incident. It's like someone turns the TV off and it goes black. That would mean, to me, that I dissociated in that moment. I think that would make sense.

shortest and non professional definition of the word ....dissociation....in my location is that its a normal reaction to a positive or negative trigger.

put that in the normal non dissociative disordered terms a person can witness something traumatic ie violence through wars, domestic violence and other forms of violence and natural disasters and end up feeling numb, spaced out, disconnected from one self and their environment. (which is now why depression and PTSD contain dissociative symptoms and why people can have depersonalization\derealizaiton and dissociative amnesia problems)

that said in ...my location.....mental health demographics\statistics show that in order for someone to become DID and sometimes OSDD if the person has alternate personalities is if they have actually gone through extreme trauma before the age of 5.

DID and OSDD are the only dissociative disorders here in america that are so severe that dissociative type alternate personalities have been created, OSDD does not require having alters but there are diagnostic criteria for those that do with this disorder. most of the time in my location OSDD is used when a person doesnt fit other dissociative disorders and the treatment provider chooses to disclose why they dont fit in with other dissociative diagnosis's by designating which OSDD criteria that the situation better fits rather than other dissociative disorders in the list.

my point it can happen but because of the wording .....witness.... in your post if this was me and my treatment provider the dissociative symptoms due to witnessing violence would be called a PTSD symptoms in me not a dissociative disorder symptom in me. just the way diagnostics in my location differentiate between witnessing vs actually undergoing the abuse.

since this happened during your therapy session my suggestion is talk with your treatment provider. they will explain what happened and why and what its called in your location and what the treatment for it in your location is.

most definitely. i also grew up in an abusive home for a few years, from about 6 to 11, maybe a bit earlier as my older two sisters apparently were violent with each other even before my first stepdad came into the picture.

there was so much stuff that i have been told of things i was there for but do not remember including two people from outside the family who told me weird things regarding me (crying but not saying why when home alone with him, etc.). i thought maybe they lied, but two separate people said something similar.

the things i saw and heard did the most damage and caused a huge degree of dissociation. the other trauma i had also did..so it all compounded.

it seems like between five and 10, it was a lot of different traumas inside the house and outside, so nowhere was safe.

but, yes...that kind of thing definitely can cause a large degree of dissociation.

i can remember during a violent episode towards a sister, i dissociated. in my head, i went to my mom and stepdad's room to get a gun and make him stop. in reality, i hadn't moved at all.

i also have one memory where i only remember the after part, so my older sisters had to fill me in on what happened to lead up to things. and my mom also told me sometimes she would lock us in her room with her to protect us from him..i have zero memory of that.