Is it dissociation??

Hi everyone, I tried to post yesterday but my computer decided to become slow so I gave up. I am just wondering if I am dissociating or am I day dreaming? I have been noticing in the last month or more I am forgetting things. Like getting into my car and arriving at my destination, but don't remember a thing about starting the car or driving or how I got there. I also don't remember things like taking a shower, well I mean that I remember getting in and then the next thing I am doing is turning out the bathroom light. There are times when someone is talking to me and I don't hear a word they are saying. I sometimes feel like I am floating above myself. I feel so disconnected with myself and the people/places around me. I don't know, am I going crazy or is there really something wrong with me. Thanks for listening.

I have the same exact problems. It's been going on for a year now. And it seemd to be getting worse. I was wondering if it is dissociation also.

It does sound like some dissociating is occurring, doesn't it? We all tend to do this, btw, especially when we are preoccupied with other matters (on our mind.) TC

Yup, If I'm in a triggered spot and my husband talks to me I know he talking, I can see his lips move but no sound. I think I scream< I can't hear you> and now that he understands more, he'll wait and the switch is over and I can hear again. Doesn't take long, I think. The shower Is always a very difficult time for remembering for me, I don't even feel a sense of the temp. I pour the bath at the right temp ( so I think at the time) and get in and it either very HOT of way to cold, doesn't make sense , Grrrr
But that is what it is.

Hi, Welcome to Psych Central

Here are some symptoms of dissociative disorders. Maybe that will help. I'm sorry if you've said before, but are you seeing a t? They can help you know what's going on and help you learn to cope.

Depersonalization Disorder
SYMPTOMS

Persistent or recurrent experiences of feeling detached from, and as if one is an outside observer of, one's mental processes or body (e.g., feeling like one is in a dream).

During the depersonalization experience, reality testing remains intact.

The depersonalization causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

The depersonalization experience does not occur exclusively during the course of another mental disorder, such as Schizophrenia, Panic Disorder, Acute Stress Disorder, or another Dissociative Disorder, and is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., temporal lobe epilepsy).

Dissociative Amnesia
SYMPTOMS

The predominant disturbance is one or more episodes of inability to recall important personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature, that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.

The disturbance does not occur exclusively during the course of Dissociative Identity Disorder, Dissociative Fugue, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Acute Stress Disorder, or Somatization Disorder and is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a neurological or other general medical condition (e.g., Amnestic Disorder Due to Head Trauma).
The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Dissociative Disorder
Not Otherwise Specified (NOS)
SYMPTOMS

A dissociate disorder NOS (Not Otherwise Specified) is a disorder that includes a dissociative symptom (i.e., a disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment) that does not meet the criteria for any specific Dissociative Disorder. Examples include:

* Clinical presentations similar to Dissociative Identity Disorder that fail to meet full criteria for this disorder. Examples include presentations in which a) there are not two or more distinct personality states, or b) amnesia for important personal information does not occur.

* Derealization unaccompanied by depersonalization in adults.

* States of dissociation that occur in individuals who have been subjected to periods of prolonged and intense coercive persuasion (e.g., brainwashing, thought reform, or indoctrination while captive).

* Dissociative trance disorder: single or episodic disturbances in the state of consciousness, identity, or memory that are indigenous to particular locations and cultures. Dissociative trance involves narrowing of awareness of immediate surroundings or stereotyped behaviors or movements that are experienced as being beyond one's control. Possession trance involves replacement of the customary sense of personal identity by a new identity, attributed to the influence of a spirit, power, deity, or other person, and associated with stereotyped "involuntary" movements or amnesia. Examples include amok (Indonesia), bebainan (Indonesia), latah (Malaysia), pibloktoq (Arctic), ataque de nervios (Latin America), and possession (India). The dissociative or trance disorder is not a normal part of a broadly accepted collective cultural or religious practice. (See p. 727 for suggested research criteria.)

* Loss of consciousness, stupor, or coma not attributable to a general medical condition.

* Ganser syndrome: the giving of approximate answers to questions (e.g., "2 plus 2 equals 5") when not associated with Dissociative Amnesia or Dissociative Fugue.


The rest of the dissociative disorders are on this page.

Good luck with figuring it all out and take care.