Dissociation

I’m not diagnosed with any dissociation disorder. But I do dissociate. I’ve brought it up with professionals before but they never diagnose me with anything related to that.

Last night my older sister’s husband was talking to my dad.

I happened to be sitting nearby and all of a sudden I felt my vision unfocus and felt like I was literally going to float out of my body.

Which freaked me out. I managed to ground myself somehow but still scary.

I’ve dissociated before but never this bad. Not with the vision unfocusing thing.

I’m starting to feel that way again. I’m getting freaked out.

Unfortunately, dissociative disorders are controversial disorders. Some therapists believe it exists, some therapists do not, and some other therapists believe that dissociative disorders are mere personality disorders or somatoform disorders or factitious disorders. You might need to find a specialist that treats and assesses for dissociative disorders, specifically, so that you are not caught in the disinformation about dissociative disorder being really other disorders, or the controversial avoidance of diagnosing and therefore treating dissociative disorders.

What you describe sounds like either a dissociative disorder or a neurological disorder that mimics dissociative features, or perhaps both. You could also ask your primary care for a referral to see if either a neurologist or psychotherapist can assess you for dissociation, specifically, and to also see if something else is going on, like having a brain scan ordered to see if there are any tumors.

I’ve already been to a neurologist this year and had a brain scan. There was nothing wrong with my brain, she said.

Despite me experiencing these episodes and having memory issues.

I’m already seeing a therapist. While we have talked about dissociation, I don’t think she can diagnose me.

Can you try to find a different therapist who specializes in dissociation? You can also ask a psychiatrist who specializes in dissociation to diagnose you, too. Getting a diagnosis will help you tremendously! It's extremely hard to get a diagnosis for controversial disorders, but a diagnosis will mean that you can finally get treated for one. Some trauma therapists do NOT treat dissociation, so you truly do need to find a therapist who treats dissociation.

If you are in the U.S., here are some resources:

Good Therapy offers some advice on what dissociation is and finding treatment for dissociation.

You can also check out Psychology Today's therapist finder for dissociation.

The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) is another excellent resource.

Also, these special ethical guidelines from the American Psychological Association protect both client and therapist from harm (intentional or unintentional, political or not). See #7 regarding specialization, since some therapists who do NOT believe in dissociation are causing harm to clients with dissociative disorders.

If you are not within the U.S., try doing a Google search on "dissociation therapist" and "therapy for dissociation" - plus add your country or local jurisdiction. That way, you will find more resources in your area, or at least online.

I'm so sorry you are having difficulty finding a therapist who treats dissociation, and can diagnose. Assessments can be done by psychologists (typically with doctoral degrees) or psychiatrists (with medical degrees), but treatment for dissociation can be done by any therapist with at least a master's degree who has also ETHICALLY been trained in treating dissociative disorders.

If you've ruled out neurological illnesses, then it truly does sound like a dissociative disorder.

Hopefully one of the resources above can help you.

All we can do on a forum like this is offer tools to help you find a professional. Only a professional can really help answer the questions you're looking for. But maybe some of the resources above will help point you in the right direction.

Hi, Creepeh! I'm like you, I mean I dissociate like that. I wish you all the best! And thank you so much, SprinkL3, for all your wonderful information!

Hi @Creepeh

Have you talked to a psychiatrist about it? Also wondering if you experienced trauma in the past, because that's often the root cause of dissociation.

Thank you, BD!

I try to help. I get so upset when it is so hard for trauma survivors to find adequate help for their trauma-related disorders. Not everyone has the cookie-cutter PTSD. There are people with complex PTSD (CPTSD), those without the diagnosis of PTSD (such as those with just "PTS"), those with dissociative disorders (with or without PTSD), those with comorbid PTSD and an eating disorder (ED), those with comorbid dissociative disorder, PTSD, and other mental illness, etc. The comorbidities require specialists who are familiar with the interactions between disorders, and how best to treat all of them concurrently.

Trauma is something that happens in life, so you would think there would be more trauma specialists out there.

I'm sorry you are both struggling with dissociation.

I, too, struggle with those symptoms. My eyesight issues are due to many things, including dissociation, ageing, nearsightedness, that thing you get when you turn 40, high blood sugar (but not enough yet to be prediabetic), thyroid problems (though my doc recently told me that she needs to run more tests), and perhaps other issues affecting my vision. But even prior to my current issues, I've had vision struggles, out-of-body experiences, feeling "floaty," losing time (blacking out), hearing internal voices, seeing internal images, feeling like the world isn't real, feeling like I'm not real, and more. It took an extremely long time and many misdiagnoses and iatrogenic effects for me to finally get the proper dissociative disorder diagnosis and resulting treatments. And even then, it's still hard to find a therapist when your good one retires or relocates, etc. Therapists these days are not like yesterday's therapists because today's therapists are likely younger, and with the mentality that it's best to move jobs every few years (as opposed to the previous generations that believed in working a job for averages of 10 years). Due to that mentality and the generational biases going on these days, you're likely to have many different therapists, pdocs, dentists, and primary care docs in your lifetime - at least an average of 5 times more than you would have had in previous generations.

Taken together, the stigma and controversy related to dissociative disorders mean that those with dissociative disorders will struggle to find adequate treatment based on proper diagnoses. More often than not, dissociative clients will get misdiagnosed and therefore mistreated, which could exacerbate their symptoms and bring about new (iatrogenic) symptoms, giving them new diagnoses and/or worsened trauma-related symptoms. By the time they do find adequate treatment, there is a pile of other conditions (medical and mental) that must be treated, including those that come with ageing (many people don't find adequate help for dissociative disorders for an average of about a decade or more, which puts them in the 30- to 40-year midlife range, and thus bringing about complex midlife transitions if not also midlife crises that also go unrecognized because of the single status that most dissociative clients hold). Being single means less protections achieving healthcare, especially for women, as historically, women have been seemed as "hysterical." The stigma against women, dissociative disorders, and other trauma-related disorders continue to this day, especially for those who have experienced multiple (complex) traumas.

The best we can do is keep trying to find true specialists and those with an old-fashioned work ethic that allows for providing long-term (5 years or more) treatments to trauma patients. Dissociative disorders with comorbid CPTSD may require lifelong therapy options (which is another controversial topic). Still, over time and with consistent treatment, patients can improve in their quality of life while still maintaining a relationship with a therapist (hopefully the same one) over the lifespan. That's the ideal, but it's not realistic anymore, sadly.

So, your having to look up new treatment providers will be a lifelong struggle, given the new work culture and generation taking over.

Thank you for the resources. I am in the U.S.

I’ll ask my psychiatrist next time I see him, if it’s possible for him to assess me for a dissociation disorder.

It’s too bad that my current therapist can’t diagnose because I felt safe with her. But I’ll look around for others.

I’ll also look for a psychologist to get testing.

I have a psychiatrist and actually had to ask him if what I was experiencing was dissociation. Because he wouldn’t suggest it besides me explaining obvious signs. Example: Out of body experience, floaty feeling, memory issues.

That was in the past though that I asked him.

I’m going to ask him if it’s possible for him to assess me for dissociation.

Yes I have experienced trauma in the past.

Ok, I hope your psychiatrist can help.

Update:

I did find somebody but they’re in another state from where I live. They do telehealth. But don’t take insurance.

I emailed back to see how much the assessment would be. Hopefully I can afford it.

Because this person actually has a dissociation disorder themselves. So they must know more than most professionals.

Make sure that their license allows for practicing across state lines. Some states allow certain licenses to do so - at least during these pandemic times, whereas others do not.

Ask the T if they are licensed to practice across state lines. You can also look up their name on their state's website to search for their license and to see if they've had any complaints against them. You can also see what their licensing requirements are for that state, and whether that person is allowed to practice outside of their state. If the information matches up, that's a plus. If it doesn't, it could be a scam.

I was once scammed back in the early 2000s by an out-of-state therapist. I wound up relocating to her state for in-person treatment. I thought she was really nice and helpful with my DID, until she started doing unethical things. Her roommate also got jealous and threatened my life. Additionally, I learned later that she had lied about her credentials, when I was finally able to look up her name and license in her state. I didn't know to look that up before I had moved there. It was a huge mistake to move there! I eventually moved out of that state and into a better state.

Just be careful, because even clinicians (including doctors and therapists) can have different motives (whether they be political, as in the case of Idaho's Dr. Cole, or shady, as in the case of therapists wanting to make extra money off of unlawful therapy practices out of state).

If your new T has had a history of any mental illness, that is likely disclosed to their licensing board as a risk factor that should be managed in order for them to maintain their license to practice. Additionally, according to one of the links above, many therapists (with or without mental disorders, including dissociation) are unaware that it may be unlawful or illegal to practice across state lines, depending on their state's rules. If your T answers in a manner that is defensive ("Of course, I am licensed to practice anywhere!") or rebounding (answering a question with a question to put the pressure on you, such as, "Why do you ask that?"), then that's a red flag that (a) the T is unaware of the laws pertaining to telehealth across state lines, and (b) the T may not have worked out all the past issues with traumas if the T gets easily offended by asking basic questions like that (no matter what the T's known limitations are with their "maintained and acknowledged diagnosis(es) to their licensing board). The privacy of the T's mental health condition remains intact, so the licensing board would never disclose that information to the general public (as they ARE ETHICAL). However, you've got to wonder if the T is ethical enough when the T outright states their diagnosis to an inquiring prospective patient. The T's basis for expertise should be more on their training, not on their own experiences with *personally witnessing* or *being diagnosed with* a mental health condition that is similar to their patient's. Medical doctors don't disclose their diagnoses, nor should psychotherapists and the like. It's unprofessional, in my humble opinion. It may be necessary as a therapist and patient get to know one another over the course of a few months, at minimum, but definitely not as a "selling point" to lure patients in.

Proceed with caution.