[neri]

which were meant to define how common dissociative symptoms are among the population, NOT to diagnose anyone. (got the idea to surf from what rapunzel said) ...these were in finnish so translation might suck

1. I am able to ignore pain
2. I'm not sure have I done something, or just thought about it
3. Sometimes I remember past so vividly it feels like reliving it
4. I sometimes stare in to space without being aware of time
5. I talk out loud to myself
6. I find evidence of having done things I can't remember doing
7. I'm not always sure if event happened or was it a dream
8. I'm approached by people I don't know, who call me with a different name
9. I sometimes have a feeling as though I was observing myself from outside
10. I'm not always sure did something really happen or did i just think it did
11. I find notes I don't remember writing
12. I don't remember all the inportant events of my life (e.g. my own wedding, graduation...)
13. I can be in a familiar place and find it unfamiliar
14. I sometimes hear voices in my head that comment my actions or tell me what to do
15. Other people and objects don't feel real. Sometimes i feel like my body wasn't my own
16. I sometimes don't regognize myself from the mirror. Sometimes I find myself dressed in clothes i don't remember putting on.
17. I can find myself in a place and be unaware how i got there
18. I sometimes look at the world as if through a fog

Wow, i didn't know such common stuff are "dissociative" (i know the disorder is a different thing) i mean i have most of those but i think everyone at least talks to themselves and stare to space, feel a little surreal sometimes and don't always remember did stuff really happen or were they just dreams or thoughts...

i hope no one gets offended about this post.. this was just about "basic" dissociation ..not about DID... And what do i know anyway?

[Rapunzel]

Neriz,

Thanks for sharing that. It has been just recently that I learned that all those symptoms were examples of dissociation. There are many degrees of dissociation, and not everybody who dissociates has DID. In fact, everybody dissociates sometimes. Even daydreaming or getting really involved in a movie or book are ways to dissociate because you're not in touch with where you are and what is happening around you at those moments. There's a book I read recently about everyday dissociation. You might like it. The Myth of Sanity, by Martha Stout. Stranger in the Mirror, by Marlene Steinberg and Maxine Schnall, also looks good. I have it but haven't read it yet.

You should know that dissociation can be a healthy and protective response to things that are difficult for us to handle. But if we do it too much, then we don't live life as fully as we could.