Treatment of dissociative disorders with medication

Just wondering if there were any medications that may be in trial or being developed to help treat dissociative disorders that at present may be considered chronic illnesses.

I suffer from derealisation and developed it through psycosis and my docs are currently trying to treat it as a anxiety issue due to the fact that is all they can link it to.

Surely there has got to be more people out there experiencing this even though the numbers might not be many as the place i goto for treatment of my psychosis i am basically the only one currently experiencing it but there have been other people who have reported similar things to what has happened to me but the anti psychotic medications seem to be controlling them for this point in time but i am sure when it comes time for them to come off the medication they will experience the same thing i am going through now.

Companys seem to be able to engineer medications to treat many things i dont know why they dont try to engineer and trial one for this condition.

If you know of any companys currently in trial or aiming to develop a medication to treat this kind of thing would you be able to let me know.

Thanks,

Roy

Roy, I am not familiar with derealisation but they think my husband will have dissociative fugue states.

From the little I've learned while supporting him, I don't believe medication is the answer. One doc shocked me by saying there are no meds to treat DID...I thought and thought about it and she's right. DID, for most, is a coping mechanism. Unless you deal with what is causing you to dissociate I don't think your condition will improve. After a lot of thought, why medicate something if you don't need to. Slowly I am embracing this no medication thing...slowly.

Now, having said that, keep in mind that I've only had about a year of experience with this illness and a few months of GOOD resources. So what do I know?

kimmydawn should be along in a while and she may know more than I do. I like to think of her as my DID guru. She is very knowledgeable and helpful.

As someone who deals personally with extreme dissociation I'll say what my pdoc says: there are not any meds currently available to 'treat' dissociative disorders.

I keep my eye on the drug pipeline to see if anything might be coming this way that could work. Nothing that either my pdoc or myself have heard of yet.

Most people with DID spend seven to ten years in the mental health system before a proper dx. From that time in the system I can tell you that meds can help symptoms of depression and anxiety. There are also meds for the insomnia that is chronic.

But meds for the actual derealistion don't yet exist.

A good idea would be to become as educated about meds as you possibly can to work with your doctor(s) on taking the best possible mix for you. Some people are able to tolerate antipsychotic meds for a long time. You might be one of those. If the APs are helping right now I'd look for drugs with similar functions in the brain and ask lots of questions about these meds.

Sorry this isn't better news. Good luck and keep trying

I want to try using clozaral with the risperidone to see if that will work but my doc keeps tellin me no no its anxiety derealisation isnt caused by psychosis its anxiety.

Typical student psyc talk i think. I dont pay for her services its a free service. And unfortunatly i dont have a say in changing docs either.

I have been told off two different gp's that derealisation can develop through the psychosis and that in alot of cases anxiety isnt the problem. Why my GPs know this and a studying Psyc who's main focus of study is psychosis dosnt i have no idea. Makes me wonder what they teach in these uni's.

Im thinking of trying to get my GPs to write me a letter telling her that derealisation can be caused by psychosis and its not just anxiety that causes it.

My GPs both think i should just stick to the risperidone but i hate knowing that a medication that could help me may be out there but i cant do anything about it.

I know its been a long time, and I don't know if Roy you're still about, but how did you go with this?