Dissociative Amnesia Part One: An Overview of Diagnostic Criteria

In this video from the CTAD Clinic, Dr Mike Lloyd (Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Clinic Director) discusses the main diagnostic criteria for Dissociative Amnesia (DA). Using the DSM-V as a guide, Mike talks about how we establish a diagnosis of Dissociative Amnesia, from initial assessment to completion, looking at what is included and what means DA could be ruled out.
#DissociativeAmnesia #Diagnosis

[totalcontrol]

I've had a lot of trouble accepting my diagnosis of DID cause I don't experience things like finding strange items in my closet or missing chunks of days where I have no recall of where I went. I also recall the worst events in my life, the traumatic bits and yet I forget chunks of easy going times. Sometimes it almost feels like my internal parts don't hold the traumatic events, they went in to stay innocent of the trauma and I stayed to deal with them. I know it doesn't fit the theory but I'm nearly 60 and I have seen a lot of therapists and done different types of treatments and I have never had an experience where I recovered forgotten memories. The three or four times when I have allowed parts to come out in therapy, I am present but it feels like I am in a trance. I cant help but feel that I am just acting out some character but then there's some gesture of the legs or hands, how I move, which seems to happen without my will, as if my hand or leg just moved on it's own... but I am still present. I'm trying to accept the diagnosis, but I also have a psych background, my brain is set to analysis and skeptism mode.

[amberandmarble]

Could you talk about emotional amnesia if possible please? I'm interested in your thoughts from your clinical experience, of any obvious differences in the way that people with DID experience amnesia compared to those you have seen with OSDD. Many thanks.

[twinstarssystem]

i thought this WAS normal memory loss lol

me: i don't have amnesia!!
also me: *literally doesn't have any memories aside from a couple snapshots and disconnected emotions*

[rhael]

Thank you so much for this! I've never been able to find any description of what "normal forgetting" refers to, and your explanation helped me better understand that a lot of my memory loss is definitely not normal. Now if only I could find a therapist...

[nunyabizness]

Thank you, Dr.Mike. Like all your videos, this one is helpful for better understanding the dissociative amnesia that is a frequent part of my DID condition. I am looking forward to your future video on dissociative fugues. Had a few of those myself (in my mid-twenties). Very scary stuff, those were. I ended up in places with no idea where I was, how I got there, who I was, or how I got back home. No clue, then or now. It's a wonder I'm still alive.

But I'm glad I am! :) My system and I are working through DID treatment now with a great therapist (who has years of experience helping DID clients like me). It's good to get help. It's still a ton of work on my part, but I don't think I could manage this journey without a caring, capable guide and a good support system (loving husband, amazing teens, good health insurance, and a safe home life). I'm in a much better place now than I was a year ago. Even Christmas was peaceful this year. Not too wobbly. It's like a miracle to me, to be healing and becoming more stable and well.

Can you do a video expressing your thoughts on "integration?" Also, as a therapist, what are your goals for the final outcome? We know about the treatment phases, but what do you think is the most ideal outcome of treatment? Where does the healthy client "land, " in terms of being able to live life independently of therapy? Some days, I feel like "just me, " but other days, we know for sure we are a system. It's kind of fluid, not really all one thing or another.

I have goals for the rest of my life. I would like to have all that past trauma resolved and worked through -- to know what happened to me, what it did to my inner being, and how I became a complex dissociative system in order to survive and move life forward. I'd like to continue growing as a system and as a whole person, with each part settling in to our "new normal, " now that the amnesiac barriers are (mostly) down between us all (I do have a twerpy part who keeps hiding my eyeglasses). I'd like to be peaceful, joyful, and reasonably productive. I am committed to loving and partnering in life with my husband, raising our children, and serving in our church and community. I'd like to be physically healthier. I'd like to stay well ahead of despair, however much it runs after me. At some point, I'd like to be a spokesperson or support person for others with DID, especially those in the newbie stages -- just finding out that they are "like this." It's a lot to wrap your head around, in those early days. I'm glad I was diagnosed, though. For the first time in my life, I made sense to myself. ;) Thank you for what you do. Happy New Year!

[The_Cyber_System]

It took a while to understand that you were talking about dissociative amnesia as separate from DID, rather than explaining it as a symptom. I was going to ask or politely request if there could be some discussion on 'emotional amnesia' or 'partial amnesia' but hopefully you can get to that in another video.

I like the word snapshots. That's a word we use a lot when talking to our support team.

[Nhouah]

Could you talk about emotional amnesia as well in a video please ? :) Thank you for your videos.

[cirrus.floccus]

I do have dissociative amnesia as part of DID and yes, I don't remember 14 years of my life, yes, everything that happened more than a few days ago is always kinda blurry, but I still describe it to people who don't have amnesia like this: so, everyone knows these things like being sure you put something in a certain place but it isn't there (because you moved it and don't remember) or not being sure if you dreamed something or if it actually happened. And dissociative amnesia is like that, but, ALL THE TIME. That's why it's so easy to mistake it for just forgetfulness. The only reason I figured out that something was wrong was that I had another trauma happen when I was 22 or something and it got significantly worse after that. Honestly, I thought I had some kind of brain damage.

[izzies]

Glad I bumped Into your videos. Informative for me

[abbiepancakeeater]

this is weird, but while watching this, i just had a very short flashback to being in school. i could smell a nice, comforting, warm person and felt like i was in the presence of some nice male teacher at age 10 or so.
super random... but it was nice :)

[ToriaDumOfTheTweedle]

Your videos are always so helpful and affirming. Thank you.

[jamespatrik]

So clear and concise. Thank you so much - very helpful to me as I'm revising for my exams.

[tlwf.system]

Thank you for this I've had this my whole life 🥰 love your work 💓 I don't remember my life, name or most days what I've done that day or the day before. Mine comes from childhood trauma . Undergoing dx for d.i.d - mine was dx dissociative amnesia but now looking at d.i.d due to personalities arising years ago

[kc]

I've been in therapy for a year now and I'm still struggling with understanding dissociative amnesia in our DID system. I often even forget that I have amnesia until something like " how was your weekend?" Comes up and I can't remember what I did to answer the question.

[pamlee]

Thank you soo much for your video. I've gained more understanding about it.

[ConnieAshlyn]

That’s exactly how my child to teen memory is—just snap shots.

[Lucy-bg]

Hey so i have a few questions.
So i probably have cptsd and i know that that can cause issues with memory, i also have adhd witch also is commen for having memory issues.
How do i know if my issues with memory are from those two or if i also have dissosiative amneasa?
I have nearly no memory of my childhood at all, im 17 and if im asked to recall events as far back as i can i could recall events that happened throught the last year but only in dry facts, more as if i remember that the things happened instead of remembering the content of the events themselve, and beyond that like 2 more years i can kinda remember specific things that happened but its all blurry, and beyond that i cant really remember a thing.
Also just trying to remember anything in the past takes a lot of energy from me.
Is it possible that my issues with memory are just from cptsd and adhd or is it likely i might have dissociative amneasa? Also if its relevnt i have autism, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, dyslexia and probably depression. Also i have a lot of issues with derelization and depersenlization. I dont think i have DID bc i dont experiance having alters but i might just not be aware of having alters(tho i dont think thats the case).

[loriandcrew]

Amnesia, for me, is one of the top 3 problems I worry over. Not remembering my childhood is frustrating enough, but forgetting current events makes me feel stupid, and I often wonder if I have something wrong with my brain. I don't experience finding myself in foreign places; however, I have a few parts who have come out and wondered where they are or seem amazed by the surroundings as though they haven't been in the real world for decades. That experience is wonderous, but general amnesia on my part is not fun. I feel I must be switching so frequently and seamlessly throughout the day, mainly between ANP’s of which I believe to be 4 or 5 of us. Its crazy-making.
Of topic, I wonder, Dr. Mike, if you’d be kind enough to consider a video exploring coded or made-up languages. I have at least two parts who speak an indecipherable language that is consistent. I'm not sure why these parts speak this way, or what the purpose would be for them to have made up a language. Another part, I suspect, recites chants learned for the organization Mom associated with. I cannot be sure of this but have a strong sense of its truth. Yes, baby parts babble; I get that, but the coded and made-up language is hard to reconcile. Also, it's hard for me to say this, and parts are trying to prevent me from writing but can you talk about ritual abuse? Please.

[heatherbrenner]

When I was in 6th grade (about 11) I was in the gym at my school and i remember sitting down next to a wall and the next thing i knew I was in a totally different place. In an office in some other part of the school.. I don't remember anything else about that whole day. It was a long time ago now. I have kind of been on a quest to understand what happened to me that day. I have had other times where I totally checked out but that time was one where other people caught me doing it.
I freaked out a dentist once by dissociating while i was getting work done. He brought me back by going "hey, hey" He said "are you ok" I said it hurts a bit. He said "oh you had no expression whatsoever on your face." That is all i remember from that experience.

[AvonnaKevin]

Do you take clients virtually from the US?