The Dissociation Spectrum + What Causes Dissociative Disorders?

Let's talk about dissociation & the dissociation spectrum. I get asked a lot do you have to have trauma or have had PTSD to experience dissociation? The answer is no. I like to think of dissociation as a spectrum where we have extreme dissociative identity disorder and then we have the other side of the dissociation spectrum where we just blank or phase out in certain situations, or maybe it's dissociative amnesia. We'll talk all through the different types of dissociation, what switching and amnesia are. What causes dissociation or what dissociation looks like for people. This explained video will cover so many types of dissociation. This may sound confusing, so stay with me here and watch the video to hear more about what I mean when I say the dissociation spectrum and the different types of dissociation within the dissociative responses to life events.

More videos about dissociation, dissociative identity disorder & types of dissociation:

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If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, please call a local emergency telephone number or go immediately to the nearest emergency room.

[LP-zcgy]

I’ve always disassociated and I never realized how abnormal it was until I found out other people don’t have entire separate worlds in their minds and don’t have periods where they feel like the world around them isn’t real.

Sometimes, I have dreams that feel more vivid than the “real” world and I have to spend a few days trying to determine if I’m awake or asleep.

[plasticfrank]

My mother doesn't remember my childhood. I can't talk to her about my father's abusive behavior because I'm pretty sure she disassociated through my entire childhood.

[AmeliaOak]

I have maladaptive daydreaming. It started in my childhood which was...um...stressful...and I still do it all the time.

[PhilosopherScholar]

"Our brain's gonna pull the rip cord on reality." Great quote.

[LizNeptune]

I’ve been saying for the past three years that I pretty much live in a semi disassociative state 24/7. If something stressful happens, I’ll feel even further outside of my body, but generally I feel very numb most of the time. I haven’t felt like myself in a really long time, and I feel like I don’t even know who that is.

[Cass_]

If you can’t fight or flight, you’ll dissociate

[Pushing_Pixels]

Inattentive ADHD is either a lot like, or is a kind of dissociating. I have that and ptsd, and sometimes it's hard to know which is causing me to check out mentally at any given time. I think one feeds into the other.

[angelcollina]

Sometimes when I try to bring up a situation where my mom was abusive, bringing it up tactfully without aggression or blame just talking, she’ll have no memory of it and usually says something to the effect of “I’d never do something like that!” Which is why I can’t really discuss things in my past with her. Not only was I hurt in the past, but brushed off and gaslit in the present. It hurts real bad. 😢

[APOLLINAIREBARTHOLOMIEU]

Psychedelics are just an exceptional mental health breakthrough. It's quite fascinating how effective they are against depression and anxiety. Saved my life.

[NilasJunkyard]

I do maladaptive daydreaming when I'm alone. I always did that when I was a child to not 'annoy' my parents.

[stoffls]

I am a master at maladaptive daydreaming and I never realized how much it disrupted my real life until I saw your videos. Though I am mostly aware of my surroundings, guess I implement this into my daily life quite good.

[donedennison]

Had a series of panic attacks and went to counseling. I started to realize, I'd been having "fainting" disassociation spells all my life. Listening to this video, I realized something that maybe other people need to know. I feel there are many times where I "spaced out" but left my listening behind. It was UNSAFE to just space out completely. It's apart.. like a dream.. what is REALLY happening. But I knew what was said. I played possum. I used to feel this meant I was "faking" the event. I see now... that it was such a defensive, self preserving act.

[LuunaticLuna]

Dissociation feels like a wild rollercoaster, in the beginning you are just confused because you don't understand what's happening, then you figure out that it's Dissociation and you hate Dissociation for all the things it took from you, and finally after you start to get better you understand that Dissociation is not the enemy and is just your brain shielding you and you understand that it saved your life.
You go from confusion, to hate for the things it took, to appreciation for the life it gave you.

[deluxeassortment]

I have to rewind this video 20 times because I got so stuck in my thoughts while she was describing the problems.

[cindygould]

I only remember small bits and pieces of my childhood. I protected myself from the severe emotional and extremely inappropriate behavior of my alcoholic father. I am one of 6 kids. 2 girls. 4 boys. My brothers are alcoholics. My sister has OCD and none of us are close in any way. My sister was also a victim of our father. My brothers attacked her verbally when she tried to tell them. Dissociation can happen at any time in your life. You are protecting yourself and don't need to know what you have forgotten. I am so happy I don't remember but also feel like I had no childhood at all. Years completely lost. ❤

[teschchr]

I can’t remember huge chunks if my childhood. It’s as if it didn’t happen. I was in foster care, adopted to abusive parents and, thank God, put back into foster care. I didn’t get the help I needed for years and I’m 62 and finally for the last year been present in my own life. If you’ve gone through something PLEASE get the help you need. You are worth it!

[chezamayukitsukanii]

I remember experiencing something like this during the time when I was severely burnt out from work. It felt like my life wasn't real, that I was watching myself from the outside.

[JeffinerM]

I think it's important to emphasise that dissociation in itself is not dangerous, and that just because you've had a dissociative fugue it doesn't mean that you will develop dissociative identity disorder further down the line. It's unpleasant and can be frightening, but in itself isn't dangerous or a symptom of something worse. There are ways to manage it if you dissociate frequently, and it doesn't mean that you're weak or broken ❤

[antecansada]

During my adolescence, sometimes I used to become physically unable to hear my environment. I would see people's lips moving, but I would not hear a thing. It happened so often, especially in school. I don't suffer from it anymore, but I still freeze out when I am faced with a confrontation. It is so frustrating because I want to defend myself but feel unable to.

[michelleallen]

Mine went on so long after traumatic grief, loss of my partner, that I, how can I put it, "came to" in an apartment I had somehow rented on my own with no recollection of getting the lease. This happened while frying up breakfast food and voices in my head told me to wake up. They told me what was going on and I booked my therapist ASAP. Apparently I'd already been seeing her for 6 months. I've come such a long way in the past 5 years, the voices are gone and I'm a nursing student with a mortgage. It can get better. Still feel so sad for the woman I used to be and have no idea of the journey she went through til that point or exactly how long it went on for, but I'm forever grateful she held on and got through it. We are now one again ❤