Are you experiencing forgetfulness, being disconnected from the environment, feeling like watching yourself in a movie, etc.? If yes, you may have developed dissociative disorders. These disorders make you lose awareness of your surroundings or self. ‘Dissociation’ means your mind wanders or gets lost in a daydream. However, if you’ve experienced persistent dissociation, you may need to visit the doctor because chronic dissociation can be overwhelming and can lead to suicide or self-harm behavior. That’s why you should be aware of dissociative disorders and their types so that you can timely take treatment to improve your condition.
Keep reading this article.  

What are dissociative disorders? 

Dissociative disorders are mental disorders that provide you with an involuntary escape from reality by creating a disconnect between thoughts, memories, surroundings, actions, and identity. People with these disorders find it troubling to identify their senses or become unaware of their sensory experiences. Anyone can develop these disorders regardless of their age group, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic background. Around 75% of people experience at least one depersonalization episode in their lives, however, only 2% meet the full criteria for chronic episodes. Usually, women are more vulnerable to getting this disorder than men.  

These dissociation disorders are often related to trauma such as traumatic accidents, disasters, crime victimization, etc. because dissociation can help the person to endure those situations which might become difficult to bear. That’s why a person may dissociate their memory of the place, circumstances, feelings about those events, fear, pain, and horror to deal with reality. It is found that 90% of people with dissociative identity disorder (DID) experience childhood abuse or negligence.

People may have a tough time remembering the details of the incidents reported by many disaster and accident survivors. The symptoms usually develop as a response to their traumatic event and get worse during stressful situations and everyday problems. However, symptoms depend on the type of dissociative disorder that person has.  

Sometimes, people with dissociative disorders don’t require treatment as their dissociation resolves on their own. But mostly, treatment is required in case their symptoms meet the criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other types of dissociative disorder.  

Treatment is usually given by psychotherapy and medication. Although finding an effective treatment can be difficult for dissociative disorders, many people learn how to cope with their dissociation and live healthy and productive lives. 

When do you need to contact a doctor?  

If an individual with dissociative disorders experiences a crisis with traumatic flashbacks that are overwhelming or linked with harmful behavior. Then, people with these symptoms need emergency medical attention.  

Or if they have less urgent symptoms such as forgetfulness, feeling connected to a dream world, etc. then it may indicate a dissociative disorder, so you should contact a mental health professional to get an early diagnosis and treatment.

Worried about experiencing a dissociative disorder? Call us at 718-DORAL-55, 1-347-384-5690 to get a consultation. If you need help learning coping methods, register your information and make direct contact with our doctors and psychiatrists to learn those methods, log on to www.doralhw.org. Doral Health and Wellness has the best Doctors and Psychiatrists who specialize in Behavioral Health, make accurate diagnoses, and craft tailored treatment programs. Visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212.