dissociative disorders

Explore " dissociative disorders" with insightful episodes like "Zoning Out, Dissociating, & Alter Ego's", "I Feel Like a Ghost - Am I Disassociating?", "Hope & Healing After Trauma with Trauma Specialist Ericia Yeo", "Getting Attached Too Easily Disorder And Attachment Disorder In Adulthood (5 Cures!) 💞" and "Colin Blunstone / Adam Duritz (Counting Crows)" from podcasts like ""The Small But Mighty Podcast", "Pynk Spots", "Inspired Living", "Magnetize Your Man | Dating & Relationship Advice For Successful Women" and "Sending Signals"" and more!

Episodes (5)

Zoning Out, Dissociating, & Alter Ego's

Zoning Out or Dissociating

What are dissociation and dissociative disorders?
- The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), defines dissociation as a disruption, interruption, and/or discontinuity of the normal, subjective integration of behavior, memory, identity, consciousness, emotion, perception, body representation, and motor control
- Dissociative disorders are mental disorders that involve experiencing a disconnection and lack of continuity between thoughts, memories, surroundings, actions, and identity.
What are the 5 dissociative disorders?
- Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
- Dissociative Amnesia (DA)
- Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder (DPDRD)
- Other Specified Dissociative Disorders (OSDD)
- Unspecified Dissociative Disorder (UDD)
What does an episode of dissociation look like?
1. Warning signs for adults
  - Rapid mood swings
  - Trouble remembering personal details
  - Forgetfulness about things you’ve said or done
  - Behavior or abilities that change (altered identities)
  - Depression, anxiety, or panic attacks
  - Thoughts of suicide or self-harm
  - Substance abuse
  - Failed treatments or hospitalizations for mood disorders
2. Warning signs for children
  - Seem spacey
  - Stare out the window a lot
  - Have imaginary friends
  - Forget they’ve said or done something
  - Have ADHD or other learning disabilities
3. Symptoms
  - Have an out-of-body experience
  - Feel like you are a different person sometimes
  - Feel like your heart is pounding or you’re light-headed
  - Feel emotionally numb or detached
  - Feel little or no pain
  - Have an altered sense of time
  - Not remember how you got somewhere
  - Have tunnel vision
  - Hear voices in your head
  - Have intense flashbacks that feel real
  - Become immobile
  - Get absorbed in a fantasy world that seems real
Am I zoning out or dissociating or, or, or?
- Zoning Out is considered a mild form of dissociating
- Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder is at the other end of the spectrum for dissociative disorders

End of show segways for the next episode: Mention DPDRD, how it’s at the end of the spectrum, that there are tests they use, and how we will go more in-depth on this subject in the next episode.

Resources:

Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 20:3, 229-242

https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2018.20.3/rloewenstein

Mayo Clinic

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dissociative-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20355215

WebMD

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociation-overview#091e9c5e81d2fc56-3-7

The Small But Mighty Podcast

enFebruary 07, 2023

mental health

trauma

ptsd

dissociative identity disorder

dissociation

I Feel Like a Ghost - Am I Disassociating?

Today I am flying solo for my first Pynk Spots advice episode! I answer a question from Anonymous (she/her):

My depression and anxiety have been exacerbated by quarantine. I’ve heard disassociating and disassociation in mental health communities but haven’t researched it much.

In a conversation with a friend, I mentioned that I have been having a hard time and feel like I’ve been disassociating. She immediately told me that is not a term I should use for ‘zoning out’ (not what I said) because it’s a mental health condition that her sister has and it’s really serious and scary.

I thought it was a broader term than the symptoms she described that her sister has so now I’m confused, and I’m also hurt that she felt the need to jump in and focus on that instead of being with me in a vulnerable moment. I often feel like a ghost when I’m alone for an extended period of time, or when I’m feeling very depressed I find myself disconnecting from how my body feels.

I know you have talked about disassociating before and was wondering if you would be comfortable talking about your experiences and help me to understand if this is what is happening to me, as I don’t want to appropriate the term if it’s not. Also, am I right in feeling hurt about my friend taking that time to have an educational moment with me?

We dig deep on disassociation, what it is and what it looks like, what causes us to disassociate, and I give a lot of personal testimony along the way.

Resources

Dr. Devon Price's Essay "Therapy Isn't For Everyone" (Medium.com)
Dissociation and dissociative disorders (mind.org.uk)
Dissociation And Dissociative Disorders (Mental Health America)
Dissociation FAQs (International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Love the show!? Click the links below to support me, follow me, or join the community:

Pay me, Daddy!
Patreon | Venmo | PayPal
Join the community!
Discord
Follow me and give me validation!
Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Website

enFebruary 06, 2021

Hope & Healing After Trauma with Trauma Specialist Ericia Yeo

Ericia is an illustrator and mental health advocate passionate about using art to talk about trauma & healing, holding a safe space for others and sharing her personal recovery journey. She is currently studying to become a clinical psychologist in Melbourne. You can find her work on Instagram at @ericiaa_ and she is available for projects, commissions & collaborations.’

Ericia has created a special gift for listeners! She is offering a free wallpaper as a digital download available on her IG page @ericiaa_

enJune 28, 2020