#Dissociative disorders

[madpunks]

poor memory is a huge deal and i wish people wouldn't diminish it by saying "oh yeah i can't remember what i had for breakfast lol."

i can't remember the first 10 years of my life. i can't remember entire days, weeks, months at a time. i can't remember entire people, i can't remember names or faces. i can't remember when things are scheduled for, my calendar app on my phone is booked to the max with reminders and task checklists. i can't remember when i moved into what home when, i can't remember important milestone dates like when i got or lost certain jobs, or when i started a new hobby.

that's what i mean when i say i have poor memory. poor memory is so scary for the person who has it. it's not a quirky thing, everyone forgets small details. memory problems are scary because you can go through entire events or days with no memory, or plan for things in the future that you can't recall ever even looking into or scheduling. it's not a funny haha kind of thing, it's serious, and it affects a lot of people in very unavoidable ways.

not being able to plan for appointments or work schedules, not being able to remember people's names or faces, not being able to recall whether or not you were present for something or whether or not you met someone, not being able to keep track of what's happening on what dates and losing track of items because you can't remember where you put them are all very real problems, and anyone dealing with them deserves to be taken seriously, and not diminished when they choose to speak up about it.

[growing-home]

i feel like we don’t always talk about the smaller ways that having a dissociative disorder (and not being “out” about it) can really disable a person— i’m in a choir, and idk how to explain to the musical director that SOMETIMES i am a soprano and have no trouble hitting high notes while other times i feel like i physically cannot sing that high. or how sometimes my guitar feels like an extension of my body but sometimes i don’t even remember how i’m supposed to hold it properly. or in art therapy when i only sometimes have access to my adult level of artistic skill while sometimes i have the skill level of a five year old. my dissociative disorder very much disables me, and this is something i don’t see people talking about outside of the ways that PTSD disables those with dissociative disorders. what i mean is that sometimes i do not have the ability to do very basic tasks. dissociative disorders are developmental disorders, and i am very much developmentally disabled much of the time.

i don’t plan on ever being publicly out about my dissociative disorder in a non anonymous setting. i have a hard time even talking about my parts in therapy even to the clinician that diagnosed me with DID. it feels unbearably vulnerable and not safe to tell people about my parts. i feel like we’re seeing more and more people on tik tok start talking publicly about their DID, and while that may be very helpful for them, i honestly can’t imagine ever being fully out with it like that. keeping it secret is what has kept me safe, it is how i survived the last twenty years of my life. my experience with DID also does not line up with most of the DID content i’ve seen online— and i don’t mean this to invalidate those whose experiences are different than mine, it’s just that it can feel really lonely and isolating to have a dissociative disorder that doesn’t fit with the worlds preconceived image of what a dissociative disorder looks like. this is part of why i typically just say that i have dissociative disorder instead of DID.

tldr: dissociative disorders can really impair basic functioning and i feel like people forget that when they focus so much on the parts of DID that are more sensationalized in the media.

[multiplicity-positivity]

(Image ID:) a blue, green, and white graphic titled “Depersonalization versus Derealization: Exploring the differences in two dissociative symptoms” organized in two columns. The left hand column is titled “Depersonalization” with a stock icon of a head with a scribbled like for the brain. The right hand column is titled “Derealization” with a stock icon of a broken heart.

The statements in the “Depersonalization” column read: “I have trouble recognizing myself, including my reflection and aspects of my identity,” “I feel as though I don’t exist, like I’m invisible, or like someone besides me is controlling my body,” “I feel disconnected from thoughts, memories, and actions, and have a weak sense of identity,” and “I feel numb physically and emotionally when recalling my own past or painful events.”

The statements in the “Derealization” column read: “I have trouble recognizing my surroundings and environment,” “I feel as though the world around me doesn’t exist, including places and people I interact with daily,” “I feel disconnected from reality and struggle to determine what’s real and what isn’t,” and “I feel numb to the world around me, and daily life seems foggy, unreal, and fake.”

Below these columns is the word “sources:” with the following links:

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/dissociative-disorders/

https://www.isst-d.org/public-resources-home/fact-sheet-iv-what-are-the-dissociative-disorders/

https://www.dpmanual.com/articles/depersonalization-and-derealization-whats-the-difference/

(END ID)

This infographic was made by us, Halberd (@dreamlandsystem). Feel free to save and share as much as you’d like. Program used: Canva. Image credits: Pixabay. This infographic explores our personal experiences with DPDR, with additional sources for further reading.

[sophieinwonderland]

Quick reminder: MPD was a "multiple personality" disorder. Not a multiple "personality disorder."

MPD was always in the category of dissociative disorders since it was first introduced in the DSM-III.

The name change in the DSM-IV merely put DID's name more in-line with how it was already categorized.

So if you see someone rambling about how they won't trust old sources that call it MPD because doctors didn't know DID isn't a personality disorder, remember the person saying that is a fool who has no idea what they're talking about.

DID, even when it was called MPD, was always categorized as a dissociative disorder.

Learn. Your. Facts.

Learn your history.

Don't use a name change to disregard research that came before.

[furiousgoldfish]

I will say 'I'm fine' then turn around and have a whole dissociative disorder

[genderqueerdykes]

i just had the worst fucking cluster headache of my life, i could not function OR rest for about 3 hours, i was just sitting in various spots of my apartment like this >_< while trying to find the darkest spot i could, alternating between trying to sleep and trying to just sit there.

trying to sleep made it worse, somehow? i eventually was able to in the end but for several hours trying to sleep made the pain throb and stab. i took some seroquel and that was able to help me sleep but i could not open my eyes for the life of me, nor could i keep them shut for too long. my right eye / back of my head just hurt like hell for no reason for 3 hours and at several points i just kinda whined and cried a little because there was not really much i could do drinking water didnt help. i ate food, that didnt help

that sucks ass. if you deal with these too, im sorry. people trivialize headaches all the time, but this one resisted an extra gabapentin, which helps with migraines and headaches, and i was still unable to do anything but deal with what was happening. there are a lot of different types and manifestations of headaches. if someone tells you they're experiencing a bad headache, please let them do what they need in order to get through whatever they're experiencing

[ethanthealien]

This is kind of a long shot.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had a reaction while under oral anesthesia where they were told that they couldn't breathe/their throat was constricted, something like that? I had this reaction once while under anesthesia, but a previous time I've been under anesthesia, I didn't have this reaction at all.

I was told that this reaction is extremely rare - so rare that the dentist telling me about it said they've only encountered it less then 10 times in their entire years of practice.

I told them I have DID and PTSD (I previously didn't tell them about either. I did not think it was necessary) and they told me that that adds up because every single person who has had that reaction had PTSD.

I'm wondering if anyone else out there has had this ?? Have you had it once, but not other times? I don't know.

I have an upcoming oral surgery next week, but they dismissed my concerns and wouldn't opt for having the surgery at a safer location, at a hospital where they would have the tools necessary to help me and make sure such a reaction doesn't happen again. I'm terrified that this is going to happen again, and I'm terrified that it might result in my actual death.

I guess I wonder if anyone else has had this happen, do you know why?? What it's called??

When I Google, something called laryngospasm comes up, and I have no idea if that could be it.

I'm desperately hoping that maybe there's a chance it won't happen again, I'll just turn out lucky.. I don't know..

I've had a tooth infection for like probably a fucking year now and I've had so many things come up that have forced me to put off getting it treated outside of my control, from being denied insurance, having to be put on insurance again, most places in general not taking my insurance, or insurance denying coverage, and the previous oral surgeon it was GOING to be treated at no longer taking my insurance and so having to find a new place.

I'm sorry about so many tags, I'm trying to reach as wide amount of people as possible.

[theapollosystem]

I found this research article on dissociative disorders

It's good because its through why the trauma model isn't exactly right it's faults and the sociocognitive models faults. It's how they're both right and wrong at the same time and how we can use those to create a new framework for dissociative disorders.

It's a very interesting read, cause well the debate of Traumagenic vs Endogenic has already being going on with different terms in psychology for decades.

Literally in the article there is "Yet we suggest that the origins of dissociation extend well beyond trauma. Even if trauma were a reliable precursor of dissociative symptoms, which it is not, it would still be necessary to explain (a) why only some individuals who experience highly adverse events experience dissociative disorders, whereas others are resilient, and (b) how such events bring about dissociative phenomena beyond the idea that dissociation occurs solely for defensive purposes. We suggest that the origins of dissociation are multidetermined, differ across individuals, and relate to failures in adaptive mechanisms operative in nontraumatic as well as traumatic circumstances."

Guys i can't believe its not as simple as its caused by trauma or not its both, It's almost like humans are extremely complex

-Apollo

[eliana-system]

"if you don't show your diagnosis you don't have x disorder/illness" sure buddy let me go through the hell of getting diagnosed just for this purpose, and if I already am, let me just post my personal information on the internet this seem so not dangerous and not bad advice thank you so much

What do you mean I can't get diagnosed officially with a severe dissociative disorder because it would be told to my parents and also make it near impossible to get a loan? What you mean doctors could refuse to treat me because they think I'm "crazy" and therefore making up symptoms? What do you mean if I put my disability diagnoses on the internet I would dox myself? What do you mean they're not in English so the assholes wouldn't even understand?????? Yeah I guess that means im faking! yippee my physical and mental pain are totally gone and I don't need my wheelchair anymore!!

[amethysthaunting]

feel free to add whether ur like OSDD-1a, 1b, P-DID, DID, polyfragmented, recently discovered, or any other notable distinction

[madpunks]

"it's really hard to get a diagnosis for dissociative identity disorder, which means it's fake." no, what that means is that the vast majority of diagnosing psychiatric professionals (at least in America and Canada) are not trained at all on dissociative disorders and did not receive enough training in trauma therapy to be able to recognize the signs of DID.

we were diagnosed 3 years after we originally tried to seek help for it, only because we were lucky enough to find someone who had sought the training and did the research. it has been confirmed since by several other professionals who have specifically gone through the training. it can and does happen, but the reason it's hard is because us dissociatives can't match up easily with the professionals that know jack shit about it.

that's the problem. a lack of competent providers and ways to get dissociative patients to see the ones that exist.

[small-but-mightyy]

[ametistapp]

Want to be part of a group blog on how to write neurodivergent characters?

[Large text: "Want to be part of a group blog on how to write neurodivergent characters?"]

I've found Tumblr blogs on writing physically disabled and POC characters, but nothing specifically for neurodivergence.

Maybe there is something I just haven't found yet, but even if so, I think the most resources the better.

So, hi! I'm Amethyst — amateur writer and neurodivergent, and now looking for people to help me out with this project.

I could try this on my own, but I would rather have other neurodivergents with me (especially with different conditions from mine)

Does anyone want to help me make a change?

[sophieinwonderland]

thoughts on dissociative disorders that don't include plurality as a symptom?

Like what?

Aside from "they exist", I don't really think of them much.

I guess though, I am a bit interested in the boundaries of plurality.

Like, take DPDR. Is this actually "not plural" or is it just switching with a headmate that's sort of a blank slate?

And if it's the latter, could interacting with that state as if it were a headmate cause it to become more elaborate?

These hypotheticals are interesting to me because they change how we think of dissociative disorders.

There's this idea that DID is the most severe dissociative disorder and is caused by the most trauma. People have this sort of scale in their heads when they think of these disorders with some being notably worse than others, and DID is at the highest end, with OSDD-1 right below that, and dissociative amnesia/DPDR below that.

But like, if you were to talk to a DPDR state until it became fully self-conscious, that human would suddenly meet the criteria for OSDD-1b under the DSM. (Not technically a real term.) AND they would meet the criteria for DID under the ICD-11. (Where amnesia isn't required.)

This would be huge because it would completely throw out the idea of DID as the most severe dissociative disorder and perhaps lead to a more nuanced understanding of plurality as a whole.

So in that regard, I have an interest in other dissociative disorders. It's just not what I primarily focus on.

[furiousgoldfish]

reblog if your short term memory AND your long term memory are both shit and wildly selective