Dissociative disorder can be described as a mental disorder that involves experiences of disconnection and a lack of continuity between the thoughts and memories of a person including a lack of awareness of the surroundings, actions and even identity. People who are suffering from dissociative disorder generally escape reality in such an extreme way that they lose focus of what is happening around them which causes involuntary and unhealthy actions that may hamper the normal way of life.
Studies have found that dissociative disorder is a result of a trauma that the person may have encountered prior to the symptoms and tries to keep the difficult memories related to that incident away from their mind. Symptoms of dissociative disorder range from amnesia to even alternate identities depending heavily on the type of dissociative disorder that the person is suffering from. Research has shown that stress is a major factor in inducing the disorder. Stress worsens the symptoms and makes the disorder obvious.
There are a number of treatments for dissociative disorder. It ranges from talk therapy or psychotherapy to medications. However, it must be noted that treating dissociative disorder is difficult and research and studies have tried to learn new and approved ways to cope with it to lead a healthy, productive life on a daily basis.
Causes of dissociative disorder
To know more about dissociative disorder let’s learn about the causes of the disorder. Medical research over the years has been able to delve deep into the causes associated with dissociative disorder. The results have concluded that dissociative disorder develops in an individual as a way to cope with a major trauma that he/she may have experienced in their life. The disorder is often seen to develop in a child who has been subjected to years and years of physical abuse along with sexual and emotional abuse. In many cases, a toxic home environment is responsible for the above said abuses also results in a dissociative disorder. Moreover, the stress of war on a soldier or the effects of a natural disaster on an individual can also induce dissociative disorder.
Childhood is an important time for the development of personality. Children are more prone to emotions than a grown-up. So even if the abuse is happening on someone else, a child will pick up on it and develop their personality around it. A child may learn to dissociate in order to cope with the traumatic situation. And as a result, he employs that same dissociation in the latter part of their life to endure any traumatic situation or anything that triggers similar memories.
It is always advised to take help from a professional if the situation gets out of control.
