Dissociation and depersonalization disorders Dissociative amnesia: People forget information about themselves or things that have happened to them. Depersonalization-
Depersonalization symptoms
Feeling like a robot or that you're not in control of your speech or movements. The sense that your body, legs or arms appear distorted, enlarged or shrunken, or that your head is wrapped in cotton. Emotional or physical numbness of your senses or responses to the world around you.
Zoning out is considered a type of dissociation, which is a feeling of being disconnected from the world around you. Some people experience severe dissociation, but "zoning out" is considered a much milder form. Daydreaming is the most common kind of zoning or spacing out.
Depersonalization refers to feeling like you're outside of yourself watching your own thoughts or actions from a removed distance. Derealization refers to feeling like the world around you isn't real. People in this state often describe their external surroundings as unclear, lifeless, or foggy.
Mental illnesses such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder may cause similar symptoms to a dissociative disorder. The effects of certain substances, including some recreational drugs and prescription medications, can mimic symptoms.
Four stages of the formation of depersonalization were identified: vital, allopsychic, somatopsychis and autopsychic.
Dissociation Symptoms
Memory loss surrounding specific events, interactions, or experiences. A sense of detachment from your emotions (aka emotional numbness) and identity. Feeling as if the world is unreal; out-of-body experiences. Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide.
Is zoning out the same as dissociation? No - the two are very different. ADHD-related zoning is simply a trait when the brain no longer focuses on the task at hand. Dissociation, on the other hand, can be due to Dissociative Disorders, which pertains to problems in emotions, memory, perception, behavior, and identity.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can teach you to challenge intrusive thoughts and manage symptoms of depersonalization. Trauma-focused therapy like eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) can help you process traumatic memories. Once your trauma heals, symptoms of depersonalization may lessen.
There are five main ways in which the dissociation of psychological processes changes the way a person experiences living: depersonalization, derealization, amnesia, identity confusion, and identity alteration.
Many times, people who are dissociating are not even aware that it is happening, other people notice it.
Being in a dissociated state may feel like spacing out or mind wandering. There may be a sense of the world not being real. People might watch themselves from seemingly outside their bodies. There is also a detachment from one's self-identity.
The key to managing dissociation related to anxiety is to practice grounding techniques to bring yourself back into the present moment. You can do this by always having a "grounding plan" that you put in place when you find yourself spacing out or otherwise feeling as though you are dissociating.
Like other dissociative disorders, depersonalization disorder often is triggered by intense stress or a traumatic event -- such as war, abuse, accidents, disasters, or extreme violence -- that the person has experienced or witnessed.
Transient depersonalization/derealization is quite common. This situation occurs when you experience depersonalization symptoms briefly. You have a fleeting feeling of being detached from yourself or the environment. You may feel like you're watching yourself in a movie.
Depersonalization symptoms include
Patients feel like an outside observer of their life. Many patients also say they feel unreal or like a robot or automaton (having no control over what they do or say). They may feel emotionally and physically numb or feel detached, with little emotion.
You may feel as if you have no control over your actions. This terrifying feeling often is accompanied by thoughts and fears of losing touch with reality or losing control over yourself. Depersonalization can cause frightening physical sensations such as numbness or tingling.
Severe stress, anxiety, and depression are common triggers for DPDR. A lack of sleep or an overstimulating environment can also make DPDR symptoms worse.
A 2018 article suggests that people with ADHD may develop symptoms of dissociation. ADHD may significantly increase mental stress levels. Developmental issues may affect how a person responds to stressful life events, which may lead to dissociation.
Differences in emotions in people with ADHD can lead to 'shutdowns', where someone is so overwhelmed with emotions that they space out, may find it hard to speak or move and may struggle to articulate what they are feeling until they can process their emotions.
As emphasized above, the evidence emerged in the research is that dissociative experiences are significantly associated with symptom clusters of the ADHD, particularly attention deficit symptoms.
Dissociation seems to fall on a continuum of severity. Mild dissociation would be like daydreaming, getting “lost” in a book, or when you are driving down a familiar stretch of road and realize that you do not remember the last several miles.
Depersonalization disorder.
Symptoms can last just a matter of moments or return at times over the years. The average onset age is 16, although depersonalization episodes can start anywhere from early to mid childhood. Less than 20% of people with this disorder start experiencing episodes after the age of 20.