Although there are no medications that specifically treat
Dissociation might be a way to cope with very stressful experiences. You might experience dissociation as a symptom of a mental health problem, for example post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder.
There are no drugs licensed to treat dissociation specifically. Your doctor might offer you psychiatric medication to treat other problems you may experience alongside dissociation. These problems may include depression, anxiety and panic attacks, suicidal feelings, hearing voices and OCD.
Antidepressants can cause a number of dissociative experiences including: Amnesia. Déjà vu. Depersonalization.
As dissociative symptoms often develop in response to overwhelming emotional stress or pain, worsening depression and anxiety can trigger deeper and longer periods of dissociation. Antidepressants can stabilize mood and reduce intrusive symptoms that trigger dissociation.
Antidepressants can also stabilize mood and reduce the intrusive symptoms that trigger dissociative symptoms. Research shows that a combination of an SSRI and lamotrigine, a mood stabilizer, is an effective treatment for dissociative disorders, especially depersonalization-derealization disorder.
Antidepressants like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as escitalopram (Lexapro) and paroxetine (Paxil) or serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) like duloxetine (Cymbalta) and venlafaxine (Effexor); may reduce the anxiety and apprehension involved in dissociation.
Psychotherapy is the primary treatment for dissociative disorders. This form of therapy, also known as talk therapy, counseling or psychosocial therapy, involves talking about your disorder and related issues with a mental health professional.
Dissociation may persist because it is a way of not having negative feelings in the moment, but it is never a cure. Too much dissociating can slow or prevent recovery from the impact of trauma or PTSD.
Symptoms of a dissociative disorder
feeling disconnected from yourself and the world around you. forgetting about certain time periods, events and personal information. feeling uncertain about who you are. having multiple distinct identities.
Eye contact is broken, the conversation comes to an abrupt halt, and clients can look frightened, “spacey,” or emotionally shut down. Clients often report feeling disconnected from the environment as well as their body sensations and can no longer accurately gauge the passage of time.
Brand names: Zoloft
Sertraline has an average rating of 6.1 out of 10 from a total of 7 reviews for the off-label treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder. 57% of reviewers reported a positive experience, while 43% reported a negative experience.
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.
Dissociative disorder clients typically spend many years in treatment. Many are hospitalized repeatedly over time.
Dissociation involves disruptions of usually integrated functions of consciousness, perception, memory, identity, and affect (e.g., depersonalization, derealization, numbing, amnesia, and analgesia).
Treatment for Dissociation
There is no specific drug to treat dissociation, but it's possible to get better with a mix of medication and counseling. Your doctor will tailor your care based on how severe your symptoms are and their cause.
Answer: Famous people with dissociative identity disorder include comedienne Roseanne Barr, Adam Duritz, and retired NFL star Herschel Walker. Walker wrote a book about his struggles with DID, along with his suicide attempts, explaining he had a feeling of disconnect from childhood to the professional leagues.
Since Depersonalization is a symptom of anxiety, it can be lessened as the anxiety is reduced. So SSRIs can, temporarily at least, diminish DP. I took SSRIs for a while and found that they had that effect. However -- and this is extremely important: Medication alone will not change the thought-habits of DP.
Passing feelings of depersonalization or derealization are common and aren't necessarily a cause for concern. But ongoing or severe feelings of detachment and distortion of your surroundings can be a sign of depersonalization-derealization disorder or another physical or mental health disorder.
In other words, the dissociation will stop when your brain no longer feels the need to protect you. Some preventative steps that you can take to manage dissociation related to anxiety include the following: Get enough sleep each night. Get regular exercise every day.
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.