Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsDissociation SymptomsTypes of Dissociative DisordersDissociation CausesComplicationsWarning SignsDiagnosisTreatmentOutlook
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Dissociation Symptoms
Types of Dissociative Disorders
Dissociation Causes
Complications
Warning Signs
Diagnosis
Treatment
Outlook
Dissociation is defined as disconnection or detachment from one’s sense of self (depersonalization) or one’s surroundings (derealization). Dissociation can be a response to a traumatic event or can be part of a mental health condition. Symptoms of dissociation can interfere with every aspect of mental functioning, including memory, identity, emotion, perception, and behavior.
Dissociation happens to nearly everyone at some point, but 7% of the population develops a dissociative disorder in their lifetimes. However, it’s thought that more people have these conditions but go undiagnosed.
This article explains the meaning of dissociation, the types and degrees of the condition, and the symptoms.
Verywell / Theresa Chiechi
You may experience mild symptoms of dissociation after a stressful or traumatic event. For example, if you witness an accident, it may feel like what you saw wasn’t real. These feelings of “unrealness” may last a few days until what happened “sinks in” and you’re able to start processing it.
When it’s part of a mental health condition, dissociation can be an ongoing experience that affects a person’s daily life.
Depersonalization
Depersonalizationis a feeling of detachment, distance, or disconnect from yourself, your body, or your mind. It feels like what is happening around you is not happeningtoyou.
If you are experiencing depersonalization, you are cut off from your thoughts, feelings, sensations, and actions.
Symptoms of depersonalization include:
What Does Dissociation Look Like?A person who is dissociating may look like they’re daydreaming, ignoring you, spacing out, or disconnected from the conversation and their surroundings. The person may seem different from their usual self.
What Does Dissociation Look Like?
A person who is dissociating may look like they’re daydreaming, ignoring you, spacing out, or disconnected from the conversation and their surroundings. The person may seem different from their usual self.
How to Tell If You’re Dissociating
Derealization
Derealizationis a feeling of unreality relating to other people, places, or objects. If you are experiencing derealization, you will feel like the things happening in the world around you are not real.
People experiencing derealization are prone to feeling that their surroundings are:
Dissociative disorders can affect consciousness, perception, memory, identity, behavior, motor control, and emotions.There are several dissociative disorders outlined in theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition(DSM-5).
Dissociative Amnesia
People with dissociative amnesia have memory gaps in information about themselves (autobiographical). Usually, the gaps relate to stressful or traumatic memories.
How Is Dissociative Amnesia Different From Dementia?Dementia is a brain disorder that causes the loss of memory as well as language, problem-solving, and other thinking abilities.Unlike people withdementia, people with dissociative amnesia have an intact memory for general information and can learn new information.
How Is Dissociative Amnesia Different From Dementia?
Dementia is a brain disorder that causes the loss of memory as well as language, problem-solving, and other thinking abilities.Unlike people withdementia, people with dissociative amnesia have an intact memory for general information and can learn new information.
Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder
People withdepersonalization-derealization disorderexperience a persistent and significantly altered sense of identity or external surroundings (or both). It can look like daydreaming, spacing out, or having an out-of-body experience, such as feeling like you’re floating above your body.
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Formerly known as multiple personality disorder,dissociative identity disorder(DID) affects a person’s sense of self. Their identity splits into at least two distinct personality states.
About 90% of people with dissociative identity disorder experienced overwhelming childhood abuse or neglect.
Dissociative Fugue
The onset of dissociative fugue is generally associated with trauma and other stressful life events.
Episodes of dissociative fugue can last weeks or even months, leaving significant autobiographical memory gaps that disrupt a person’s life. The episodes can suddenly stop or gradually decrease over time.
4 Types of Memory
The cause of dissociative disorders is not clear, but some researchers have theorized that these disorders develop as a way of coping with trauma, especially prolonged childhood trauma.Trauma can refer to:
What Happens in the Brain?Brain imaging in people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) experiencing dissociation has shown a link between dissociative behavior and altered function and structure in parts of the brain that help with emotional processing and memory. These structures include theamygdalaand hippocampus (also associated with emotion regulation).
What Happens in the Brain?
Brain imaging in people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) experiencing dissociation has shown a link between dissociative behavior and altered function and structure in parts of the brain that help with emotional processing and memory. These structures include theamygdalaand hippocampus (also associated with emotion regulation).
Disorders that can be associated with dissociation include:
Signs of Complex PTSD
Complications of Dissociation and Dissociative Disorders
The complications from dissociation and dissociative disorders can be severe. Persistent symptoms can negatively affect a person’s ability to function in their day-to-day life and interfere with their relationships.
Complications of dissociation can include:
Does Trauma Cause Symptoms?After trauma, a person can experience otherwise unexplainable physical symptoms, including:Alterations or deficits in the senses, such as sight or hearingLoss of movement or feeling in one part of the body, including paralysis or numbnessLoss of motor skills, such as temporary inability to drive or cook foodInvoluntary movementsUnexplained pain or other sensationsNon-epileptic seizures
Does Trauma Cause Symptoms?
After trauma, a person can experience otherwise unexplainable physical symptoms, including:Alterations or deficits in the senses, such as sight or hearingLoss of movement or feeling in one part of the body, including paralysis or numbnessLoss of motor skills, such as temporary inability to drive or cook foodInvoluntary movementsUnexplained pain or other sensationsNon-epileptic seizures
After trauma, a person can experience otherwise unexplainable physical symptoms, including:
What Happens When You “Space Out?”
If you or someone you know has the following signs and symptoms that could be from a dissociative disorder, they need help from a mental health professional:
Signs of Dissociation in Children
Children experiencing dissociation may not be aware of what is happening to them. Adults need to pay attention to the following warning signs of dissociation in children and teens:
The risks of dissociation for young people can be serious. If it becomes a way of coping with life stressors, a child or teen may grow up without a stable sense of self.
What Is Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD)?
Diagnosis of Dissociation and Dissociative Disorders
To diagnose a dissociative disorder, your provider will talk to you about your symptoms and medical history, as well as your family history.
Your provider will do a physical exam and run tests to rule out specific medical causes for your symptoms, such as brain damage orhead trauma, sleep deprivation, or substance use.
If there is no physical explanation for your symptoms, your provider might use assessments that help them screen you for dissociation and trauma, such as:
Depending on your answers to the questions, your provider may talk to you about treatment or refer you to a mental health professional to be evaluated.
Comparing Dissociative and Conversion Disorder
Your provider may recommend prescription medications for managing the symptoms of dissociation or for treating a mental health condition.
Medications used to treat dissociative disorders may include:
Therapy
Several forms of therapy can help treat dissociation:
How Trauma Therapy Works
Management
Coping with dissociation can be challenging, but it can get easier if you practice daily steps to reduce triggering stress.
These strategies can help you cope with dissociation:
If you or a loved one are struggling with dissociation, contact theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helplineat800-662-4357for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.
Showing them empathy and being patient is key to supporting them through these episodes.
Somatic Experiencing: What It Is and How It Works
There are no cures for dissociative disorders, but you can learn to live with the condition and manage your symptoms. You can regain a sense of self, find ways to effectively manage your emotions and behaviors, and learn to cope with the stress of day-to-day life. With treatment, you can work to improve your functioning at home, work, and school, as well as in your relationships.
Research suggests that when people with dissociative disorders can get support and treatment, they often have improved function in their lives, including in their work and relationships.
Summary
Dissociation happens when you feel like you are separated from your surroundings and even from your own body. It may feel like you are watching a movie of your life when you’re dissociating. Trauma is a major cause of dissociation and dissociative disorders.
It can be hard to recognize the symptoms of dissociation in yourself, but your loved ones may notice that it seems like you are “spacing out” or daydreaming. You can learn to manage the symptoms with strategies like grounding techniques. Therapy and medication can also be useful, particularly if you have a dissociative disorder.
Types of Therapy
19 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychiatric Association.What are dissociative disorders?Mental Health America.Dissociation and dissociative disorders.Krause-Utz A, Frost R, Winter D, Elzinga BM.Dissociation and alterations in brain function and structure: implications for borderline personality disorder.Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2017 Jan 30;19(1):6. doi:10.1007/s11920-017-0757-yAlzheimer’s Society.10 warning signs of dementia.Alzheimer’s Society.Memory loss and dementia.Clouden TA.Dissociative amnesia and dissociative fugue in a 20-Year-old woman With schizoaffective disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.Cureus. Published online May 26, 2020.American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM–5).American Psychological Association.Dissociative fugue.Raval CM, Upadhyaya S, Panchal BN.Dissociative fugue: Recurrent episodes in a young adult.Ind Psychiatry J. 2015;24(1):88-90. doi:10.4103/0972-6748.160944National Alliance on Mental Illness.Dissociative disorders.American Psychological Association.Trauma.Better Health Victoria (Australia).Dissociation and dissociative disorders.International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.Fact sheet III: Trauma-related dissociation: An introduction.American Psychiatric Association.Warning signs of mental illness.Choi KR, Seng JS, Briggs EC, Munro-Kramer ML, Graham-Bermann SA, Lee R, Ford JD.Dissociation and ptsd: What parents should know.Los Angeles, CA, and Durham, NC: National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.Mind UK.Dissociative disorders.Weathers FW, Bovin MJ, Lee DJ, Sloan DM, Schnurr PP, Kaloupek DG, Keane TM, Marx BP.The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5): Development and initial psychometric evaluation in military veterans.Psychol Assess. 2018 Mar;30(3):383-395. doi:10.1037/pas0000486Rousseau PF, Khoury-Malhame ME, Reynaud E, Boukkezzi S, Cancel A, Zendjidjian X, Guyon V, Samuelian JC, Guedj E, Chaminade T, Khalfa S.Fear extinction learning improvement in PTSD after EMDR therapy: an fMRI study.European Journal of Psychotraumatology. 2019;10(1):1568132. doi:10.1080/20008198.2019.1568132Myrick AC, Webermann AR, Loewenstein RJ, Lanius R, Putnam FW, Brand BL.Six-year follow-up of the treatment of patients with dissociative disorders study. Basic Res Artic. 2017.
19 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychiatric Association.What are dissociative disorders?Mental Health America.Dissociation and dissociative disorders.Krause-Utz A, Frost R, Winter D, Elzinga BM.Dissociation and alterations in brain function and structure: implications for borderline personality disorder.Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2017 Jan 30;19(1):6. doi:10.1007/s11920-017-0757-yAlzheimer’s Society.10 warning signs of dementia.Alzheimer’s Society.Memory loss and dementia.Clouden TA.Dissociative amnesia and dissociative fugue in a 20-Year-old woman With schizoaffective disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.Cureus. Published online May 26, 2020.American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM–5).American Psychological Association.Dissociative fugue.Raval CM, Upadhyaya S, Panchal BN.Dissociative fugue: Recurrent episodes in a young adult.Ind Psychiatry J. 2015;24(1):88-90. doi:10.4103/0972-6748.160944National Alliance on Mental Illness.Dissociative disorders.American Psychological Association.Trauma.Better Health Victoria (Australia).Dissociation and dissociative disorders.International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.Fact sheet III: Trauma-related dissociation: An introduction.American Psychiatric Association.Warning signs of mental illness.Choi KR, Seng JS, Briggs EC, Munro-Kramer ML, Graham-Bermann SA, Lee R, Ford JD.Dissociation and ptsd: What parents should know.Los Angeles, CA, and Durham, NC: National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.Mind UK.Dissociative disorders.Weathers FW, Bovin MJ, Lee DJ, Sloan DM, Schnurr PP, Kaloupek DG, Keane TM, Marx BP.The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5): Development and initial psychometric evaluation in military veterans.Psychol Assess. 2018 Mar;30(3):383-395. doi:10.1037/pas0000486Rousseau PF, Khoury-Malhame ME, Reynaud E, Boukkezzi S, Cancel A, Zendjidjian X, Guyon V, Samuelian JC, Guedj E, Chaminade T, Khalfa S.Fear extinction learning improvement in PTSD after EMDR therapy: an fMRI study.European Journal of Psychotraumatology. 2019;10(1):1568132. doi:10.1080/20008198.2019.1568132Myrick AC, Webermann AR, Loewenstein RJ, Lanius R, Putnam FW, Brand BL.Six-year follow-up of the treatment of patients with dissociative disorders study. Basic Res Artic. 2017.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Psychiatric Association.What are dissociative disorders?Mental Health America.Dissociation and dissociative disorders.Krause-Utz A, Frost R, Winter D, Elzinga BM.Dissociation and alterations in brain function and structure: implications for borderline personality disorder.Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2017 Jan 30;19(1):6. doi:10.1007/s11920-017-0757-yAlzheimer’s Society.10 warning signs of dementia.Alzheimer’s Society.Memory loss and dementia.Clouden TA.Dissociative amnesia and dissociative fugue in a 20-Year-old woman With schizoaffective disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.Cureus. Published online May 26, 2020.American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM–5).American Psychological Association.Dissociative fugue.Raval CM, Upadhyaya S, Panchal BN.Dissociative fugue: Recurrent episodes in a young adult.Ind Psychiatry J. 2015;24(1):88-90. doi:10.4103/0972-6748.160944National Alliance on Mental Illness.Dissociative disorders.American Psychological Association.Trauma.Better Health Victoria (Australia).Dissociation and dissociative disorders.International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.Fact sheet III: Trauma-related dissociation: An introduction.American Psychiatric Association.Warning signs of mental illness.Choi KR, Seng JS, Briggs EC, Munro-Kramer ML, Graham-Bermann SA, Lee R, Ford JD.Dissociation and ptsd: What parents should know.Los Angeles, CA, and Durham, NC: National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.Mind UK.Dissociative disorders.Weathers FW, Bovin MJ, Lee DJ, Sloan DM, Schnurr PP, Kaloupek DG, Keane TM, Marx BP.The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5): Development and initial psychometric evaluation in military veterans.Psychol Assess. 2018 Mar;30(3):383-395. doi:10.1037/pas0000486Rousseau PF, Khoury-Malhame ME, Reynaud E, Boukkezzi S, Cancel A, Zendjidjian X, Guyon V, Samuelian JC, Guedj E, Chaminade T, Khalfa S.Fear extinction learning improvement in PTSD after EMDR therapy: an fMRI study.European Journal of Psychotraumatology. 2019;10(1):1568132. doi:10.1080/20008198.2019.1568132Myrick AC, Webermann AR, Loewenstein RJ, Lanius R, Putnam FW, Brand BL.Six-year follow-up of the treatment of patients with dissociative disorders study. Basic Res Artic. 2017.
American Psychiatric Association.What are dissociative disorders?
Mental Health America.Dissociation and dissociative disorders.
Krause-Utz A, Frost R, Winter D, Elzinga BM.Dissociation and alterations in brain function and structure: implications for borderline personality disorder.Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2017 Jan 30;19(1):6. doi:10.1007/s11920-017-0757-y
Alzheimer’s Society.10 warning signs of dementia.
Alzheimer’s Society.Memory loss and dementia.
Clouden TA.Dissociative amnesia and dissociative fugue in a 20-Year-old woman With schizoaffective disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.Cureus. Published online May 26, 2020.
American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM–5).
American Psychological Association.Dissociative fugue.
Raval CM, Upadhyaya S, Panchal BN.Dissociative fugue: Recurrent episodes in a young adult.Ind Psychiatry J. 2015;24(1):88-90. doi:10.4103/0972-6748.160944
National Alliance on Mental Illness.Dissociative disorders.
American Psychological Association.Trauma.
Better Health Victoria (Australia).Dissociation and dissociative disorders.
International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.Fact sheet III: Trauma-related dissociation: An introduction.
American Psychiatric Association.Warning signs of mental illness.
Choi KR, Seng JS, Briggs EC, Munro-Kramer ML, Graham-Bermann SA, Lee R, Ford JD.Dissociation and ptsd: What parents should know.Los Angeles, CA, and Durham, NC: National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.
Mind UK.Dissociative disorders.
Weathers FW, Bovin MJ, Lee DJ, Sloan DM, Schnurr PP, Kaloupek DG, Keane TM, Marx BP.The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5): Development and initial psychometric evaluation in military veterans.Psychol Assess. 2018 Mar;30(3):383-395. doi:10.1037/pas0000486
Rousseau PF, Khoury-Malhame ME, Reynaud E, Boukkezzi S, Cancel A, Zendjidjian X, Guyon V, Samuelian JC, Guedj E, Chaminade T, Khalfa S.Fear extinction learning improvement in PTSD after EMDR therapy: an fMRI study.European Journal of Psychotraumatology. 2019;10(1):1568132. doi:10.1080/20008198.2019.1568132
Myrick AC, Webermann AR, Loewenstein RJ, Lanius R, Putnam FW, Brand BL.Six-year follow-up of the treatment of patients with dissociative disorders study. Basic Res Artic. 2017.
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