Dissociative Disorders

Dissociative disorders are mental health conditions that involve feelings of being detached from reality, being outside of your own body or experiencing memory loss (amnesia).

The word “dissociation” means to be disconnected from others, from the world around you or from yourself.

Dissociative disorders typically develop after short-term or long-term trauma.

Types of dissociative disorders

The three types of dissociative disorders include:

• Dissociative identity disorder (DID): People with DID have two or more separate identities. These identities (called “alters”) control their behavior at various times. Each alter has its own personal history, traits, likes and dislikes.
• Dissociative amnesia: This condition happens when you can’t remember essential information about your life. The forgetting may be limited to specific aspects of your life or may include much of your life history and/or identity.
• Depersonalization/derealization disorder: This is a condition in which you feel detached from your thoughts, feelings and body (depersonalization), and/or disconnected from your environment (derealization).

There’s also a symptom called dissociative fugue. It’s a temporary mental state in which a person has memory loss and ends up in an unexpected place.

Because dissociative disorders appear on the trauma spectrum, many people with a dissociative disorder may have co-occurring trauma-related mental health conditions, such as:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• Borderline personality disorder (BPD).
• Substance use disorders.
• Depression.
• Anxiety disorders.

Who do dissociative disorders affect?

People of all ages and racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds can develop a dissociative disorder. Women and people assigned female at birth are more likely to have a diagnosis.

People who experienced physical and/or sexual abuse in childhood have the greatest risk of developing dissociative identity disorder (DID). About 90% of people who have DID in the United States, Canada and Europe experienced childhood abuse and neglect.

How common are dissociative disorders?

Dissociative disorders are rare. About 2% of people in the United States have them.