Are PTSD and Dissociation the same? Short answer, no.
Just so happens that I am reading a book on PTSD. (Coping with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Guide for Families, by Cheryl A. Roberts*) Before integration I thought that healing the splits, extreme dissociation, would heal the PTSD. Shock waves rocked my world when I realized after integration that dissociation into multiple personalities was how I coped with PTSD. Roberts cites the DSM IV indicating that the diagnosis is built on 3 criteria re-experiencing, avoidance, and arousal. The experience triggering PTSD must be "a real or perceived threat to his or her life, or witness an event that threatens a life of another." The symptoms are not considered unless they last longer than a month and interfere with other aspects of living. Dissociation is an emotional avoidance of events that involves memory loss and a sense of being detached. For a more technical definition you can check out this link:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dissociative-disorders/DS00574/DSECTION=symptoms
I figure it this way. Dissociation is one of the symptoms of PTSD. However, dissociation can occur without PTSD. Also not all people suffering from PTSD also experience equal levels of dissociation.
*http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Coping-with-Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder/Cheryl-A-Roberts/e/9780786449743
1 comment:
As a person who has been diagnosed with Complex PTSD, I agree wholeheartedly with this post.
My PTSD symptoms first began to manifest in 1967, when I was 14 years old. This was 13 years before PTSD was known. I was also dissociating very badly at that time, as a way of trying to cope with my PTSD. In those days the catch-all diagnosis for mystery mental illnesses such as mine was schizophrenia. That's the diagnosis label I was given at age 14.
Since then, I have had many doctors and therapists tell me that I could never have been schizophrenic. But... I am not certain that I agree with that. The bottom line is that I was very badly broken. My mind had been shattered by horrific abuse and overwhelming trauma. Today at age 59 I am still healing. I no longer have any dissociative or schizophrenic symptoms, but I still struggle with severe PTSD every day.
I alos have nothing but deepest sympathy for anyone suffering from any type of "mental illness." Society's stigma against these labels only further traumatizes and twists the knife. Which is exactly what deeply wounded people don't need.
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