Dissociative issues exist on a spectrum, but all involve the person dissociating from their thoughts, feelings, sensations and/ or lived experiences as a means of survival and to regulate states of extreme overwhelm and distress.
Symptoms of dissociative issues might include but are not limited to:
- Feeling unreal
- Feeling the world is unreal
- Not remembering where you have been and what you have been doing (not related to drugs, alcohol or other neurological condition)
- Hearing voices and inner dialogue
- Out of body experiences
- Distorted self image
- Unable to recognise yourself
- Detached from emotions
- Feeling friends and family are strangers and you are not connected to them.
- Perception of objects changing (colour, size, shape etc)
- Identity confusion
- Having distinct separate identities ranging from adult to child.
- Unsure of boundaries between self and others.
- Feeling there are different people inside you.
- Flashbacks
There is a link between more complex dissociative disorders and the experience of childhood sexual abuse.
For more information about Dissociative Issues, please see the following links:
Dissociative disorders – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Effects of Complex Dissociative Disorders – First Person Plural
Dissociation-in-Children-Teens-Resource_compressed.pdf (beaconhouse.org.uk)
