Dissociative Episodes?

[youthwalk]

How common are dissociative episodes in your experience with bipolar? I've had one that my pdoc is sure of. (even though my entire childhood seems like a dissociative episode )

 

[goldenviolet]

i dissociate, even tough i've been through counselling to help me stay in the moment.... during break throughs meds and or coping skills are fruitless. when i feel like that, i go strait to the phone (professionals) or crisis center. the only way i know i'm safe. if my family is home it helps. but even they call or take me in. it's safest.

 

[rushingwind62]

How common are dissociative episodes in your experience with bipolar? I've had one that my pdoc is sure of. (even though my entire childhood seems like a dissociative episode )

Most bipolars tend to seperate themselves because they know something is wrong with them and feel very out of place. There are many other disorders that go hand in hand with bi polar disorder. Suchas social phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, low self esteem just to name two or three.

I have been in counseling for three years and have to force myself to get out and be around people. I find it very difficult to be in large crowds because there is just too much going on for my brain to keep up with. I think that is partly due to the meds I am on.

Just take baby steps, force yourself to get out even if it is just for a few minutes everyday and slowly confidence will come. There are no quick answers for bi polars. EVERYTHING takes time to deal with....God Bless You and EVERYONE....Rush

 

[spdnet75]

How common are dissociative episodes in your experience with bipolar? I've had one that my pdoc is sure of. (even though my entire childhood seems like a dissociative episode )

True! I'm afraid of everything.
It hurts.
I've had strange run-ins with the public over the past few years.
I do not wish to hurt anyone, but threatening me, is a crap shoot.
-Steve

 

[Silly]

How common are dissociative episodes in your experience with bipolar? I've had one that my pdoc is sure of. (even though my entire childhood seems like a dissociative episode )

What exactly is, a dissociative episode? I think I may have been going thru that for the last 6yrs. I haven't been able to put my finger on what is happening, but I tend to focus on everything but the present, and my day to day life. I feel like my life is wasted in the present because I am not really here, my mind is somewhere else, in a dream like state. Is that what u guys call dissociative episodes?

 

[goldenviolet]

there is lots os reasons people dissociate. you should see a doctor. a doctor can better answer your questions. each of us could be talking about something different. we are just relating.

 

[Goobersmooch]

As a kid it was my way to escape the pain of the sexual abuse i was going through. I escaped into my own fantasy world and made up lots of different adventures. they called it day dreaming and i always got into trouble for it in school. you would think i would have grown out of it but as i grew up it became very distructive thoughts. Thoughts of bad things happening to me. Like if i were going on a trip i would day dream the whole time about some kind of accident on the way there. i had thoughts that i would be mucgged or raped(If i was going out in the dark alone for some reason...even when pumping gas at night i was frightened because i almost got abducted when i was a child at a gas station at night. You name the terrible disaster and I was thinking about it happening to me. From tornados to bombings. I have in the past few years not done this as frequently as i use to. in fact i think i have only do this once in the past year. so i dont think im dissacosiating as much as i use to but it was my escape from reality and i felt i needed it.


Melanie

 

[youthwalk]

As a kid it was my way to escape the pain of the sexual abuse i was going through. I escaped into my own fantasy world and made up lots of different adventures. they called it day dreaming and i always got into trouble for it in school. you would think i would have grown out of it but as i grew up it became very distructive thoughts. Thoughts of bad things happening to me. Like if i were going on a trip i would day dream the whole time about some kind of accident on the way there. i had thoughts that i would be mucgged or raped(If i was going out in the dark alone for some reason...even when pumping gas at night i was frightened because i almost got abducted when i was a child at a gas station at night. You name the terrible disaster and I was thinking about it happening to me. From tornados to bombings. I have in the past few years not done this as frequently as i use to. in fact i think i have only do this once in the past year. so i dont think im dissacosiating as much as i use to but it was my escape from reality and i felt i needed it.


Melanie

That's what I did as well. To get away I lived in modified storybook tales. I immersed myself in books so that I could create my own world. Then before I was diagnosed I had a couple episodes that ended me up in worse places than I was escaping from. I still felt numb...still feel numb though. I'm bipolar II so I guess mine are not as severe. I do have serious lapses in memory though.

 

[angelkiss]

Dissociation is one of the things that has kept me from working among other things.
I once worked at a laundry mat and actually enjoyed it, but found that when I was under a lot of stress it wasn't safe for me anymore. I closed it up at night and was responsible for locking the doors and stuff, and was afraid I would be in my own little world and forget to lock up.
If several people came in at once, I would start wigging and head to the back until some of them cleared out. One night while under a great deal of stress, a lot of people came in the laundry mat and my mind was spinning a thousand thoughts per second, so I went to the back room. All I remember is walking in the doorway and when I snapped into reality, I had a water bottle in my hand. To this day, I have no idea when I picked it up, or where I got it from. I went to set in on the shelf, and it wouldn't fit. I told my therapist about it, and that's when he diagnosed me with having Dissociative Disorder. (Along with Bipolar I with Borderline Traits)

 

[spdnet75]

How common are dissociative episodes in your experience with bipolar? I've had one that my pdoc is sure of. (even though my entire childhood seems like a dissociative episode )

We tend to sweep things under the 'proverbial rug' .
Geting at the root of these things takes time end trust.
Any answeres?
Stephen

 

[youthwalk]

Lots of trust. My pdoc once told me that learning to trust yourself again was a long process. It is. I have moments when I feel like I'm truly going crazy. I may have an arguement and then forget it so completely that I don't even know why the other person is upset. I forget things that I say and things that have happened...My mind is the big rug I sweep things under.

 

[Shalia]

How common are dissociative episodes in your experience with bipolar? I've had one that my pdoc is sure of. (even though my entire childhood seems like a dissociative episode )

I have them when I start getting into mixed episodes, and I have them rather often at those points. Also tend to if I'm getting too stressed out or too angry.

I don't know how common it is, but at least it's not just you.

 

[Shalia]

For anyone who doesn't know what's being talked about, this is from the International Society for the Study of Dissociation:

What is dissociation?
Dissociation is a word that is used to describe the disconnection or lack of connection between things usually associated with each other. Dissociated experiences are not integrated into the usual sense of self, resulting in discontinuities in conscious awareness (Anderson & Alexander, 1996; Frey, 2001; International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 2002; Maldonado, Butler, & Spiegel, 2002; Pascuzzi & Weber, 1997; Rauschenberger & Lynn, 1995; Simeon et al., 2001; Spiegel & Cardena, 1991; Steinberg et al., 1990, 1993). In severe forms of dissociation, disconnection occurs in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception. For example, someone may think about an event that was tremendously upsetting yet have no feelings about it. Clinically, this is termed emotional numbing, one of the hallmarks of post-traumatic stress disorder. Dissociation is a psychological process commonly found in persons seeking mental health treatment (Maldonado et al., 2002).
Dissociation may affect a person subjectively in the form of “made” thoughts, feelings, and actions. These are thoughts or emotions seemingly coming out of nowhere, or finding oneself carrying out an action as if it were controlled by a force other than oneself (Dell, 2001). Typically, a person feels “taken over” by an emotion that does not seem to makes sense at the time. Feeling suddenly, unbearably sad, without an apparent reason, and then having the sadness leave in much the same manner as it came, is an example. Or someone may find himself or herself doing something that they would not normally do but unable to stop themselves, almost as if they are being compelled to do it. This is sometimes described as the experience of being a “passenger” in one’s body, rather than the driver.
There are five main ways in which the dissociation of psychological processes changes the way a person experiences living: depersonalization, derealization, amnesia, identity confusion, and identity alteration. These are the main areas of investigation in the Structured Clinical Interview for Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D) (Steinberg, 1994a; Steinberg, Rounsaville, & Cicchetti, 1990). A dissociative disorder is suggested by the robust presence of any of the five features.

What is depersonalization?
Depersonalization is the sense of being detached from, or “not in” one’s body. This is what is often referred to as an “out-of-body” experience. However, some people report rather profound alienation from their bodies, a sense that they do not recognize themselves in the mirror, recognize their face, or simply feel not “connected” to their bodies in ways which are challenging to articulate (Frey, 2001; Guralnik, Schmeidler, & Simeon, 2000; Maldonado et al., 2002; Simeon et al., 2001; Spiegel & Cardena; Steinberg, 1995).

What is derealization?
Derealization is the sense of the world not being real. Some people say the world looks phony, foggy, far away, or as if seen through a veil. Some people describe seeing the world as if they are detached, or as if they were watching a movie (Steinberg, 1995). (This is the one I get pretty regularly. Stinks.)

What is dissociative amnesia?
Amnesia refers to the inability to recall important personal information that is so extensive that it is not due to ordinary forgetfulness. Most of the amnesias typical of dissociative disorders are not of the classic fugue variety, where people travel long distances, and suddenly become alert, disoriented as to where they are and how they got there. Rather, the amnesias are often an important event that is forgotten, such as a wedding, or birthday party that was attended, or a block of time, from minutes to years. More typically, there are micro-amnesias where the discussion engaged in is not remembered, or the content of a conversation is forgotten from one moment to the next. Some people report that these kinds of experiences often leave them scrambling to figure out what was being discussed. Meanwhile, they try not to let the person with whom they are talking realize they haven’t a clue as to what was just said (Maldonado et al., 2002; Steinberg et al., 1993; Steinberg, 1995)

What are identity confusion and identity alteration?
Identity confusion is a sense of confusion about who a person is. An example of identity confusion is when a person sometimes feels a thrill while engaged in an activity (e.g., reckless driving, drug use) which at other times would be repugnant. Identity alteration is the sense of being markedly different from another part of oneself. This can be unnerving to clinicians. A person may shift into an alternate personality, become confused, and demand of the clinician, “Who the dickens are you, and what am I doing here?” In addition to these observable changes, the person may experience distortions in time, place, and situation. For example, in the course of an initial discovery of the experience of identity alteration, a person might incorrectly believe they were five years old, in their childhood home and not the therapist’s office, and expecting a deceased person whom they fear to appear at any moment (e.g., Fine, 1999; Maldonado et al., 2002; Spiegel & Cardena, 1991; Steinberg, 1995).
More frequently, subtler forms of identity alteration can be observed when a person uses different voice tones, range of language, or facial expressions. These may be associated with a change in the patient’s world view. For example, during a discussion about fear, a client may initially feel young, vulnerable, and frightened, followed by a sudden shift to feeling hostile and callous. The person may express confusion about their feelings and perceptions, or may have difficulty remembering what they have just said, even though they do not claim to be a different person or have a different name. The patient may be able to confirm the experience of identity alteration, but often the part of the self that presents for therapy is not aware of the existence of dissociated self-states. If identity alteration is suspected, it may be confirmed by observation of amnesia for behavior and distinct changes in affect, speech patterns, demeanor and body language, and relationship to the therapist. The therapist can gently help the patient become aware of /these changes (e.g., Fine, 1999; Maldonado et al., 2002; Spiegel & Cardena, 1991; Steinberg, 1995).