Psychiatric Issues Can Happen To Anyone
17th October 2009 by Depressed No CommentsFrequently, in the past, people with psychological illnesses have been diagnosed as having depression, post traumatic stress syndrome, or eating disorders, when in fact their real illness is a dissociative disorder. Part of the reason is that their underlying problem often shares symptoms with other illnesses. But dissociative identity disorder (DID), depersonalization disorder, dissociative amnesia or dissociative fugue have also not always been recognized as a genuine disorders. This has changed in recent decades, but in the meantime, treatments for anxiety and other disorders don’t address the real problems of dissociative disorders, thus resulting in no improvement.
People may think of an illness involving multiple personalities when they hear about a “dissociative” disorder, but the term actually covers the four different disorders, which again are dissociative amnesia, fugue (where the person wanders away to start a new life with no memory of the past), dissociative identity disorder (or DID, the one involving multiple personalities), and depersonalization. These are not anxiety disorders, though it’s true that amnesia and fugue frequently result from some kind of trauma, and DID usually develops from ongoing childhood trauma that prevents the child from integrating their personality normally while growing up.
Psychotherapy plays a role in treating a dissociative disorder, to varying degrees. However, the disorder that involves amnesia will frequently begin with hypnosis, to help restore the blocked traumatic memories or help the person remember who they are. In these cases, drug products like Pentothal can also aid in the recovery of memories. When it comes to DID, psychotherapy is the primary tool, with the goal of working through past traumas and integrating the personalities into one, though medical treatments and hospitalization may also be required if the person’s behavior becomes too aggressive or strange. Depersonalization will also primarily use psychotherapy treatment.
Seeing results from mental health treatments for a dissociative disorder may take time and quite a bit of work in many cases. While diagnosis and treatment of dissociative fugue can often bring quick recovery, resolution of traumatic amnesia or depersonalization might take longer. And even if the person receives effective treatment for DID, it can recur over the years, though less so as the person gets older. The work and success rate for these illnesses might discourage some sufferers. However, since the dissociative disorders mimic so many symptoms of other things like depression, or eating or anxiety disorders, it truly is important for them to be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible.
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