Understanding Dissociative Disorders: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment Options
Everyone occasionally “zones out” during a long meeting or while driving. But for people with dissociative disorders, this experience goes much deeper. Dissociation involves a disconnection between thoughts, identity, memory, and awareness. It can make people feel detached from themselves, disconnected from reality, or as if the world is unreal.
Dissociative disorders often develop as a protective response to trauma. When overwhelming experiences occur — especially in childhood — the mind may “disconnect” as a survival strategy. While dissociation may once have been adaptive, it can later cause serious difficulties with daily life, relationships, and self-understanding.
At Groundbreaker Therapy, we provide trauma-informed care that helps clients with dissociative disorders understand their experiences, build stability, and regain a sense of wholeness.
What Is Dissociative Disorder?
Dissociative disorders are a group of conditions where disruption or disconnection occurs in memory, consciousness, identity, or perception. The three primary types are:
- Dissociative Amnesia: Inability to recall important personal information, usually related to trauma or stress.
- Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): Presence of two or more distinct identity states (“alters”) that take turns controlling behavior, often with memory gaps.
- Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder: Persistent feelings of being detached from one’s body, thoughts, or surroundings (feeling like life is a dream or you’re outside your body).
Dissociation can also occur as a symptom in other conditions such as PTSD, borderline personality disorder (BPD), or complex trauma.
Common Symptoms of Dissociative Disorders
Symptoms vary by type, but many people experience:
Cognitive & Emotional Symptoms:
- Memory gaps or difficulty recalling personal history
- Feeling detached from emotions or identity
- Emotional numbness or sudden shifts in mood
Perceptual Symptoms:
- Out-of-body experiences (depersonalization)
- Feeling the world is unreal or distorted (derealization)
- Distorted sense of time or space
Behavioral Symptoms:
- Acting in ways that feel “not like yourself”
- Speaking or behaving as if different parts of the self are in control
- Losing track of time or finding unexplained items, writings, or evidence of activities
Interpersonal Symptoms:
- Strained relationships due to mood shifts or memory lapses
- Fear of abandonment or mistrust due to a trauma history
- Difficulty maintaining stability at work, school, or home
What Causes Dissociative Disorders?
The primary cause of dissociative disorders is trauma, particularly severe or repeated trauma during childhood. When a child experiences abuse, neglect, or overwhelming stress, dissociation becomes a way to cope with what feels intolerable.
Risk factors and contributors include:
- Physical, sexual, or emotional abuse
- Neglect or unstable caregiving environments
- Severe accidents, disasters, or combat trauma
- Witnessing violence
- Long-term stress without support
While dissociation may begin as a survival mechanism, over time, it can interfere with identity development, relationships, and emotional regulation.
Dissociative Disorders Diagnosis
Diagnosis is made through a careful clinical evaluation. A licensed mental health professional will:
- Assess dissociative symptoms and their impact on daily functioning.
- Explore trauma history and co-occurring conditions (such as PTSD, depression, or BPD).
- Use structured clinical interviews or tools like the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES).
- Rule out neurological conditions, substance use, or medical issues that can mimic dissociation.
Because dissociative disorders are often misunderstood or misdiagnosed, finding a therapist with trauma-informed expertise is crucial.
Dissociative Disorders Treatment Options
What Is Best for Dissociative Disorders?
The most effective treatment for dissociative disorders is psychotherapy — particularly trauma-informed approaches that emphasize safety, stabilization, and integration. Medication may help with related symptoms like anxiety or depression, but therapy is the cornerstone of recovery.
At Groundbreaker Therapy, we specialize in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and integrative trauma therapies. DBT provides essential skills for grounding, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance, which are especially important when dissociation feels overwhelming.
Groundbreaker’s Approach to Dissociative Disorders
Our specialties include:
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Skills training in mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness — practical tools for grounding and stabilizing.
- Trauma-Informed Counseling for Professionals: Helping lawyers, healthcare providers, educators, and creatives who struggle with dissociation while managing demanding careers.
- Anxiety & Depression Support: Addressing co-occurring symptoms that often accompany dissociation.
- Young Professionals’ Mental Health: Guidance for adults in their 20s and 30s navigating identity, work-life balance, and relationships.
- College Mental Health: Supporting students who face trauma-related dissociation while handling academic and personal stress.
Additional therapies we may integrate:
- Trauma-Focused CBT (TF-CBT): Helps process traumatic experiences that often underlie dissociation while building grounding and coping skills.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Particularly effective for stabilizing intense emotions, reducing self-destructive behaviors, and teaching grounding skills to counter dissociation.
- Schema Therapy: Addresses fragmented self-identity and maladaptive schemas that contribute to dissociative symptoms.
- Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM): Body-based approach that helps regulate the nervous system and reduce dissociative responses by restoring balance.
- Integrative Therapy: Combines trauma-focused, cognitive, and somatic approaches to tailor treatment for complex dissociation.
Treatment is phased and personalized. Often, therapy begins with building safety and stabilization, then gradually addresses trauma processing and integration of identity.
Living With Dissociative Disorders
Dissociative disorders can feel frightening and isolating, but with the right treatment, recovery is possible. Many clients learn to:
- Recognize triggers for dissociation and ground themselves in the present.
- Develop healthier coping strategies for managing stress and trauma reminders.
- Build stronger, more stable relationships.
- Strengthen sense of identity and self-worth.
- Integrate fragmented parts of experience into a cohesive whole.
- Reduce shame and increase self-compassion.
Living with dissociation is about learning to reconnect — with yourself, with others, and with the present moment.
How Groundbreaker Therapy Can Help
At Groundbreaker Therapy, we understand how confusing and distressing dissociative symptoms can be. Our approach provides:
- DBT expertise tailored for trauma-related dissociation.
- Specialized counseling for professionals, young adults, and students.
- Integrative therapy options to address identity, trauma, and co-occurring conditions.
- A safe, validating, and non-judgmental environment.
- Flexible scheduling for busy and high-demand lives.
If dissociation has left you feeling disconnected from yourself or your life, you don’t have to face it alone. Schedule a consultation with Groundbreaker Therapy today and take the first step toward stability, connection, and healing.