How do normal dissociative experiences differ from the symptoms of dissociative disorders?
How do normal dissociative experiences differ from the symptoms of dissociative disorders?
Dissociation is a process or experience one has when he losses sense of self, or feels disconnected from his feelings, thoughts or behaviours. Dissociation is considered as a normal process which is experienced by all. It can happen to anyone at times when they are watching a movie or concentrating on their studies, or they are thinking about some pleasant memories from the past also known as nostalgia. They dissociates or lose the touch from their immediate environment or settings. This is considered as mild dissociation.
When an individual experience some unpleasant incident that is threatening or harmful to him either in physical or psychological terms, he tends to dissociate from his reality to avoid the unpleasant feelings or discomfort. This helps him in coping with the situation. These are considered as normal dissociative experiences.
Such normal dissociative experiences differs from symptoms of dissociative disorders in the way that people experiences them and copes with them. Normal dissociative experiences lasts for the time the person is experiencing the unpleasant event, it can last temporarily for hours or days. Yet it resolves within a period of time. However people with dissociative disorders needs medical attention and therapies to deal with such problems.
Dissociative disorders were earlier considered as a form of Hysteria, their prevalence was found more in women than man. However Sigmund Freud the pioneer of psychoanalysis regarded it in terms of an aspect of the psyche. He described dissociation as a something normal which is used by the ego as a mechanism to defend itself against the unacceptable thoughts or conflicts in the unconscious mind. The psychodynamic approach explains the process dissociation as a result of the excessive use of a coping mechanism of repression. The person tries to repress all the negative impulses or thoughts arising from the unconscious and the outcome of which results in splitting off from the conscious part of personality with painful and unsettling memories and thoughts.
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