DISSOCIATIVE DISORDER

What in the heck are dissociative disorders? They are the experience of disconnection and lack of connective flow between thoughts, memories, surroundings, actions and identity. Individuals with a dissociative disorder lose themselves in ways that are out of their control, particularly unhealthy can cause issues with everyday life, and/or mess with our basic human functionality. It's the kind of disorder that can have the following symptoms: 1) Memory loss (amnesia) of certain time periods, events, people and personal information 2) A sense of being detached from yourself and your emotions. 3) A perception of the people and things around you as distorted and unreal. 4) A blurred sense of identity. 5) Significant stress or problems in your relationships, work or other important areas of your life. 6) Inability to cope well with emotional or professional stress. 7) Mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. There isn't just one type of dissociative disorder, there's three: dissociative amnesia, dissociative identity disorder, and depersonalization-derealization disorder...all of which are devastating to the individual who is experiencing them. Mental health needs to be a priority in America. For far too long, too many people have slipped through the cracks of our society only to be spit out onto the streets. Good people, with good hearts, left to fend for themselves and attempt to survive life. For awhile, I thought I was suffering from a type of dissociative disorder. I've never been diagnosed, but I'm pretty sure something is happening up in the 'ol noggin that I can't explain away. Who knows, maybe I'm a hypochondriac and it's all in my head...but wait that would mean...oh crap.