Dissociative Disorders

Dissociation is a normal coping mechanism.  You have experienced when you become overly focused on an activity you might not hear someone else calling you from another room.  It becomes a disorder when you regularly feel like you are on the outside looking in, feeling disconnected, or in some cases watching yourself in daily life.

A dissociative disorder is generally associated with individuals who experience trauma.  It is a way to keep intrusive memories of past events away from current life.  It may include amnesia, memory loss, flashbacks, feeling disconnected, emotional numbness, an altered sense of reality.