![]() ![]() ![]() In its criteria for diagnosing PTSD, a proposed revision to the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) made the link between PTSD and dissociative amnesia explicit. Hyperrealistic and unwanted memories of the traumatic event may be interspersed with an inability to remember the event at all. However, while these memories may be unnaturally vivid, they’re also often incomplete. These memories, which often surface in an involuntary and intrusive manner, may also be accompanied by a crystal-clear recollection of sounds or smells from the moment of trauma. While memories generally fade naturally over time, memories of trauma may become hyper realistic for those with PTSD. When trauma overwhelms someone’s ability to cope with a situation, the memories of the traumatic event might not properly integrate with their consciousness. When this happens, the condition is known as dissociative amnesia. In some cases, this dissociation can cause partial or complete memory loss. Problems arise when the feelings of dissociation linger or emerge long after the traumatic event has ended. Dissociation is a natural coping method in times of trauma, created as a protective means of mental escape from the full horror of the environment. Department of Veteran Affairs, between fifteen to thirty percent of PTSD sufferers experience some degree of depersonalization, defined as a sense of a loss of personal identity, or derealization, defined as a sense that one’s surroundings are somehow unreal. ![]() Symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks to the trauma, persistent unwanted memories, nightmares, insomnia, uncontrolled angry outbursts, and an inability to focus.Īlong with the above symptoms, PTSD can also cause strong and lasting feelings of dissociation. A related condition known as complex PTSD (C-PTSD) is triggered by long-term exposure to a traumatic environment, as one might experience in a situation of ongoing abuse or domestic violence during childhood. Beyond the battlefield, PTSD can affect anyone who experiences a severe traumatic event, such as an act of violence, a natural disaster, or a car accident. Meyers first used the term “shell shock” to describe the mental state of soldiers suffering from a range of severe adverse reactions to battle trauma-including, frequently, amnesia. Modern PTSD can trace its roots to the battlefields of World War I. Only by receiving comprehensive dual diagnosis treatment for both conditions at a residential mental health treatment facility did Elaine finally recover from the distressing effects of both disorders. Complicating her situation considerably was the co-occurring presence of dissociative amnesia, a trauma-associated disorder that frequently accompanies PTSD. A mental illness sparked by trauma, Elaine’s PTSD was triggered by the overwhelming stress of her accident. She could no longer remember either the accident or the events surrounding it she also sometimes found herself uncertain of her own identity, a feeling she described as “living in a fog.” Alarmed, Elaine’s husband urged her to visit her doctor.Įlaine, it turned out, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, commonly known as PTSD. Soon, however, she began to experience spells of unexplained memory loss. Figuring the flashbacks would go away with time, Elaine downplayed their severity to her family. While she eventually made a full recovery from her physical injuries, she suffered from frequent recurring flashbacks to the incident, which would cause incapacitating feelings of anxiety. Two years ago, a serious workplace accident left Elaine with a shattered hip and an assortment of broken bones and lacerations. ![]()
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