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At first glance, it may be difficult to notice the distinction between dissociation vs. disassociation. Yet even though their spellings are similar, the experiences they refer to are quite different. Both terms can be significant from a mental health perspective, but one of them represents a much more serious problem.

The Valor Behavioral Health team provides customized, evidence-based care to help individuals heal from the types of mental health challenges that can contribute to both dissociation and disassociation. For additional details or to schedule a free assessment, contact us today.

Learn more about mental health treatment in Atlanta or verify your insurance now.

Dissociation vs. Disassociation

The words are only separated by two letters, but there is a substantial difference between dissociation vs. disassociation. One describes a highly distressing mental health phenomenon and one refers to a voluntary behavior.

Here’s a quick summary of the difference between dissociation vs. disassociation:

Dissociation: This is an involuntary psychological reaction that is characterized by the sense of becoming detached or separated from your thoughts, emotions, body, and/or environment.
Disassociation: This is a behavioral choice to distance or separate yourself from another person, group, or organization. The term is composed of the prefix “dis” (which signifies not, apart, or reverse) and the root word “associate” (which means join or connect).

For a more detailed understanding of each of these concepts, let’s take a look at each one separately. Since dissociation represents a more significant mental health concern, we’ll begin there.

Understanding Dissociation

Dissociation doesn’t occur to everyone in an identical manner. Instead, there are multiple types of dissociation, each of which can manifest in different ways.

Types of Dissociation

The five types of dissociation are:

Depersonalization: This is the feeling that you have become detached from your body and mind. You may feel as though you are observing yourself from across the room or looking down from above. You can see and hear what you are doing and saying, but it feels like you are watching and listening to someone else. Some people refer to dissociation as having an “out-of-body” experience.
Derealization: This form of dissociation is characterized by the sense that you are in a dreamlike or otherwise unreal environment. Examples of derealization include feeling like you are observing the world through a fog or distorted pane of glass. To some people, the experience involves people and objects appearing to be two-dimensional or drained of color.
Dissociative amnesia: This refers to the inability to recall significant events or experiences from your past. Most cases of dissociative amnesia involve gaps that cover specific, discrete periods of time. In some cases, these gaps block memories from a day or two, often when something particularly horrific happened. In others, memories from entire months or years may be inaccessible.
Dissociative fugue: Also sometimes referred to as psychogenic fugue, this is a particularly severe form of dissociative amnesia that involves the complete loss of all memories, including who you are. People who experience dissociative fugue have been known to end up in locations that they have no memory of traveling to.
Identity dissociation: This is a rare and severe type of dissociation that involves the presence of two or more distinct personalities within the same person. These personalities, which are typically referred to as alters, may have different memories, attitudes, mannerisms, and even genders.

Causes of Dissociation

The primary risk factor for dissociation is a history of trauma.

As described in a May 2022 article in the Delaware Journal of Public Health, researchers have established “a robust correlation between dissociative symptoms and exposure to trauma, particularly early childhood trauma and disruptions in attachment and caregiving.”

Examples of common traumatic experiences among patients with dissociation include:

Rape and other types of sexual assault
Chronic, repetitive abuse and/or neglect
Being unhoused or otherwise marginalized
Serious automobile accidents
Life-threatening illnesses

According to a September 2020 Stanford Medicine article, three of every four people who live through a traumatic event will enter a dissociative state either during or shortly after the event.

Temporary dissociation can be an attempt by the brain to protect a person from the full psychological impact of particularly terrifying experiences. But if these episodes occur frequently, that can be a sign of a serious mental health concern.

Dissociative Disorders

For many people, dissociative episodes are directly tied to a specific mental health disorder. The Dissociative Disorders section of the DSM-5 includes criteria for five separate conditions.

The reference book describes these disorders as being characterized by “a disruption of and/or discontinuity in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior.”

The three main dissociative disorders in the DSM-5 are:

Dissociative identity disorder (DID): Primary symptoms are the presence of two or more distinct personality states along with recurrent gaps in recall of everyday events, important personal information, and/or past traumatic experiences.
Dissociative amnesia: To be diagnosed with this condition, a person must be unable to recall important autobiographical information in a manner that is inconsistent with ordinary forgetting.
Depersonalization/derealization disorder: This condition involves “persistent or recurrent experiences of depersonalization, derealization, or both.” While a person is in either of these states, reality testing will remain intact. This means that they will be able to differentiate between their perceptions and external reality.

The Dissociative Disorders section also contains two other conditions, other specified dissociative disorder and unspecified dissociative disorder. These two diagnoses apply to people who have symptoms that are characteristic of one the disorders listed above, but whose symptoms don’t meet the full criteria for any of the three.

Several other mental health conditions have been linked with dissociation, though such experiences are not included in the required diagnostic criteria for these conditions.

Disorders that may increase a person’s risk of dissociative episodes include:

Recognizing Disassociation

There’s nothing inherently wrong with choosing to no longer associate with certain people or organizations.

In some circumstances, making this decision isn’t only understandable, but healthy. But in other cases, it can be a red flag.

Examples of disassociation that can be warning signs of a mental or behavioral health disorder include:

A person begins to withdraw and isolate themselves from family and friends.
An individual stops participating in activities that used to be of great importance to them.
A young person abruptly disengages from their friend group and begins to associate with other peers.
An employee stops contributing to group projects at work and minimizes their communication with colleagues.
A college student suddenly drops out of school and cuts off contact with their former classmates.

It’s important to understand that, on their own, none of the examples above are definitive proof that someone has developed a mental or behavioral health problem. But if acts of disassociation are accompanied by other changes in a person’s actions and decisions they may be cause for concern.

Self-imposed isolation can deprive people of personal support at a time when they may have the greatest need for it. If they are experiencing a mental or behavioral health disorder, isolation can also cause their symptoms to intensify and their maladaptive behaviors to become more problematic. These outcomes, in turn, can further undermine their health and potentially put their lives at risk.

Outpatient Treatment Options for Dissociation

When developing an outpatient treatment plan for someone with dissociation or another mental health concern, two important decisions are what level of care is right for the individual and which types of therapies can best align with their specific needs.

Levels of Care

Though it is often discussed as a single option, outpatient treatment is actually a general term that encompasses several levels of care.

Outpatient treatment for dissociation can may be provided at the following levels:

Therapies

Therapies that can be beneficial for people who have experienced dissociation include:

Learn More About Outpatient Treatment for Dissociation in Atlanta

Valor Behavioral Health offers multiple outpatient treatment options for adults and adolescents who have been experiencing dissociative episodes and other disruptive mental health symptoms.

Treatment options for college students at our center in Atlanta, GA, include a PHP, IOP, and OP. For those who cannot participate in our IOP during the day, we also offer evening and online sessions. At each level of care, you can expect to receive personalized, evidence-based care from a team of skilled and experienced professionals.

Call 866-859-3442 today to learn more, or verify your insurance now.