Orange County Dissociative Identity Disorder Treatment

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Dissociative identity disorder is the new term for what was long known as multiple or split personality disorder. Most people would wildly underestimate the prevalence of the problem that this mental health condition presents to people across the United States. According to most statistical estimates, as many as 6 million people suffer from ongoing dissociative identity disorder symptoms, or roughly the equivalent of the populations of Los Angeles and Houston combined.

SoCal Empowered is an Orange County dissociative identity disorder treatment center that provides inpatient care for those who need professional help in managing this difficult mental health challenge. Below we’re going to provide some insights and details that relate to this condition in hopes that you’ll contact us as soon as possible if you or someone you love needs help.

What Is Dissociative Identity Disorder?

Defined in its most basic terms, dissociative identity disorder is a condition whereby a person maintains at least two completely distinct personalities for an extended period of time. When a person “switches” personalities, it’s known as dissociative behavior. Not only are there multiple personalities, but each of these personalities includes unique characteristics, memories and approaches to situations.

When a person suffers through dissociative identity disorder symptoms, he or she will not remember the time spent living as that separate personality. Therefore, memory gaps are commonplace among those who are forced to deal with this condition.

As is common with mental health conditions, the actual disease is much more complicated than its definition. However, even before going further into your analysis, you should seek Orange County dissociative identity disorder treatment immediately if you believe this is happening to you or someone you love.

What Causes Dissociative Identity Disorder Symptoms To Arise?

There is no cause of dissociative identity disorder on which all medical experts can agree, but most believe that this problem originates from intense and prolonged periods of trauma that a person experiences during childhood, although some of these traumatic situations can occur as adults. The types of trauma commonly associated with this condition include physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

Basically, dissociative identity disorder symptoms are a form of coping that arise when a child is being traumatized and there is a lack of safety during these experiences. The person simply “becomes someone else” who often is seemingly more “equipped” to handle the situation than the original personality.

Types of Dissociative Disorders

As is the case with quite a few mental health conditions, there is more than one type of dissociative disorder. Specifically, the world of psychiatry recognizes three of them, each of which is described below:

Dissociative Amnesia – Dissociative amnesia is the most common type of dissociative identity disorder, and as many would guess, the primary symptoms involve complete forgetfulness and losing track of time. These periods are often extensive, but there is no defined length. However, these bouts of amnesia cannot be explained by simple forgetfulness or a temporary state of confusion
Depersonalization Disorder – Also referred to as derealization disorder, this condition features a person who is all but completely detached from his or her daily life experiences. Some have described these dissociative identity disorder symptoms as almost having an “out of body experience” where they can see what’s happening around them as if they are in a dream or some sort of alternate reality.
Dissociative Identity Disorder – In the past, all dissociative disorders fell under the umbrella of multiple personality disorder, but these days DID, as it’s often called, involves symptoms that are generally most familiar to people overall. People with DID develop at least one separate personality but sometimes dozens of others that tend to appear when a person is faced with a triggering event.

Dissociative Identity Disorder Symptoms

Dissociative identity disorder is an extremely complicated challenge for someone to face. It can also be very difficult to identify and diagnose. That’s because dissociative identity disorder symptoms can vary, and they are not constantly or even necessarily regularly on display for others to notice.

However, there are dissociative identity disorder symptoms that are more common than others, and a few examples of these include:

Generally altered behavior relative to a person’s normal approach
Regular bouts of confusion
Gaps in memory
The appearance of more than one “personality”
Feelings and behavior indicating detachment

Basically, any or all of these could be dissociative identity disorder symptoms. No two people who struggle with this condition are ever exactly the same, which only adds to the difficulty in realizing that someone needs help.

Dissociative Identity Disorder Treatments

The “good” news with regards to this serious problem is that when people seek out Orange County dissociative identity disorder treatment and come to us for help, we have multiple options for treatment available for the people with whom we work. Generally speaking, there is no known medication that treats DID, but there are medications available that can treat the symptoms of associated conditions. In some cases, this will improve the state of the person who is suffering.

For the most part, absent some exceptions, the most effective treatment for DID is some form of psychotherapy. Two common forms of what is commonly known as “talking therapy” that help people with DID include:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – CBT is a form of psychotherapy where a person works on learning to change his or her thought perceptions. If successful, someone with DID may be able to process potential triggers to DID episodes differently and thereby avoid the fallout involved with dissociative identity disorder symptoms.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) – DBT is actually an offshoot of CBT, and in some ways it involves a similar approach. However, it differs in that DBT is more often used to help people change their thinking who at that point are experiencing extreme episodes of irrational thoughts.

How SoCal Empowered Can Help

MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY IN ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

DID is a serious mental health challenge and one that will not resolve itself. It’s something that requires immediate and ongoing professional intervention. If you or someone you love are in need of Orange County dissociative identity disorder treatment, then you need to act immediately to make sure that the situation doesn’t get worse.

SoCal Empowered is a respected Orange County dissociative identity disorder treatment center that is willing to take on these difficult cases. If you’re struggling with this situation, then you should call us today to discuss the problem with one of our professionals. We’ll be happy to listen to what you have to say and to make proper recommendations based on the information we receive.

If we feel that inpatient treatment is the best approach for such a situation, that’s what we will recommend. If it’s not, we will help you find another solution. In addition, we will talk directly with your insurance company to determine coverage before you commit to working with us. Contact us today.