A 5-Part Trauma Series: Trauma (PTSD) Symptoms and Treatment Dissociation/Avoidance

Part 3: Dissociation Avoidance and Trauma

Trauma (PTSD) Dissociation Symptoms: Introduction

This blog continues a 5-part series on trauma symptoms and treatment. BLOG

The 5 parts will include 1) Hypervigilance/Anxiety symptoms 2) Depressive symptoms 3) Avoidance/Dissociation symptoms 4) Physical/Somatic symptoms and finally 5) Treatment. Each piece will be released approximately every 2-3 weeks.

Dissociation and avoidance strategies are both symptoms and coping strategies we use to deal with the extended anxiety symptoms (ex. Flashbacks, panic attacks) and triggers that are inevitably part of a trauma experience and profile. We can either do this consciously or unconsciously to cope as best we can.

Trauma (PTSD) Dissociation Symptoms: Conscious Avoidance

All trauma I have ever treated has included other people. Whether your trauma was abuse, violence or war, this is the common piece. So we can decide to avoid people, deeming them unsafe. We try to not be close to people, especially in intimate relationships. If we have a trauma history that was encoded with intense affect, we may fear people, assuming they will inevitably hurt us.

We may avoid the places we associate with our trauma such as, the family home where we were abused by an alcoholic family member.

The sad piece in this decision is healthy attachment is the most effective way to heal trauma. We need others, community to rely on and trust. When we create secure attachments, we are also calmer and healthier.

We may find going to school really hard if we were sexually abused by a teacher there or severely bullied by other children. This can impact our ability to take care of ourselves long-term and we struggle to be self-reliant and independent.

We may avoid trauma related situations. If your trauma was work related you may find being at work impossible, with frequent triggering there.

If you were sexually abused you may avoid sex, finding it triggering. This can still be true in a healthy, consensual and adult relationship. If you get triggered to flashbacks and body memories it may seem easier to not have sex, even in a relationship which includes respected boundaries and meets your needs.

Avoidance behaviour may work short-term but is not sustainable long-term. Avoidance does not heal the trauma but only reduces triggering in the moment.

Trauma (PTSD) Dissociation Symptoms: Unconscious Dissociation

Dissociation is a very natural state for the child mind, as its structure is still different, undeveloped. Childhood is a magical tine of creativity and taking in, making sense of the world.

So if we experience trauma at a young age children make use of dissociation, using it more often to cope. But we continue to do so as we grow up, and struggle with controlling it.

This can lead to disconnecting from the present when we most need to be there for ourselves and others.

Trauma (PTSD) Dissociation Symptoms: Types

Classic dissociation 

Dissociation includes disconnecting from feelings and thoughts, memories and even your sense of self.

We tend to think of it as “tripping out”, disconnecting for a bit. We all do this, but a person with trauma can do it a lot and feel they can’t control it. If you have a personal trauma history, dissociation usually happens in adulthood after a trigger ex. A scent connected to your trauma such as a person having alcohol on their breath, when you were abused by an alcoholic.

You may know exactly what some triggers are, but you may also not know and feel it comes out of nowhere. If you had ongoing, long-term abuse you are more likely to experience more frequent and intense triggers without treatment. There can be micro-triggering that happens at a less conscious level, causing dissociation you are not aware of until you come back to the present, having lost time.

The obvious concern here is it can be hard to stay present when under any type of stress. So you will dissociate in a hard conversation with a partner, when you child is upset etc.

Memory loss repressed memories

Memory loss can be what was alluded to in the previous section, losing time due to dissociation. You may struggle with creating new memories.

We use memories to form self identity and know who we are. So not having all our memories affects this creation and maintenance of a strong internalized sense of self.

Repressed memories is a trauma coping response in extreme trauma. You may not remember your childhood at all. You may know you were abused but have few details or specific memories of either the abuse or even feel there are lost months, years.

Detachment estrangement 

Detachment estrangement is another from of dissociation leading to us feeling disconnected from ourselves.

We may even feel depersonalization/derealization, unconnected to our own lives, like watching a movie rather than feeling this is your life. A strange, surreal feeling. This can feel odd and scary. These are also hard things to describe, until you have experienced it. It can feel like you are watching or observing your own life at a distance.

Emotional shutdown and splitting “Intellectualization”

The most common symptom I see in trauma survivors are the intellectualization of feelings. It is common to feel very self-aware as you reflect on your trauma and how it impacts you. You may read trauma books and talk about it with other people that get mental health as well.

But you may still feel emotionally disconnected, tell others your trauma history with little or no emotional connection, feeling numb. There may have been an emotional splitting in which you have full memories of your abuse but no feelings connected to these memories. Healing connects the memories and feelings so you feel emotionally connected to your story and personal relationships.

Emotional shutdown may happen often for you, in which you emotionally disconnect when stressed. You may have had partners complain that you seem cold and standoffish when they are distressed and trying to connect with you.

You also may have learned to make people like you by only staying in positive, happy feelings, stuffing anger and sadness down.

We need the harder, more challenging feelings to know who we are, what we need and even how to process grief, such as a recent breakup. Ignoring hard feelings can result in anxiety and depressive symptoms as well.

Conclusion and Next Steps

Sometimes trauma symptoms are very physical, with somatic sensations and even chronic pain and other physical health concerns. The body can take the trauma for you, almost another form of dissociation.  

Stay tuned in a few weeks for the trauma symptoms we have placed in the somatization/physical category.

We will support you in self insight so you see yourself. We will then talk in some detail about treatment and feeling better.

Ready to get help? LEARN ABOUT TRAUMA from out specialists that can help.

Thinking about Change? Join our TRAUMA TRANSFORMATIONS community for tips and tricks to get the process started.

Lisa S.