Through the years, some of the most popular articles of the Discussing Dissociation blog has been about compulsive hoarding. Compulsive Hoarding and Dissociative Disorders Land of the Free? I can’t explain their popularity on this blog, other than the way a rash of television programs have increased the awareness of the complications about hoarding. However, hoarding issues are typically … [Read more...]
Compulsive Hoarding and Dissociative Disorders
Compulsive Hoarding is a cluttery mess!! What makes this happen? Have you seen homes that look like this? Does your home look like this? Are you also a dissociative trauma survivor? Compulsive hoarding, or disposophobia, is a psychiatric condition that affects millions of people. Compulsive hoarding is an obsessive need to acquire and keep possessions, even if these items have little value, are … [Read more...]
Attachment to the Perpetrator
Recently, I saw another television documentary on Jaycee Lee Dugard - the young woman who was kidnapped at age 11, held captive for 18 years, and found alive, along with her two daughters on August 26, 2009. Jaycee is now about 40 years old. Jaycee spent 18 years held captive in the backyard of a registered, violent sex offender, Phillip Garrido. Garrido fathered Jaycee's two daughters, and has been … [Read more...]
The Love / Hate Relationship for Borderlines
There are distinct differences between Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and Borderline Personality Disorder (DID). There are many overlapping symptoms, and some therapists believe that all trauma survivors with DID are also BPD. I, however, do not hold that perspective. In my opinion, not all trauma survivors with DID are BPD. However, I will guess that the greater portion of DID'ers are also borderline. … [Read more...]
20 Signs of Unresolved Trauma
Many people enter the therapy process with minimal awareness of their trauma history. When the trauma survivors are dissociative, they have the ability to block out an awareness of their trauma. They may know that their family had problems, or that their family was dysfunctional, etc, but they may believe they were never abused. However, blocking out conscious awareness of trauma does not mean … [Read more...]