Social Support Networks
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Lack of social support networks
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Feeling misunderstood
Feeling different
Inability to communicate with/trust others
Media showing misconceptions on DD
Long histories of abuse
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Lack of communication skills/self-expression
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Inability to express themselves; the duress of being around people at
times causes them to dissociate to protect themselves
Identity being tied to trauma/mental illness—feeling too different
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Fear of people
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Inability to trust people even when they are genuine
Long histories of abuse
Fear of being judged
Negative core beliefs
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Dissociation as a Coping Mechanism
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Inability to connect to one’s self
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Severity of trauma dictates ability to connect/recover
Lack of strong coping mechanisms to process trauma through
Splitting self-states/depersonalizing/derealizing to avoid coping with
trauma
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Inability to feel connected to others/world
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“Lonelier in crowds”
Feeling too different to relate to
Inability to connect to one’s self will lead to inability to connect
to others
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Discomfort in social settings causes the need to ‘hide’ or dissociate
(e.g. switch alters, self-isolate, withdraw from reality, etc.)
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Switching self-states
Derealizing/depersonalizing themselves
Self-isolating from outer world
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Loneliness as a Trigger
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Triggers as patterns & sequences
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Causing a stress response that facilitates dissociation
Triggers have patterns and sequences, and patients become accustomed
to them, can give them a sense of safety due to familiarity
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Triggers as words and phrases
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Trigger words from past trauma can lead to feelings of loneliness
Trigger words denoting the lack of having social support can cause
loneliness
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Triggers as behavioral activation (e.g. withdrawal, dissociation,
etc.)
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Seeking solitude when triggered and hating it
Seeking solitude for comfort
Solitude exacerbating dissociative coping mechanisms
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Therapy
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Therapeutic alliance
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Models what relationships should be like
Enables them to gain communication and expression skills
Genuine empathy with patients
Being yourself with patients
Safety is the most important factor in the alliance
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Therapeutic techniques to lessen the need to resort to
dissociation
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Projection
Short, goal-oriented exposure exercises
Targeting core beliefs developed since childhood
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Therapeutic modalities
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Moving away from cognitive therapies and exposure
EMDR
Parts Therapy
IFS
IPNB
EFT
Psychodynamic approaches and techniques
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