Hmm...I think I have Dissociative Disorder

When I was in my teens, I was diagnosed with some form of personality disorder. I went for counselling and therapy, which I thought was pretty useless. They just wanted the patients to open up and talk. And talk and talk. Frankly, I dun see that any helping my condition.

I did not know what kind of personality disorder I had, cos I was not allowed to see my own medical files and also the psychologist and psychiatrist did not informed me.

Over the years, I got better. And I have not seek medical help since those few times in teenage years.

I do think I have dissociative disorder. I did have some of the symptoms. I am dissociated from the society and my environment.

Even SO said that I am living in my own world. And in a way, I am. My world is rather small. And mostly involves around SO and me. And the dogs.

As for external social and leisure activities outside the home...there is hardly any. I am almost like a hermit most times.

But frankly, it's not that bad. I could still function in normal society rather well, most of the time. I am no raving lunatic. I have proper trains of thoughts. And read my blog, they dun sounded too crazy, do they?

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The Straits Times
15 Aug 2008

Dissociative disorder often lasts

NEW YORK - DISSOCIATIVE disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence frequently persists into adulthood and is often followed by other psychiatric disorders, according to a report published online in the journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health.

Dr Thomas Jan from the University of Wuerzburg, Germany and colleagues analyzed the long-term clinical outcomes of 27 former patients with juvenile dissociative disorder (two of whom had committed suicide). The average age at onset of dissociative disorder was 12 years old.

According to the researchers, 89 per cent of these patients had 'recovered or had markedly reduced symptoms' after treatment during childhood.

However, at follow-up an average of 12.4 years after the initial diagnosis, 83 per cent of the patients 'met the criteria for some form of psychiatric disorder'.

Dissociative disorder is characterised by psychiatric symptoms such as the disruption of consciousness, identity, memory, behavior or awareness of the environment, according to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision.

Dissociative disorder may take the form of altered consciousness as a reaction to overwhelming psychological trauma.

Psychiatrists suggest these memories are encoded in the mind, but have been repressed.

Review of the follow-up data revealed that more than one quarter of patients (26 per cent) still suffered from a dissociative disorder, the report indicates, and 48 per cent had a personality disorder.

Compared with a control group, the patients previously diagnosed with dissociative disorder were less likely to have financial and emotional independence from their parents, more likely to still be living with their parents, and less likely to have social leisure activities outside the home, the researchers note.

Only 8 per cent of patients, however, had serious impairment of social, occupational, and psychological functioning, and only 4 per cent were unable to function in all these areas, the investigators say.

'Treatment strategies have to consider that in a significant portion of young patients, initial recovery may not be stable over time', the authors conclude.

Even after patients are stabilised, they recommend that these patients see a mental health provider periodically to detect recurrence of dissociative or other psychopathological symptoms. -- REUTERS

Long wait at hospital

SO accompanied his mother to the hospital this morning for an eye consultation. The appointment time was supposed to be 9.45 am. But she had to arrive 30 mins early for an eye check up.

SO and mother were on time. In fact, they were early. And they finished the check up by 9.30 am and started waiting to consult with the eye doctor.

They waited and waited and waited. And they just sat there and waited.

The eye specialist finally saw her on 1:10 pm! They waited for about 3 and a half hours just to see the doctor for less than 10 mins!

The doc said her eyes were okay. There's nothing wrong with her eyes. Just old age. No cataracts, nothing. That lucky bitch. Here, I am, prime of my age and already I had mild cataracts.

Okay, back to bitching about the doc. 3.5 hours!! Her appointment was at 9.45 am and it took so long just to see the doc. What did the doc do in between?

If the doc see a patient she was suppose to see at 9.45am only at 1.10pm. Then the patient at 11am would have to wait till 3.30pm?

Did the docs have any concept of time? Did they know the very purpose of making appointments? What's the use of setting up appointments to see doctors when the doctors did not fulfill that part of their obligations?

Frankly, how would you think the docs would react if the patients arrive 4 hours late? The nurses would screamed!

But it's not as if the doc dun see any other patients during the time. SO said there were patients in and out of the door every 10-15 mins. Where did all these patients came from? Were they patients of the day before? A few days old?

Where's the use of the appointment time schedule? It's hardly accurate!

I knew a doc who previously worked in these public hospitals. He said there was no urgency, no incentives to see as many patients. The docs have a number of quota of patients to see per day, but that quota was pitiful low!

These docs dun make extra money for seeing extra patients. They could thus afford to make patients sit and wait for hours. It's not as if the patients would run away or complain. What's the use of complaining? The nurses would said the docs were busy. Please wait.

For private doctors overseeing their own business or clinics, time is money. Every min counts. Every min is a dollar. Hence, there is this urgency to speed up seeing the patients. The greater the patients turnover rate, the greater the revenue.

But doctors at these general hospitals were given a fixed range of salary. They dun get special incentives, bonuses or money for seeing extra patients. There's no extra push!

This friend further confided in me that most docs there were jaded. With no incentives, hardly any competitions, they tended to slag in seeing patients. Some even like to sms, call friends and family, chit chat, flirt with nurses etc. These very docs lacked motivation!

Poor us patients. What can we do except to be at the mercy of these spiteful doctors?