Is It a Part or Is It Dissociation? OSDD, DID, and CPTSD

About this episode

Everyone has parts. So how do you know when a part is just a part of you, and when it's crossed into a dissociative disorder like OSDD or DID? This episode came from a listener healing from CPTSD who just found out she has a dissociative disorder. She asked two questions a lot of trauma survivors are carrying. How common are dissociative disorders in trauma survivors? And with parts work like IFS so popular right now, where's the line between ordinary parts and dissociation? So we're walking the whole dissociative spectrum, from the drive home you don't remember to PTSD, complex PTSD, OSDD, and DID. We'll talk about what clinicians who specialize in dissociation might actually pay attention to, why "not me" matters so much, and why not losing time doesn't rule anything out.  In this episode: • Why "dissociation" means two different things, even to professionals • Structural dissociation, explained in plain language • How common dissociative disorders really are, and why they're so often missed • Six things that help separate everyday parts from dissociative parts • "Am I making this up?" and other fears that come up • Why a diagnosis is a map, not an identity • What healing can