co-morbid DDNOS or DID

I've been seeing the same therapist for over a year now which is the longest ever and he diagnosed me as having DDNOS w/ptsd features. My quesion is I also have a diagnosis of OCD which I've had since I was about 7 or younger. Can OCD be co-morbid with DDNOS? Can OCD symptoms is such a young child be indicative of trauma when DDNOS or DID is also present? I'm confused as to how I can have soo many diagnosis? I have so many symptoms and always think I'm making it all up which I know I'm not. I feel like I'm always arguing with myself in my head like I'm fighting but can't make out the content of the argument....really weird all I can gather from the internal arguments are severe mood changes and deep depression. Any input? Thanks guys, this site is amazing.

Ashley

From what I understand, there are many things people do to cope with anxiety, and OCD is one of them. Anxiety usually results from some kind of trauma or overwhelming experience, so if you ask me your OCD is probably just a small piece of the bigger picture.

There is a general consensus in among North American experts in treating trauma and dissociation that when DID or DID-like DDNOS (DDNOS-1) is diagnosed, it is a superordinate diagnosis. It is common for people diagnosed with DID/DDNOS-1 to display signs and endorse symptoms of the other dissociative disorders, PTSD, OCD and other anxiety disorders, depression, and various personality disorders. But as the superordinate dissociative disorder is treated, all the other symptoms tend to resolve on their own.

In western Europe many experts (but certainly not all all!) regard any other disorders as superordinate and DID/DDNOS-1 as subordinate: they view DID/DDNOS-1 as simply a severe symptom of any of these other disorders.

Hi, Ashley. My system is definitely very interested in how you're doing. We were touched by what you wrote about wanting so much to be there for your young son Brandon. It resonated for us. We think you are a good mother facing significant challenges. He's a lucky boy.

DID results from significant abuse or neglect from caregivers in childhood, so I guess it shouldn't be surprising if one or more parts also had other psychological conditions to deal with. Host John had several signs of OCD in childhood. Having to complete things in sets, setting artificial goals and feeling compelled to meet them, checking and re-checking on whether he did something, taking "the right number of steps" on sidewalks. The latter actually stayed with him into adulthood and he still falls back on it occasionally, almost nostalgically. We know that the OCD was practiced to produce comfort, a feeling that things were under his control. We believe that he created various rituals in thinking in order to remain grounded.

He used to get something like deja vu often and it upset him. We now suspect that was an awareness of things that he himself hadn't experienced, but an alter had. Because so much in his life didn't make sense, like lost hours, he chose little anchors in thinking. One of them was a knothole in a tree where he once saw an ant colony living. When things wouldn't make sense, he would return in his mind to the busy ants going about their business, oblivious of everything in the world except the task which was directly in front of them. That a colony of ants are multiple beings functioning as one not surprisingly struck a chord in his mind. It also seems to have been a metaphor for "keep your mind on the here and now, don't let yourself get unnecessarily distracted by things you can't figure out."

A *lot* of people with DID are also correctly diagnosed with other mental illnesses. I have OCD, as do a particular few of the alters (though they haven't been formally diagnosed yet, as it's tricky to get alters diagnosed when you can't even get psychs to take you seriously. But it's kinda obvious in them).

I've also been diagnosed with depression, and there are a few alters that have signs of that. Me and one other alter have signs of BPD (though I'm not totally sure that my diagnosis of that is correct).

It can.

Mental disorders anyway overlap so much that it would be quite easy to skim through the DSM and be able to pick up a few that fit.

The guy who diagnosed me said the DID is the superordinate diagnosis and the anxiety, depression, PTSD, OCD are all encompassed under that. Instead of having a long list of disorders the length of your arm that could potentially make you feel quite overwhelmed, one that acts as the main man is quite useful.

Bourbon