#osdd 4

I LOVE YOU PEOPLE WITH OSDD-2!!!

I LOVE YOU PEOPLE WITH OSDD-3!!!

I LOVE YOU PEOPLE WITH OSDD-4!!!

I LOVE YOU PEOPLE WITH UDD!!!

I LOVE YOU PEOPLE WITH P-DID!!!

DONT FORGET YOUR DAILY CLICKS TO HELP PALESTINE

୨୧ • Osdd 1, Osdd 2, Osdd 3, Osdd 4

Alternative flags for osdd 1, osdd 2, osdd 3 and osdd 4!

PT. Osdd 1, Osdd 2, Osdd 3, Osdd 4. Alternative flags for osdd 1, osdd 2, osdd 3 and osdd 4! END OF PT.

I have epilepsy and a video of a girl experiencing absence seizures came across my for you page which then prompted me to look into absence seizures. I experience dissociative trances and it can be incredibly hard to tell the difference between absence seizures and dissociative trances, which prompted my neurologist to want to do further EEG testing. I’m now realizing that further EEG testing to identify if I’m experiencing dissociative trances or seizures is completely fucking unnecessary.

As I was looking through TikToks of absence seizures, I noticed one significant difference between my trances and absence seizures: absence seizures seem to cause a complete breakdown in controlling your body, whereas when I go into a trance, I’m pretty much just staring into the middle distance. I’m still aware of what’s going on; I could probably still be fine to drive when I’m in a trance state as long as I have someone with me, but the thing that defines trances for me is a fundamental disconnect between my mind and body. Generally this leads to the following:

While I am aware of what’s going on around me, I don’t remember well what happens during my dissociative trances.

I don’t necessarily struggle to communicate (at least, no more than I normally do), but I might come off as distant because mentally, I am distant because of the dissociation.

If I was having seizures, I wouldn’t be able to communicate. In fact, I had neurological testing done to make sure me shutting down wasn’t absence seizures. When I go into a dissociative trance, I can continue a conversation. I might come off as a little out of it and whoever I’m chatting with might have to repeat themself because of that disconnect between my mind and body, but I’m still able to communicate and have a conversation (at least, have a conversation just as well as when I’m not experiencing a dissociative trance).

There are certain things that are sort of weird and would indicate that I’m experiencing seizures, like what triggers my dissociative trances for example:

Exhaustion makes me more likely to go into frequent dissociative trances throughout the day

Flashing lights cause me to enter a dissociative state; for example, if I play Sonic CD for long enough, I start to dissociate.

I do think I know the reason for this though. I have trauma associated with flashing lights as well as my seizures in general, and my dissociative trances are, fundamentally and by their psychological definition, a trauma response. I wouldn’t be surprised if me entering a dissociative trance upon exposure to flashing lights is a trauma response, because I can very much communicate when I’m in a dissociative trance after exposure to flashing lights.

All of this is without mentioning that I had a 3 day inpatient EEG done when I was 13 (which is what I was referring to when I said I had neurological testing done to make sure me shutting down wasn’t absence seizures) which would’ve detected any absence seizures I would’ve had because I was also experiencing dissociative trances at that point in time (I don’t remember exactly how often, I think at least once a day?).

What I’m experiencing isn’t absence seizures and I feel like I wouldn’t have been able to actually realize that without TikTok’s help honestly. I am very much experiencing dissociative trances because while yes, outwardly it looks similar to absence seizures, I don’t go unresponsive. I can still hold a conversation while I’m in a dissociative trance. I can remember being in dissociative trances, just not what was going on (at least not very well). The DSM-5 specifies that dissociative trances are characterized by “an acute narrowing or complete loss of awareness of immediate surroundings that manifests as profound unresponsiveness or insensitivity to environmental stimuli” which is EXACTLY what I experience. I have an OSDD diagnosis and I’ve experienced dissociation on some level for as long as I can remember. Outside of trances, I’m also in a near constant state of feeling like I’m not in my own body (basically similar experience to depersonalization-derealization disorder, the symptoms for which are likely covered by my OSDD diagnosis since I also experience dissociative trances. Not sure exactly how that works though, I just know you can’t generally have an OSDD diagnosis at the same time as another dissociative disorder because that’s the point of the OSDD diagnosis lol).