Structural Dissociation

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Structural Dissociation is an adaptation of the mammalian defense mechanisms, inherent within us, to stress. When a child is in a position of extreme stress as they are living in an unsafe environment with an unsafe parental figure, the mammalian defenses of Fight, Flight, Freeze, Submit and Attach become less integrative and more compartmentalized.

Structural dissociation distinguishes between three levels of structural dissociation:


 * Primary Structural Dissociation.
 * This is the most ‘simple and basic’ trauma-related division of the personality: a single ANP and a single EP. In this case, the EP is unelaborated and not very autonomous in daily life. Primary structural dissociation often occurs after a single traumatizing event.
 * Secondary Structural Dissociation.
 * When traumatizing events keep happening and keep being overwhelming, further division of the EP can happen while the ANP remains intact: in this situation, someone will have one ANP and multiple EPs. The EPs can be more elaborated and autonomous than in primary structural dissociation but are typically less elaborated and autonomous than in tertiary structural dissociation.
 * Tertiary Structural Dissociation.
 * The difference between this level and secondary structural dissociation is that in tertiary structural dissociation, the person has more than one ANP and multiple EPs. This can happen when inescapable aspects of daily life have become associated with past trauma, or when the functioning of the existing ANP(s) is so poor that normal life becomes too overwhelming - causing a new ANP to develop. At this level, it’s common for several ANPs and EPs to be more elaborated and autonomous than in secondary structural dissociation.