Structural Dissociation Explained

What it is and How it Affects People with PTSD and C-PTSD

According to the theory of Structural Dissociation, we are born without a personality and develop what becomes known as a personality over time as we integrate the people and experiences we encounter in early childhood.

This process is considered to be complete between the ages of 6 and 9.

However, when children (and this is a minority of children) experience profound trauma in early childhood, these various personality “parts” fail to integrate and to form one cohesive personality or self.

Primary Structural Dissociation

When a child experiences one profoundly traumatizing event in early childhood and fails to integrate the personality that experienced the trauma with the emotions and defense strategies (attach/cry for help, fight, flight, submit) associated with the trauma, this is known as Primary Structural Dissociation.

This leaves the child with what is considered one self or Apparently Normal Part (ANP) and one unintegrated traumatized or Emotional Part (EP).

These are the people most likely to go on to develop PTSD from a future traumatic event.

Secondary Structural Dissociation

When a child experiences multiple profoundly traumatizing events throughout early childhood and fails to integrate the personality that experienced the traumas with the emotions and defense strategies associated with the traumas, this is known as Secondary Structural Dissociation.

This leaves the child with what is considered one self (ANP) and multiple unintegrated traumatized parts (EP).

These are the people considered most likely to go on to develop CPTSD from future traumatic events.

Tertiary Structural Dissociation

When a child experiences multiple profoundly traumatizing events throughout early childhood and fails to integrate both the personality that experienced the traumas and the emotions and defense strategies associated with the traumas, this is known as Tertiary Structural Dissociation.

This leaves the child with what is considered multiple selves (ANPs) and multiple unintegrated traumatized parts (EPs).

These are the people considered most likely to go on to develop DID.

The primary misunderstanding with regard to the theory of Structural Dissociation is that the personality is a coherent whole that fragments. According to the theory, people are born with no personality and the personality later forms as the different “parts” of the child’s experience integrate into one fused whole.

So, according to the theory —

We’re born with no inherent personality:

Our personality forms from all the people we meet and all the experiences we have:

Our personality fuses:

In people with structural dissociation, according to the theory, the personality doesn’t fuse. Or at least it doesn’t fuse normally. Not like it does among people without structural dissociation. There are parts (ANPs and EPs) that remain unintegrated. There are trauma states (EPs) that act autonomously. There are selves (ANPs) that never fuse into one self.

So, structural dissociation isn’t something that happens to people with PTSD and CPTSD.

PTSD and CPTSD are something that happen to people with structural dissociation.

Their personalities didn’t fragment.

Their personalities were never fused to begin with.