For survivors of trauma, however, more extreme forms of dissociation may take place. For example, survivors of incest often talk about feeling like they were floating above their bodies while the abuse was taking place. The suppression of such feelings is often necessary during the time the survivor was under the control of the abuser as acting out on such feelings could have placed the survivor at risk of further abuse. Dissociation while the abuse is taking place or the survivor is under the control of the abuser is a healthy and functional way of coping with unhealthy and dysfunctional circumstances. As survivors move beyond the abusive situation, he or she might continue to use dissociation to cope with the stress of their present life.
Dissociative amnesia can be very healthy and functional.
For example, it may allow a survivor to be more functional at work or to maintain relationships with relatives who have abused them in the past. However, it can also be dysfunctional. For example, a survivor may repress memories of abuse and thus continue a relationship with someone who may hurt them again or hurt their child or children. When dissociation is no longer functional, a person may be diagnosed with a dissociative disorder. PTSD occurring together with DD-NOS is considered to be the most frequent diagnosis in survivors of childhood abuse.