Why did I develop dissociation and my sisters didnt?

Question

My father was alcoholic, he wasnt a bad person, he was just in emotional pain, but he couldnt be the best father cause he had to deal with his own issues, lots of things happen in his life that made it harder for his recovery, he hit bottom really hard and started drinking and automedicating like a maniac, he lost it. He molested me once right before his death, then he commited suicide. My mom was left with the responsability of raising 3 of us. Me 8 years old, Pau 7, Fabi 15. We moved to another city, it was a very dangerous city, not a very healthy place to grow up, my mother was not very aware of the situation of this place, she moved there because we have extended family there. She invested in a home and a business which made it more difficult to just leave and start over again, she was drained. So we stayed and seriously this place is a mess (murders, shootings, rapes, etc.)
My mother was so stressed out that she became cold and withdrawn, which also affected us.

Well, I developed a dissociation disorder at age 13 to cope with the pain of all the trauma, among other reason, why my sister's didnt?

Answer 1

You mentioned the sexual abuse that you experienced but did not indicate that it happened to your sister. While different people tend to react differently, dissociation is a common occurence in instances of sexual abuse and children are particularly apt to dissociate. Also particularly bright people are more apt to dissociate as opposed to other defenses. The general answer is that despite living in the same family, both your experiences as well as your temperments (genetics) were different and therefore you each developed different ways to cope. It's likely that the dissociation began because of the sexual abuse and then became a regular part of your repetoire of defenses and became generalized to other types of trauma that may have been common to you and all your siblings. If your siblings did not experience this type of severe trauma (sexual abuse) dissociation may not have been necessary to cope with the other types of traumatic exposure.

Answer 2

Everyone learns to deal with trauma in different ways. You never mentioned if Fabi was affected by this at all? Maybe Pau escaped molestation, and therefore did not have to become disassociative. The mind works in mysterious ways to protect us from our emotional pain.

Answer 3

Because everyone handles the pain in their lives differently. Maybe they have learned better ways to deal with life than yours. Have you asked them? Do you still live there? Are you an adult? If you are over 18, you need to make plans to get out. ASAP. If you are an adult, you can't blame your depression now on your childhood. If you are over 18, move away. Get out. At least make plans so you can go when you turn 18. Don't say you can't. Of course you can. If you stay then you cannot blame your neighborhood on how you are today. Especially if your choose to live there.