AB: Dissociative Disorders

Question 1

What connects dissociative disorders and somatic disorders? (2)

Answer 1

both are hypothesised to be triggered by stressful experiences yet do not involve direct expressions of anxiety. dissociative disorders and somatic symptom-related disorders are also often comorbid

Question 2

What three major dissociative disorders are included in the DSM?

Answer 2

depersonalization/derealization dis- order, dissociative amnesia, and dissociative identity disorder

Question 3

What is involved in dissociation?

Answer 3

some aspect of emotion, memory, or experience being inaccessible consciously.

Question 4

How id dissociation applied in each of the three disorders?

Answer 4

Depersonalisation disorder- Experience of detachment from the self and reality
Dissociative amnesia- Lack of conscious access to memory, typically of a stressful experience.
Dissociative identity disorder- At least two distinct personalities that act independently of each other

Question 5

What does the fugue subtype of dissociative amnesia involve?

Answer 5

traveling or wandering coupled with loss of memory of one’s identity or past

Question 6

Give an example of a common dissociative experience and what are these usually a sign of?

Answer 6

missing a turn on the road home when thinking about problems. These types of dissociative experiences are usually a harmless sign that one has been so focused on some aspect of experience that other aspects of experience are lost from awareness.

Question 7

What do psychodynamic and behavioural psychologists consider dissociation to be? What evidence is there for this?

Answer 7

An avoidance response that protects the person from consciously experiencing stressful events. Consistent with the idea that this is a coping response, people undergoing very intense stressors, such as advanced military survival training, often report brief moments of mild dissociation. Recent research jointly considers how trauma and sleep disruptions could contribute to dissociation.

Question 8

What is the difference between depersonalisation and derealisation?

Answer 8

Depersonalization is defined by a sense of being detached from one’s self (e.g., being an observer outside one’s body). Derealization is defined by a sense of detachment from one’s surroundings, such that the sur- roundings seem unreal.

Question 9

How is Depersonalization/ Derealization Disorder different from the other two disorders?

Answer 9

Doesn’t involve lost memory

Question 10

When does Depersonalization/ Derealization Disorder usually begin and does it start abruptly or gradually?

Answer 10

usually begins in adolescence, and it can start either abruptly or gradually.

Question 11

What is DPD/DRD often comorbid with?

Answer 11

Most people who experience depersonalization also experience derealization. Comorbid personality disorders are frequently present, and during their lifetime, about 90 percent of people with this disorder will experience anxiety disorders or depression.

Question 12

What is considered a major factor in the development of dissociative disorders?

Answer 12

Physical or sexual abuse in childhood or childhood trauma

Question 13

What does the DSM specify about other disorders in DPD/DRD and what disorders does this specify too?

Answer 13

The DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for depersonalization/ derealization disorder specify that the symptoms can co-occur with other disorders but should not be entirely explained by those disorders. It is important to rule out disorders that commonly involve these symptoms, including schizophrenia, posttraumatic stress disorder, and borderline
personality disorder.

Question 14

How long may episodes of dissociative amnesia last?

Answer 14

The episode of amnesia may last as briefly as several hours or for as long as several years.

Question 15

How may an episode end?

Answer 15

The amnesia usually disappears as suddenly as it began, with complete recovery of memory and only a small chance of recurrence.

Question 16

What does the fugue subtype of dissociative amnesia usually consist of?

Answer 16

of relatively brief duration, consisting of limited but apparently purposeful travel during which social contacts are minimal or absent.

Question 17

How common is DA among people that experience trauma?

Answer 17

Rare and not everyone who experiences it experienced trauma

Question 18

What evidence do cognitive scientists bring against repression? What is the neurological explanation behind this?

Answer 18

research shows that stress usually enhances rather than impairs encoding of memories for the negative event. Norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter associated with heightened arousal, enhances memory consolidation and retrieval

Question 19

Given that the usual response to trauma is enhanced memory of the central features of the threat, how can we explain the stress-related memory loss of dissociative amnesia?

Answer 19

might be that dissociative amnesia involves unusual ways of responding to stress. For example, extremely high levels of stress hormones could interfere with memory formation

Question 20

Describe some differences in alters in sufferers from DID as seen in case reports

Answer 20

own behavior patterns, memories, and relationships. Case reports have described alters who have different handedness, like different foods, and have allergies to different substances

Question 21

Can alters communicate with each other?

Answer 21

the voices of the others may sometimes echo in an alter’s consciousness, even though the alter may not know to whom these voices belong.

Question 22

When, culturally is the diagnosis of DID not appropriate?

Answer 22

In some cultures, people value the experience of spirits who take control of the person’s body); when experiences of possession are part of a broadly accepted spiritual or cultural practice, the diagnosis of DID is not appropriate

Question 23

What influence of gender is there in DID?

Answer 23

DID is much more common in women than in men.

Question 24

What other diagnosis are often present with DID

Answer 24

posttraumatic stress disorder, major depres- sive disorder, somatic symptom disorders, and personality disorders

Question 25

What is the prevalence of dissociative disorders

Answer 25

Idk dawg pretty rare I guess but some silly estimates are 2.5 percent of people endorsed the lifetime diagnostic criteria for depersonalization/derealization, about 7.5 percent for dissociative amnesia, and 1 to 3 percent for dissociative identity disorder

Question 26

What is a possible reasons for the increased numbers of reports of this disorder since the 70s?

Answer 26

Some critics hypothesize that the heightened professional and media attention to this diagnosis led some therapists to suggest strongly to clients that they had DID, sometimes using hypnosis to probe for alters.

Question 27

What are the two major theories for DID?

Answer 27

Posttraumatic model and the sociocognitive mode

Question 28

What does the postraumatic model propose? What research supports this?

Answer 28

some people are particularly likely to use dissociation to cope with trauma and that dissociation is the key reason people develop alters after trauma. Research supports two important tenets of this mode. First, children who are abused are at risk for developing dissociative symptoms. Second, children who dissociate are more likely to develop psychological symptoms after trauma

Question 29

What does the sociocognitive model propose?

Answer 29

people who have been abused seek explana-
tions for their symptoms and distress, and alters appear in response to suggestions by therapists, exposure to media reports of DID, or other cultural influences

Question 30

What does the sociocognitive model imply?

Answer 30

DID could be iatrogenic (created within treatment)

Question 31

What evidence has been raised for the sociocognitive model? (3)

Answer 31

DID symptoms can be role-played (hypnosis), Some therapists reinforce DID symptoms in their clients and alters share memories, even when they report amnesia according to implicit memory tests.

Question 32

What principles are agreed upon when treating DID?

Answer 32

Empathy and gentle stance, convince the person that splitting into different personalities is no longer necessary to deal with traumas, teach the person more effective ways to cope with stress and psychoeducation can help a person to understand why dissociation occurs and to begin to identify the triggers for dissociative responses in day-to-day life

Question 33

What treatment for DID is more popular that other disorders and what problems can this cause?

Answer 33

Psychodynamic treatment is probably used more for DID and the other dissociative disorders than for any other psychological disorder. Unfortunately, some psychodynamic practitioners use hypnosis as a means of helping patients diagnosed with dissociative disorders to gain access to repressed material. Using hypnosis to promote age regression and recovered memories, though, can exacerbate DID symptoms