Chapter 6: Dissociative Disorders Flashcards
depersonalization
sense of your own reality is lost. Person dissociates from reality ex/ feeling outside of your own body
derealization
sense of reality of the external world is lost.
ex/ what’s happening around you itsn’t real; people may seem dead or mechanical/
dissociation
altered sense of reality in which there is a disconnect between a person’s thoughts, memories, feelings, behaviours, or sense of self.
dissociative disorders
disorders in which individuals feel detached from themselves or their surroundings, and reality, experinece, and identity may disintegrate.
dissociative identity disorder
a disorder ni which more than two personalities or fragments of personalities coexist within one body and mind
- formerly known as multiple personality disorder
- aspects of person’s identity are dissociated.
in DID, the separate identities are aka
alters.
in DID, there is often a period of ___ where the person cannot recall any events that happened in that time period
amnesia. also, identity is fragmented. there could be only 2 identities, or 100+
host identity in DID
the identity who becomes the py and asks for treatment.
T/F in DID, the first identity to seek treatment is often the “original person”
false. the first identity to seek treatment is seldom the orignial identity of the person. Usually, the host personality develops later in life.
role of the “impulsive alter”
usually the identity of a person with DID who is responsible for generating revenue and handles sexuality.
T/F: personalities are limited to gender of the actual person
false. a small woman might have a male identity.
the transition from one pesonality to another is called a
switch
switches are often instantaneous and can alter the posture, facial expression, patterns of facial wrinkling and even physical disabilities may emerge
average numbers of alters in someone with DID. Age of onset?
average number of alters is 15. Often onset with childhood. Affects more women than men.
What culture has the most DID
western.
How can DID be faked?
Alters/personalities may be created upon suggestions from the therapist. People with fragmented identities cannot control which identity they have at a given time.
How do you know if somenoe isn’t ‘faking’ DID?
there is a true change in hippocampal and medial temporal activity after the switch. Also there may be transient micro stabismus in the eyes.
interpersonality amnesia
events experienced by a particular identity are only retrievable by the same identity.
transient micro stabismus
divergence in conjugant lateral eye movements that may not be present with other identiteies. Cannot be controlled. this change in optical functioning may indivate the presence of DID (not faking)
T/F: DID subjects had 4.5x the average number of changes in optical functioning in their alter identities that control subjectswho had simulated alter personalities
true.
DID is often comorbid with:
boarderline personality disorder. Also has high comorbidity with substance use, depression, panic attacks and eating disorders. there is an average of over 7 additional diagnoses in addition to DID.
Largest thought “cause” of DID
childhood abuse: physical and sexual (68% incest). Different alters are created as an escape from physical and emotional pain. DID may be a sub-type of PTSD.
Autohypnotic model
the idea that suggestible people may use dissociation as a defence against trauma. Less suggestible people may develop PTSD.
- when trauma becomes unbearable, the person’s identity splits into multiple dissociated identities.
- people who are less suggestible may develop a severe post-traumatc stress reaction but not a dissociative reaction.
___ ___ epileptic seizsures can be associated with dissociative symptoms
temporal lobe seizures.
2 biological contributions to DID
1) temporal lobe seizures
2) sleep depreivation
