Dissociation Flashcards
What is dissociation?
The splitting or separation of “normal” mental, emotional, and or behavioral functioning. Specifically, your awareness of self (identity), memory (past, present), perception of reality (time, yourself, world around you, etc.) and attention (mental focus or awareness of self, others, and/or surroundings in general) shifts, splits or is otherwise compromised.
What are some current assumptions about dissociation?
At least some people have the capacity to do it (on a continuum), dissociation is not unique and shares similarities with other human capacities, it can take a variety of forms and affect a range of states, what is dissociated from someone is always their own states, it is theoretically reversible
What are the different psychopathologies that dissociation can affect?
Affect regulation (ex: depression), disruption of identity, auto-hypnotic (ex: trance), behaviour (ex: poor impulse control), memory (ex: fugue), revitalization of past trauma
How has dissociation been historically explained?
It has mainly been explained as a solely pathological condition in response to trauma. However, trauma in and of itself does not shatter self-organization; Psychological processes do so in an effort to protect sense of self as cohesive
How does dissociation relate to the development of the self?
If dissociation continues into adulthood it may indicate a pathological issue. Dissociation can be related to emotional regulation (occurs when emotions are distorted). Children with higher capabilities may use dissociation as a defence strategy. Dissociation may be used as a substitute to organize experiences. It may occur when the ‘core self’ is distorted. As Cognitive development becomes more complex so does the complexity of dissociative expressions
What are the possible developmental pathways for dissociative processes?
Normative & Pathological
Through what dimensions can dissociation be viewed?
Type (quality of experience), level (continuum - absorption to DID), timing (peritraumatic vs posttraumatic), relationship to defence (allocation of attention), frequency, purpose (can be healthy or unhealthy)
What are examples of Normative and Pathological experiences?
Amnesia is pathological, and absorption is normal
What is Peritraumatic?
It refers to dissociation occurring at the time of trauma. It may predispose one to PTSD but it is considered normal. It can include an ‘out of body’ experience, decrease in awareness of pain, shock, etc
