Dissociative Disorders Flashcards
Summary of Dissociative Disorders
Dissociative Disorders
Dissociative disorders are characterised by alterations in perceptions: a sense of detachement from one’s own self, from the world or from memories.
Dissociative disorders include depersonalisation-derealisation disorder, in which the individual’s sense of personal reality is temporarily lost (depersonalisation), as in the reality of the external world (derealisation).
In dissociative amnesia, the individual may be unable to remember important personal information. In generalised amnesia, the indiviual is unable to remember anything: more commonly, the individual is unable to recall specific period (localised or selective amnesia).
In dissociative fugue, a subtype of dissociative amnesia, momory loss is combined with an unexpected trip (or trips).
In the extreme, new identities, or alters, may be formed, as in dissociative identity disorder (DID). The causes of dissociative disorders are not well understood but often seem related to the tendency to escape psychologically from stress or memories of traumatic events.
Management of dissociative disorders involves helping the patient re-experience the traumatic events in a controlled therapeautic manner to develop better coping skills. In the case of DID, therapy is often long term. Particularly essential with this disorder is a sense of trust between therapist and patient.
The causes of dissociative disorders are not well understood but often seem related to the tendency to escape psychologically from stress or memories of traumatic events.
