Dissociative Disorders

Question 1

Dissociative disorders

Answer 1

-Sudden disruption in continuity of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control and behavior

Question 2

Depersonalization/ Derealization Disorder

Answer 2

-Depersonalization -detachment from one’s own feelings, thoughts, sensations, body, actions
-Derealization -detachment from surroundings
-triggered by stress or traumatic event
-chronic course
-reality testing remains intact
-mean age onset is 16
*CAUSES
-Cognitive Disconnection Schemata
defectiveness and emotional inhibition and include themes of abuse, neglect and deprivation
-Overconnection Schemata
impaired autonomy with themes of dependency, vulnerability, incompetence
-strong association with emotional abuse and neglect

Question 3

Dissociate Amnesia

Answer 3

-Inability to recall important personal info usually about a traumatic experience
-deficits in explicit memory (conscious recall) not implicit memory
-comorbid with dysthymia, MDD
-TYPES:
Localized -an event or period of time; single traumatic event
Selective -specific aspect of an event (parts)
Generalized -identity and life history
Systematized -specific category
Continuous -forgets each new event as it occurs
-Specifier:
Dissociative Fugue -purposeful travel or bewildered wandering that is associated with amnesia for identity

Question 4

Dissociative Trance

Answer 4

Sudden changes in personality, attributed to possession by a spirit important in the particular culture
-Amok: individual enters a trancelike state and suddenly runs or flees for a long time

Question 5

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Answer 5

-2 Cluster of symptoms:
>sudden alterations or discontinuities in sense of self
>recurrent dissociative amnesias
-comorbid with PTSD, BPD
-Host: subpersonality that dominates
-Mutually amnesic relationship: alters not aware of each other
-Mutually Cognizant relationship: alters aware of others
-One-way amnesic relationship: subpersonalities are aware of other but awareness not mutual
-Co-conscious subpersons: quiet observers
-average of 15 personalities
-IATROGENIC: unintentional creation of personality by practitioners

Question 6

Causes of Dissociative Disorders

Answer 6

• Psychodynamic
• massive use of repression, resulting in splitting off from consciousness of unacceptable impulses and painful memories
• amnesia as an adaptive function of disconnecting awareness from traumatic experiences
• Social Cognitive/Behavioral
• learned response involving the behavior of psychologically distancing oneself from disturbing memories or emotions
• form of role-playing acquired through observational learning and reinforcement
• State-dependent learning -link between state and recall; arousal activated
• Self-hypnosis -hypnotize themselves to forget unpleasant events

Question 7

Therapy for Dissociative Disorders

Answer 7

• long term psychotherapy -uncover unconscious
• hypnotic therapy
• drug (barbiturates=truth serum) -calm and free inhibitions