notes in class cont.

Question 1

what is dissociation a symptom of

Answer 1

every disorder we have talked about, characterized as a symptom with high frequency and depth

Question 2

what are some characteristics of dissociation

Answer 2

memory loss or lack of attention on moment somatic/physical symptoms (feel like you are out of body, body feels different weight), psychological symptoms

Question 3

what do dissociative disorders tend to be from

Answer 3

traumatic event

Question 4

what are the kinds of dissociative disorders

Answer 4

dissociative amnesia and dissociative identity disorder

Question 5

what is dissociative amnesia usually characterized by

Answer 5

dissociative fugue, comes from a mental trauma and not a physical one

Question 6

how has dissociative identity disorder changed over the years

Answer 6

used to be known as multiple personality disorder (changed because it is not personality, it is identity)
-people get this confused with schizophrenia (which means split mind, the functions of the mind are split), it may seem like these two are the same but they are not even if there is some layover

Question 7

what are the characteristics of dissociative amnesia

Answer 7

cannot recall information that was upsetting (trauma), but causes a broader scope of memory loss not just the memory loss of the traumatic event which leads to psychological crisis and impairment

• cannot remember important life information (usually anything tied to traumatic event)
• do tend to get memories back eventually, kind of like a defense mechanism

Question 8

why is dissociative amnesia not like PTSD

Answer 8

you cannot find perspective like you can in pTSD because you don’t even know what the trauma was/ memory loss was about

Question 9

what is dissociative fugue

Answer 9

state where you lose your entire identity, whole memory system is thrown out and you flee, leave current location and go somewhere else (have no memory of this)
-when someone is in fugue state they have to be reminded who they are consistently because doing this initially causes dissociation

these states are more commonly shorter, a few hours and dont last as long

Question 10

what is dissociative identity disorder and what is it usually caused by

Answer 10

multiple identities inside one person, average is 8-11 but can be as many as 100

caused by unexplainable gaps in memory, trauma and brutal abuse- the gaps in the memory are the different identities
there is no adult onset, if you have it you have had it because it happens as a child

Question 11

what is the host in dissociative identity disorder

Answer 11

the original identity, tends to be meek, quiet, traumatized and confused

Question 12

how is dissociative identity disorder a misunderstood disorder

Answer 12

it is Iatrogenic which means it is caused by suggestion by clinican

Question 13

who is aware of when the identities switch

Answer 13

the host is not aware of when the identities switch but the different identities are

Question 14

what are the different kinds of amnesia within dissociative identity disorder

Answer 14

1) mutual awareness: identities aware of each other
2) one way amnesia: some identities aware of others but this does not go both ways
3) mutual amnesia: no identities know about each other

Question 15

what is the quiet observer identity in dissociative identity disorder

Answer 15

the identity that does not really do anything, just pays attention to other identities (this is how clients and therapists get insight)

Question 16

how are there physiological responses to different identities

Answer 16

different heart rates, different languages, skill sets, different tastes in food, etc

Question 17

explain the split brain diagram in those with dissociative identity disorder

Answer 17

identity of kid becomes split by trauma and this eventually causes more and more splits (show circle diagrams on paper)

• segmented or divided person, not integrated like different personalities are integrated in people without this disorder
• disintegration

Question 18

who is more likely to get dissociative identity disorder

Answer 18

women, three times more likely

-reflection of society not women in general

Question 19

what is the treatment/ cure for dissociative identity disorder

Answer 19

when therapist recognized DID they have to get to know identities (long treatment) using video and audio recordings to show host so they believe in the identities

• this starts to help them recognize what triggers the identities and work on different identities
• the host has to acknowledge they have these identities

Question 20

when recognized will all identities want to integrate

Answer 20

no, some are happy to integrate but others are not and have the principle of life (want to live on)
-identities think they are real and might interfere with therapy

Question 21

what is the end treatment goal for dissociative identity disorder

Answer 21

reintegration

Question 22

how does the therapist help with reintegration

Answer 22

teach and help client gain control over switching

• therapist gets to know each identity and why they are there and what purpose they serve (these identities might know the host is being abused while the host themselves represses it)
• eventually lower the triggers that cause different identities

Question 23

how do we know that dissociative identity disorder is not just a psychotic episode with person having memory loss?

Answer 23

even if it was, the treatment is still the same

• switching is similar to psychotic episodes (so it doesnt really matter what it is, mental illness is hard to quantify in general)
• people still look at DID weird, so there is belief that the name might change in the future

Question 24

why is it hard to catch dissociative identity disorder at a young age

Answer 24

because kids are already so volatile and out of control

Question 25

can people ever become fully reintegrated

Answer 25

100% is rare, especially with more identities (usually a residual effect going on)

Question 26

what is false memory syndrome and two examples

Answer 26

the tendency for people to implant false memories into their past

ex. people can say “are you sure this didn’t happen when you were a kid?” and people play something in your head and it eventually is implanted as a false memory
ex. photoshopped pictures can also work to implant false memories

Question 27

why are people prone to false memory syndrome

Answer 27

we cannot really prove whether something did or did not happen
people, especially kids, are horrible eyewitnesses (memories are flawed, we are prone to false memories)
-traumatized children are prone to memory inaccuracies

Question 28

when does dissociative amnesia occur again

Answer 28

after traumatic event, resolves itself because it is psychological not organice

Question 29

what are the 4 kinds of dissociative amnesia

Answer 29

1) localized
2) selective
3) generalized
4) continuous

Question 30

what is localized dissociative amnesia

Answer 30

most common type

• memory loss is localized to specific thing that caused trauma
• memory comes back after a little

(diagram)

Question 31

what is selective dissociative amnesia

Answer 31

• remember parts of trauma
• defense mechanism is not working so well

(diagram)

Question 32

what is generalized dissociative amnesia

Answer 32

overcompensates, forget more than just the trauma

ex. forget past year
- could come back eventually, defense mechanism in moment

(diagram)

Question 33

what is continuous dissociative amnesia

Answer 33

most severe

• memory loss goes both ways
• can remember for a second and then forget again

Question 34

what does it mean that dissociative amnesia is nonorganic

Answer 34

have to rule out actual head trauma to know it is just psychological trauma

Question 35

what is depersonalization/derealization disorder

Answer 35

• self/reality seems strange and alien
• happening sometimes is normal but not constant like the disorder
• high co-occurrence with eating disorders