Personality and Abnormal Psychology Flashcards
Heinz Kohut
(1913 – 1981) Austrian-born American psychologist best known for his development of self psychology, an off-shoot of object relations theory.
Object Relations Theory
Object relations theory is an offshoot of psychoanalytic theory which emphasizes interpersonal relations, primarily in the family and especially between mother and child. “Object” actually means person, and especially the significant person that is the object or target of another’s feelings or intentions. “Relations” refers to interpersonal relations and suggests the residues of past relationships that affect a person in the present. Object relations theorists are interested in inner images of the self and other and how they manifest themselves in interpersonal situations. Heinz Kuhut’s self psychology is an offshoot of object relations theory. Four important object relations theorists are Melanie Klein, Donald Winnicott, Margaret Mahler, and Otto Kernberg.
4 Important Object Relations Theorists
- Melanie Klein (1882 – 1960)
- Donald Winnicott (1896 – 1971)
- Margaret Mahler (1897 – 1985)
- Otto Kernberg (1928 – )
Otto Kernberg
(1928 – ) Psychoanalyst and professor of psychiatry most widely known for his psychoanalytic theories on borderline personality organization and narcissistic pathology. In addition, his work has been central in integrating postwar ego psychology with Kleinian (Melanie Klein) and other object relations perspectives. His integrative writings were central to the development of modern object relations, a theory of mind that is perhaps the theory most widely accepted among modern psychoanalysts.
Margaret Mahler
(1897 – 1985) Hungarian physician, who later became interested in psychiatry. She was a central figure on the world stage of psychoanalysis. Her main interest was in normal childhood development, but she spent much of her time with psychiatric children and how they arrive at the “self.” Mahler developed the separation-individuation theory of child development. Note how Mahler’s focus places her within the fold of object relations theory.
Donald Winnicott
(1896 – 1971) Donald Winnicott was an English pediatrician and psychoanalyst who was especially influential in the field of object relations theory and developmental psychology. Winnicott was a close associate of Marion Milner. Winnicott is best known for his ideas on the true self and false self, and the “good enough” parent, and borrowed from his second wife, Clare Winnicott, arguably his chief professional collaborator, the notion of the “transitional object.” A transitional object, comfort object, or security blanket, is an item used to provide psychological comfort, especially in unusual or unique situations, or at bedtime for children.
Marion Milner
(1900 – 1998) British author and psychoanalyst. Outside psychotherapeutic circles, she is better known by her pseudonym, Joanna Field, as a pioneer of introspective journaling. In 1926, Milner began an introspective journey that later became one of her best-known books, A Life of One’s Own (initially published under the name Joanna Field in 1934). This started as a journal in which she would note down times that she felt happy and thoughts going through her mind at those times, in an attempt to discover what happiness was; however, her introspection branched out into other areas, from an analysis of day-to-day worries to mystical experiences. Milner was a close associate of the pediatrician, psychoanalyst, and influential object relations theorist Donald Winnicott.
Melanie Klein
(1882 – 1960) Austrian-British author and psychoanalyst who is known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Klein suggested that pre-verbal existential anxiety in infancy catalyzes the formation of the unconscious, resulting in the unconscious splitting of the world into good and bad idealizations. In her theory, how the child resolves that splitting depends on the constitution of the child and the character of nurturing experiences; the quality of resolution can inform the presence, absence, and/or type of distresses a person experiences later in life.
The Basic Idea of
Psychoanalysis
This therapy, developed by Sigmund Freud, is an intensive, long-term treatment for uncovering repressed memories, motives, and conflicts stemming from problems in psychosexual development. Freud believed that by gaining insight into repressed material, the energy being utilized to deal with repressed conflict would be freed up and made available for further development.
Neo-Freudian Approaches to Psychotherapy
Classical psychoanalysis is very expensive and requires a larger commitment of time than most people can make. As a result, there have been many modifications of the treatment. The neo-Freudian approaches place much more emphasis on current interpersonal relationships and life situations than on childhood experience and psychosexual development.
Transference and Countertransference
Freudian terms. Transference occurs when the patient develops attitudes or feelings toward the therapist which the patient previously experienced in the context of other relationships. It is through transference that the analyst can help recreate the patient’s experiences so that the patient has an opportunity to uncover, acknowledge, and understand his or her relationships with others. The therapist, too, will experience a full range of emotions toward the patient at various points in the treatment. This is known as countertransference and must be understood by the therapist so that it does not impinge on the treatment in a counterproductive way. This is one of the reasons psychoanalysts-in-training undergo psychoanalysis themselves.
Freud and Hypnosis
Early in the development of psychoanalysis, Freud used hypnosis to free repressed thoughts from the patient’s unconscious––but he later dropped that method in favor of alternative methods, notably free association and dream interpretation.
Free Association
Practice in psychoanalytic therapy whereby the client says whatever comes to his or her conscious mind regardless of how personal, painful, or seemingly irrelevant it may appear to be. Through free association, the analyst and patient together reconstruct the nature of the client’s original conflict.
Dream Interpretation
Freud believed that the defenses are relaxed and the mind is freer to express forbidden wishes and desires during dream states. Therefore, understanding patients’ dreams leads to an understanding of their unconscious conflicts.
Resistance
Term coined by Freud. Resistance, or an unwillingness or inability to relate to certain thoughts, motives, or experiences, is a major part of analysis. Such things as forgetting dream material, missing a therapy session, blocking associations, and switching topics rapidly are indications of resistance and are themselves subject to analysis.
John Dollard and Neal E. Miller
Behaviorists who incorporated some psychoanalytic concepts into their theory. They focused on conflicting motives or conflicting tendencies in the development of personality. They were members of the distinguished group of young researchers at Yale University in the 1930s who, inspired initially by Clark L. Hull, sought to combine learning theory with psychoanalysis. The group’s first major publication was Frustration and Aggression, a classic that is still widely cited in introductory texts.
Neal E. Miller
(1909 – 2002) American experimental psychologist. Described as an energetic man with a variety of interests, including physics, biology and writing, Miller entered the field of psychology to pursue these. With a background in the sciences, he was inspired by professors and leading psychologists at the time to work on various areas in behavioral psychology, especially relating visceral responses to behavior. Miller was a member of the distinguished group of young researchers (among whom was John Dollard) at Yale University in the 1930s who, inspired initially by Clark L. Hull, sought to combine learning theory with psychoanalysis. The group’s first major publication was Frustration and Aggression, a classic that is still widely cited in introductory texts.
John Dollard
(1900 – 1980) American psychologist and social scientist best known for his studies on race relations in America and the frustration-aggression hypothesis he proposed with Neal E. Miller and others. Dollard was a member of the distinguished group of young researchers (among whom was Neal E. Miller) at Yale University in the 1930s who, inspired initially by Clark L. Hull, sought to combine learning theory with psychoanalysis. The group’s first major publication was Frustration and Aggression, a classic that is still widely cited in introductory texts. Neal E. Miller said of John Dollard’s contributions to the group: “If trying to bring together contributions from sociology, anthropology, psychology, and psychotherapy no longer seems so novel, it is because Dollard and other pioneers had the courage and tenacity to break through traditional barriers.”
B. F. Skinner
Behaviorist who considered “personality” to be a collection of behaviors that happen to have been sufficiently reinforced to persist.
Albert Bandura’s view of personality
Albert Bandura contends that learning principles are sufficient to account for personality development. The basis of his social learning theory is modeling observed behavior. Bandura stresses that learning occurs not only by having one’s own behavior reinforced (as Skinner believed) but also by observing other people’s behaviors being reinforced. This is called vicarious reinforcement, or more generally, vicarious learning.
Behavioral Theory of Personality
The behavioral perspective holds that personality is the result of an individual’s interactions with their environment. These interactions may include relationships, traumatic life experiences, lessons from parents and teachers, and lessons from movies, TV, and other forms of media. These influences exert their effects through classical and operant conditioning.
Martin Seligman
(1942 – ) American psychologist, educator, and author of self-help books. Seligman is a strong promoter within the scientific community of his theories of positive psychology and well-being. His theory of learned helplessness is popular among scientific and clinical psychologists.
Martin Seligman and Learned Helplessness
Martin Seligman conducted classic studies of learned helplessness in the 1960s. In these studies, he placed dogs in a cell with relatively high walls. He then administered a shock to the floor of the cell. Initially, the dogs would attempt to jump free. Over time, they stopped jumping since they were unable to escape. Later, Seligman replaced the high walls with relatively low walls. Nonetheless, when he administered a shock to the floor of the cell, the dogs did not jump, even though they could easily have escaped if they had attempted to do so. Thus, the dogs had learned to be helpless. Seligman and others extrapolated to the realms of human depression and locus of control.
Learned helplessness is a behavior pattern involving a maladaptive response characterized by avoidance of challenges, negative affect, and the collapse of problem-solving strategies when obstacles arise. Three components are necessary for learned helplessness to be present: contingency, cognition, and behavior.
Contingency is the idea that there is an identifiable relation between one’s actions and the environmental response, such as tapping a drum and the ensuing sound. In learned helplessness research, contingency is more often operationalized as its converse— uncontrollability—so that when an agent acts, there is no identifiable relation with a specific response. Cognitions are also necessary. These are thought of as the way one understands and explains contingency or lack thereof. How individuals explain environmental contingencies leads to the third component of learned helplessness—behavior. Thus, learned helplessness exists in a situation in which there is no observable contingency and in which one expects that this uncontrollability will continue and behaves accordingly, such as by quitting.
Behavior Therapy
Behaviorists view maladjustment / abnormal behavior as learned through interactions with the environment. Individuals learn faulty coping patterns that are maintained by some kind of reinforcement. While psychoanalysts consider the symptoms to be manifestations of some disorder, behaviorists consider the symptoms to be the disorder. Behavioral therapies have proven to be quite successful with certain problems, particularly phobias, impulse control, and personal care maintenance for people with intellectual disabilities and hospitalized psychotic patients.
The Psychodynamic Objection to Behavioral Therapy
In contrast to behaviorists, psychoanalysts do not believe that symptom relief is adequate therapy. Because the underlying cause is still there, psychoanalysts suggest that new symptoms will develop to replace the old ones. This is called symptom substitution. Naturally, behaviorists disagree with this viewpoint.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
(CBT)
CBT focuses on challenging and changing unhelpful cognitive distortions (e.g. thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes) and behaviors, improving emotional regulation, and developing personal coping strategies that target solving current problems. Originally, it was designed to treat depression, but its uses have been expanded to include treatment of a number of mental health conditions, including anxiety. Two prominent examples of CBT are Aaron Beck’s cognitive therapy for depression and Albert Ellis’s rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT).
Aaron Beck
(1921 – ) American psychiatrist regarded as a father of both cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (Albert Ellis is another father of CT and CBT). Beck’s pioneering theories are widely used in the treatment of clinical depression and various anxiety disorders. Beck developed self-report measures of depression and anxiety, notably the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), which became one of the most widely used instruments for measuring depression severity. Working with depressed patients, Beck found that they experienced streams of negative thoughts that seemed to pop up spontaneously. He termed these cognitions “automatic thoughts,” and discovered that their content fell into 3 categories: negative thoughts about oneself, the world, and the future. He stated that such cognitions were interrelated as the cognitive triad (or the negative triad). Beck found that by helping patients identify and evaluate these thoughts, patients were able to think more realistically, which led them to feel better emotionally and behave more functionally.
Philippe Pinel
In 1792, Philippe Pinel was placed in charge of an asylum in Paris with (typically) horrible conditions. Pinel, however, believed that people with mental illness should be treated with consideration and kindness. He removed shackles from the patients, allowed them to go outside on hospital grounds, gave them beds to sleep on and, in general, made sure the patients were treated humanely. These reforms had beneficial effects on the patients and spread to other asylums.
Humanism
Developed as a system in the mid-20th century. Arose in opposition to both psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Humanistic psychology opposes the pessimism of the psychoanalytic perspective and the robotic concepts of behaviorism. Humanists believe in free will and the idea that people should be considered as wholes rather than in terms of stimuli and response (behaviorism) or instinct (psychoanalysis). Important humanists include Abraham Maslow (1908 – 1970) and Carl Rogers (1902 – 1987).
Freud’s Pychoanalytic Theory
(main point)
First comprehensive theory of personality.
Edwin Boring
Historian of psychology who suggested that the development of psychology is due not primarily to the efforts of great people, but to zeitgeist, or the changing spirit of the times. Edwin Boring was also an experimental psychologist in his own right.
8 Psychological Schools
(not entirely in chronological order)
- Structuralism
- First on the scene, beginning with Wilhelm Wundt’s method of introspection; Edward Titchener studied with Wilhelm Wundt and also employed the method of introspection
- Functionalism
- Behaviorism
- Gestalt psychology
- Cognitive psychology
- Psychoanalysis
- Systems psychology
- Humanism
Herman Witkin
Observed a relationship between personality and perception of the world. Witkin classified people according to their degree of field dependence. At one pole is the capacity to make specific responses to perceived specific stimuli (field independence). At the other pole is a more diffuse response to a perceived mass of somewhat undifferentiated stimuli (field dependence). For example, people who are highly field dependent will be more influenced by the opinions of others because they respond in a diffuse manner, not distinguishing separate ideas nor even distinguishing their own ideas from those of others.
Herman Witkin
(continued)
(1916 – 1979) American psychologist who specialized in cognitive psychology and learning psychology. He was a pioneer of the theory of cognitive learning styles (developed in collaboration with Solomon Asch and others). He preferred to diagnose not by inventories but by other means, such as projective tests, task-solving tests, etc. He created the concept of field-dependency vs. field-independency. In particular, he studied field dependence / independence using the rod-and-frame test.
Solomon Asch
(1907 – 1996) Polish-American gestalt psychologist and pioneer in social psychology. He created seminal pieces of work in impression formation, prestige suggestion, conformity, and many other topics in social psychology. (Among others, he collaborated with Herman Witkin to develop the theory of cognitive learning styles.) His work follows a common theme of gestalt psychology that the whole is not only greater than the sum of its parts, but the nature of the whole fundamentally alters the parts. Asch stated: “Most social acts have to be understood in their setting, and lose meaning if isolated. No error in thinking about social facts is more serious than the failure to see their place and function. Asch is most well known for his conformity experiments, in which he demonstrated the influence of group pressure on opinions.
Environmental Psychology
Interdisciplinary field that focuses on the interplay between individuals and their surroundings. The field defines the term “environment” broadly, encompassing natural environments, social settings, built environments, learning environments, and informational environments. Environmental psychology and systems psychology describe similar theoretical perspectives.
Gregory Bateson
(1904 – 1980) English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician (semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation) and cyberneticist (cybernetics is an interdisciplinary approach to exploring regulatory systems––their structures, constraints, and possibilities) whose work intersected that of many other fields. His writings include Steps to an Ecology of Mind (1972) and Mind and Nature (1979). Gregory Bateson was a key figure in systems theory.
Roger Barker
(1903 – 1990) Social scientist, a founder of environmental psychology, and leading figure in that field for decades, perhaps best known for his development of the concept of behavior settings and staffing theory. Behavior settings are theorized entities that help explain the relationship between individuals and the environment, particularly the social environment. There has been a tendency in the social sciences generally to polarize arguments about consciousness, identity, behavior, and culture around either the mind existing “in the head” or the mind being an artifact of social interaction. “Mind”––in the sense used here––is understood as the motivation for behavior. Evidence indicates that both of these “facts” are accurate. Behavior settings are mediating structures that help explain the relationship between the dynamic behavior of individuals and stable social structure. Staffing theory explores the effects of behavior settings being either understaffed or overstaffed. Understaffing refers to the idea that there are not enough people for what the behavior setting promotes, whereas overstaffing is an overabundance of people. Roger Barker may also be considered a key figure in systems psychology.
Systems Psychology
Human behavior must be considered within the context of complex systems. Applications include organizational psychology and family therapy. Key figures are Roger Barker and Gregory Bateson. Systems psychology and environmental psychology describe similar theoretical perspectives.
Humanism
Looks at people as wholes; humans have free will; psychologists should study mentally healthy people, not just mentally ill / maladjusted ones. Key figures are Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.
Psychoanalytic Theory
(big picture)
Behavior is a result of unconscious conflicts, repression, defense mechanisms. Key figures are Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Alfred Adler.
Cognitivism
(big picture)
Behaviorism is not an adequate explanation for human behavior; humans think, believe, are creative. Key figure is Noam Chomsky.
Structuralism
Breaks consciousness into elements by using instrospection. Key figures are Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener (who studied under Wundt). Titchener’s conclusions were largely based on associationism, the idea that mental processes operate by the association of one mental state with its successor states, and all mental processes are made up of discrete psychological elements and their combinations, which are believed to be made up of sensations or simple feelings.
Functionalism
Attacked structuralism; studies how the mind functions to help people adapt to their environment. Influenced by Charles Darwin. Key figures are John Dewey and William James. James coined the term “stream of consciousness.”
Behaviorism
Attacked mentalism (theory that physical and psychological phenomena are ultimately explicable only in terms of a creative and interpretive mind); attacked the use of introspection; attacked structuralism and functionalism; advocated for psychology as objective study of behavior. Key figures are John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner.
Kurt Koffka
(1886 – 1941) German psychologist and professor. Had many interests including visual perception, brain damage, sound localization (listener’s ability to identify the location or origin of a detected sound in direction and distance), developmental psychology, and experimental psychology. Kurt Koffka worked alongside Max Wertheimer (phi phenomenon) and Wolfgang Köhler (theory of isomorphism) to develop Gestalt psychology.
Gestalt Psychology
Attacked structuralism and behaviorism; argued that the whole is something other than the sum of its parts. Key figures are Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, and Kurt Koffka.
Thomas Szasz
Outspoken critic of labeling people “mentally ill,” and author of the book The Myth of Mental Illness. Argued that most of the disorders treated by clinicians are not really illnesses. Rather, they are traits or behaviors that differ from the cultural norm. Szasz argued that labeling people as mentally ill is a way to force them to change and conform to societal norms rather than allowing them to attack the societal causes of their problems.
David Rosenhan
In 1973, Rosenhan and seven other “sane” people were admitted into different psychiatric hospitals by reporting auditory hallucinations. Each of these pseudopatients was diagnosed with either paranoid schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Once admitted, they acted normally in every way. Yet even normal activities were interpreted by the staff as evidence of mental illness. The pseudopatients remained in hospital an average of three weeks. When they were finally released (and they were only able to be released with the help of spouses and friends), the discharge diagnoses were either paranoid schizophrenia or bipolar disorder in remission. Rosenhan concluded that clinicians need to exercise greater care when judging normality and abnormality. Once someone is labeled mentally ill, the label never really goes away. Additionally, this study demonstrated that mental illness can be feigned, as well as misdiagnosed.
Primary Prevention
Efforts to seek out and eradicate conditions that foster mental illness and to establish the conditions that foster mental health are called primary prevention. Examples include increasing access to good prenatal and postnatal care, providing training in psychosocial skills to those who need it, promoting opportunities for education, and training parents in child-raising skills. Primary prevention is proactive, not reactive. It seeks to stop mental illness before it occurs rather than treating the illness after it occurs.
Diathesis-Stress Model
A framework that can be used to examine the causes of mental disorders. A diathesis is a predisposition toward developing a specific mental disorder. It could be a genetic or anatomic abnormality, or a biochemical disorder that predisposes an individual to mental illness. Excessive stress operating on a person with a predisposition (diathesis) may lead to the development of the specific mental disorder. According to this model, a person whose brain is over-sensitive to dopamine and who also experiences excessive stress may be likely to develop schizophrenia. The diathesis-stress model reminds us that causal factors at the biological and psychological levels interact with one another.
Other Groups of Disorders
In addition to the disorders already mentioned, the DSM-5 contains classifications of elimination disorders, sleep-wake disorders, sexual dysfunctions and paraphilias, gender dysphoria, impulse control disorders, and substance-related disorders.
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Antisocial personality disorder has previously been referred to as psychopathic disorder and sociopathic disorder. The essential feature of the disorder is a pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others. This is evidenced by repeated illegal acts, deceitfulness, aggressiveness, and/or a lack of remorse for said actions. Serial killers who show no remorse, imposters, and many career criminals have this disorder.
Borderline Personality Disorder
People with borderline personality disorder show behavior that has features of both personality disorders and some of the more severe psychological disorders (whatever that means). Characterized by pervasive instability in interpersonal behavior, mood, and self-image. Interpersonal relationships are often intense and unstable. There may be profound identity disturbances manifested by uncertainty about self-image, sexual identity, long-term goals, or values. There is often intense fear of abandonment. Suicide attempts and self-mutilation (cutting or burning) are common.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Characterized by a grandiose sense of self-importance or uniqueness, preoccupation with fantasies of success, an exhibitionist need for constant admiration / attention, feelings of entitlement, and disturbances in interpersonal relationships. As used in everyday language, narcissism refers to those who like themselves too much. However, people with narcissistic personality disorder have very fragile self-esteem and are constantly concerned with how others are viewing them. They may experience marked feelings of rage, inferiority, shame, humiliation, or emptiness when they are not viewed favorably by others. More common in men.
Schizoid Personality Disorder
A pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of emotional expression. People with this disorder show little desire for social interactions; have few, if any, close friends; and have poor social skills. Typically begins in early adulthood. (Schizoid personality disorder is not the same as schizophrenia.)
Personality Disorders
A personality disorder is a pattern of behavior that is inflexible and maladaptive, causing distress and/or impaired functioning in at least two of the following: cognition, emotions, interpersonal functioning, and impulse control. The DSM-5 lists ten personality disorders (four of the most common in bold):
- Paranoid
- Schizoid
- Schizotypal (for a diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder, patients must have: 1) a persistent pattern of intense discomfort with and decreased capacity for close relationships; and 2) cognitive or perceptual distortions and eccentricities of behavior)
- Antisocial
- Borderline
- Histrionic (criteria are: he or she feels uncomfortable when the center of attention is not on him or her; the individual’s interactions with others are usually inappropriately seductive or provocative; he or she shows quickly changing and shallow expression of emotions; the individual uses his or her physical appearance to attract attention; the individual’s speech is lacking in detail; he or she is dramatic and exaggerates his or her emotions; the individual is easily influenced by others; he or she views relationships as more intimate than they really are.)
- Narcissistic
- Avoidant (criteria are: avoids occupational activities involving significant interpersonal contact, due to fears of criticism, disapproval, or rejection; is unwilling to get involved with people unless certain of acceptance; shows restraint within intimate relationships due to fears of shame or ridicule; preoccupied with fears of receiving criticism or rejection in social situations; inhibited in new interpersonal situations due to feelings of inadequacy; considers self as inferior to others, socially inept, or personally unappealing; is unusually reluctant to take personal risks or to engage in any new activities because they may prove embarrassing)
- Dependent (difficulty making routine decisions without input, reassurance, and advice from others; requires others to assume responsibilities which they should be attending to; fear of disagreeing with others and risking disapproval; difficulty starting projects without support from others; excessive need to obtain nurturance and support from others, even allowing others to impose themselves rather than risk rejection or disapproval; feels vulnerable and helpless when alone; desperately seeks another relationship when one ends; unrealistic preoccupation with being left alone and unable to care for themselves)
- Anankastic (obsessive-compulsive)
Anorexia Nervosa
Characterized by a refusal to maintain a minimally normal body weight. The person also has a distorted body image, and believes that he or she is overweight even when emaciated. In females, amenorrhea (the cessation of menstruation) is usually present. More than 90% of cases are female and 10% of hospitalized cases result in death due to starvation, suicide, or electrolyte imbalance.
Bulimia Nervosa
Involves binge-eating accompanied by excessive attempts to compensate by purging, fasting, or excessively exercising. In bulimia nervosa, unlike anorexia nervosa, the individual tends to maintain a minimally normal body weight. At least 90% of cases are female.
Depersonalization Disorder
The person feels detached, like an outside observer of his or her body, mental processes, and/or behavior. May also involve a sense that one’s surroundings aren’t real. However, the person retains an accurate perception of reality. In other words, there is no psychotic element.
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Previously called multiple personality disorder. Rare disorder characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality states. Usually a reaction to trauma as a way to help a person avoid bad memories. Results when the components of identity fail to integrate. After much therapy, the personalities can usually be integrated into one.
Dissociative Amnesia
Characterized by an inability to recall past experience. The qualifier “dissociative” means that the amnesia is not due to a neurological disorder. Usually caused by trauma or stress.
Dissociative Fugue
Rare disorder characterized by reversible amnesia for personal identity, including the memories, personality, and other identifying characteristics of individuality. The state can last days, months, or longer.
Dissociative Disorders
In dissociative disorders, the person avoids stress by dissociating, or escaping from his or her identity. The person otherwise has an intact sense of reality. Examples of dissociative disorders include dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue, dissociative identity disorder (formerly called multiple personality disorder), and depersonalization disorder.