Dissociative disorders

3)Depersonalization - Derealization Disorder

-Depersonalization: Individual feels as though they have become separated from their body and are observing themselves from outside -In contrast to depersonalization, derealization is characterized by the feeling that the external world is unreal and strange -Depersonalization and derealization experiences by themselves do not indicate a disorder *Transient depersonalization or derealization reactions are fairly common *The symptoms of a depersonalization - derealization disorder are persistent or recurrent, cause considerable distress, and interfere with social relationships and job performance -The disorder occurs most frequently in adolescents and young adults, hardly ever in people older than 40

Symptoms of Dissociative Disorders

-Dissociative disorders are each characterized by significant memory loss or identity disruption ( lack clear physical cause) 1)Dissociative amnesia (and dissociative fugue) 2)Dissociative identity disorder (DID) (multiple personality disorder) 3)Depersonalization - derealization disorder

How do subpersonalities interact?

-The relationship among subpersonalities varies from case to case Generally there are three kinds of relationships: *Mutually amnesic relationships - subpersonalities have no awareness of one another *Mutually cognizant patterns - each subpersonality is well aware of the rest *One-way amnesic relationships - most common pattern; some personalities are aware of others, but the awareness is not mutual Those subpersonalities that are aware ("co-conscious subpersonalities") are "quiet observers" Subpersonalities per sex: women (15) men (8) -emerge in groups of 2 or 3 -EX: the 3 faces of eve ( eve white, eve black, jane and they made up evelyn)

Treatments for Dissociative Disorders

-People with dissociative amnesia often recover on their own *Only sometimes do their memory problems linger and require treatment -In contrast, people with DID usually require treatment to regain their lost memories and develop an integrated personality *Treatment for DID tends to be less successful than treatment for dissociative amnesia How do therapists help individuals with DID? -Therapists usually try to help the client by: *Recognizing the disorder *Recovering memories *Integrating the subpersonalities **Integration into a single identity **Integration is a continuous process **Following integration, further therapy is typically needed to ----Maintain the complete personality, and ----Teach social and coping skills to prevent later dissociation

How do subpersonalities differ?

-Subpersonalities often display dramatically different characteristics, including: *Identifying features (age, sex, race, family history) *Abilities and preferences (ability to drive, speak a foreign language, play a musical instrument) *Physiological features (autonomic nervous system activity, blood pressure levels)

How common is DID?

-The number of people diagnosed with the disorder has been increasing -Although the disorder is still uncommon, thousands of cases have been documented in the U.S. and Canada alone -Two factors may account for this increase: *A growing number of clinicians believe that the disorder does exist and are willing to diagnose it *Diagnostic procedures have become more accurate

2)Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

-develops two or more distinct personalities (subpersonalities) each with a unique set of memories, behaviors, thoughts, and emotions -At any given time, one of the subpersonalities dominates the person's functioning *Usually one subpersonality -the primary or "host" personality - appears more often than the others *The transition from one subpersonality to the next ("switching") is usually sudden and may be dramatic -adolescence or early adulthood -women 3x men

1) Dissociative Amnesia

-unable to recall important information, usually of an upsetting nature, about their lives -The loss of memory is much more extensive than normal forgetting and is not caused by physical factors -Often an episode of amnesia is directly triggered by a specific upsetting event -Dissociative amnesia may be: *Localized - most common type; loss of all memory of events occurring within a limited period *Selective - loss of memory for some, but not all, events occurring within a period *Generalized - loss of memory beginning with an event, but extending back in time; may lose sense of identity; may fail to recognize family and friends *Continuous - forgetting continues into the future; quite rare in cases of dissociative amnesia In all types, memory for abstract or encyclopedic information - usually remains intact -Dissociative Fugue: extreme version of dissociative amnesia -People with dissociative fugue not only forget their personal identities and details of their past, but also flee to an entirely different location -For some, the fugue is brief - a matter of hours or days - and ends suddenly -For others, the fugue is more severe: people may travel far from home, take a new name and establish new relationships, and even a new line of work; some display new personality characteristics -rare -end abruptly *When people are found before their fugue has ended, therapists may find it necessary to continually remind them of their own identity *The majority of people regain most or all of their memories and never have a recurrence

different views

The psychodynamic view -Psychodynamic theorists believe that dissociative disorders are caused by repression, the most basic ego defense mechanism *People fight off anxiety by unconsciously preventing painful memories, thoughts, or impulses from reaching awareness -Most of the support for this model is drawn from case histories, which report brutal childhood experiences, yet: *Some individuals with DID do not seem to have these experiences of abuse The behavioral view -Behaviorists believe that dissociation grows from normal memory processes and is a response learned through operant conditioning: *Momentary forgetting of trauma leads to a drop in anxiety, which increases the likelihood of future forgetting *Like psychodynamic theorists, behaviorists see dissociation as escape behavior -Also like psychodynamic theorists, behaviorists rely largely on case histories to support their view of dissociative disorders State-dependent learning -People who are prone to develop dissociative disorders may have state-to-memory links that are unusually rigid and narrow; -Each thought, memory, and skill is tied exclusively to a particular state of arousal -Hence, they recall a given event only when they experience an arousal state almost identical to the state in which the memory was first acquired Self-hypnosis -Although hypnosis can help people remember events that occurred and were forgotten years ago, it can also help people forget facts, events, and their personal identity *Called "hypnotic amnesia," this phenomenon has been demonstrated in research studies with word lists