Ch 6: Dissociative disorders

In dissociative fugue, people not only forget their personla identities and details of their past lives, but they also

flee to an antriely different location

If your psychotherapists makes you forget facts, events, and even your personal identity by utting you in a sleep like state, he likely used

hypnotic amnesia

Memory is important to our sense of __________ bc it is a link bw past, present and future

identity

coconscious subpersonalities, or quiet observers watch actions and thoughts of other subpersonalities but do not ...

interact with them

When is DID usually diagnosed?

late adolescence or early adulthood

Define state-dependent learning

learning that becomes associated with the conditions under which it ocurred, so its best remembered under the same conditions

What is the most common relationship pattern between subpersonalities in DID?

one-way amnesic relationships

In what 3 ways do subpersonalities differ in DID?

own names and diff. identifying features, abilities, preferences and even physiological responses

people who go through what are most likely to experience depersonalization-derealization disorder?

people who are survivors of traumatic experiences and ppl caught in life threatening situations (hostage/kidnap victims)

depersonalization-derealization disorder sx are

persistent or recurrent cause stress impairment in social life/job

due to their similarities, some theorists believe that dissociative disorders may be a form of___________ where person has hypnotized themselves to forget something unleasant

self hypnosis

depersonalization

sense that one's own mental functioning or body are unreal or detached

Children of the ages 4-6 who undergo abuse or other horrifying events may escape to another world by self hypnosis, mentally ...

seperating themselves from the real world

How do subpersonalities interact in one-way amnesic relationships?

some subpersonalities are awar eof others, but awareness is not mutual

If i learn something while i smoke weed, then i will recall it best wheni smoke weed again, this is an example of...

state-dependent learning

Derealization

the sense that one's surroundings are unreal or detached

We have an identity, which is a sense of...

who we are and where we fit in our environment

ppl who have DID may, according to state dependent learning, have thoughts, memories and skills tied EXCLUSIVELY to a particular state of arousal and thus...

will only recall given event when they go thru arousal state identical to the state memory was first acquired. and so different features are made for different stressful events

What kind of sx are the following? feeling as tho become seperated from body, doubling- mind floats a few feet above them hands/feet- larger or smaller emo- mechanical, dreamlike, dizzy aware that perceptions are distorted

Depersonalization sx

This dissociative disorder is categorized in the DSM5 as one but it doesn't have the memory difficulties found in the other. Which is it?

Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder

Main sx of this dissociation disorder are depersonalization (sense that own mental functioning/body is unreal or detached) and derealization (sense that surroundings are unreal/ detached)

Depersonalization-derealization disorder

People who go through what specific events are more likely to develop amnesia and other dissociative rxns?

ppl who experience severe threats to health and safety, as in natural and human-produced disasters (like a shooting, ppl forget specific details of ordeal, personal info or even identities)

Dissociative Amnesia DX checklist

1) Person cannot recall important life-related information, typically traumatic or stressful info. Memory problem is more than simple forgetting 2) Significant distress or imapirment 3) The sx are not caused by a substance or medical condition

dissociative identity disorder (DID) DX checklist

1) Person experiences a disruption to his identity, as reflected by at least 2 seperate personality states or experiences of possession 2) Person repeatedly experiences memory gaps regardingdaily events, key personal information, or traumatic events, beyond ordinaryforgetting 3) Significant distress or impairment 4) The sx are not caused by a substance or medical condition

how many people say they have felt like they're wathcing themselves in a movie?

1/3

What is the average number of subpersonalities in DID in women?

15

At least what % of all adults experience dissociative amnesia?

2%

what percent experiences depersonalization-derealization disorder?

2%

Someone with dissociative identity disorder develops how many personalities and what are they called?

2+ distinct personalities Subpersonalities/ alternate personalities and they each have a unique set of memories, behaviors, thoughts and emotions

ppl with dissociative identity disorder (DID) don't get that diagnosis until they have been in therapy for how long?

7 years

What is the average number of subpersonalities in DID in men?

8

What usually triggers a switch from personalities in DID?

A stressful event, or clinicians can do it by hypnotic suggestion

In all types of amnesia, what is the main thing they have that is similar?

Amnesia interferes mostly with a person's memory or personal material

What causes state dependent learning?

Arousal levels, a level of arousal has a set of remembered events, thoughts and skills attached to it. when a situation produces that arousal, you remember those events

coconscious subpersonalities can make itself known through these 2 indirect means, what are they?

Auditory hallucinations-like a voice giving commands Automatic writing- current personality writes down words over which they have no control

A group of disorders triggered by traumatic events marked by memory difficulties

Dissociative disorders

What type of memory usually remains in amnesiacs?

Encyclopedic information or abstract things (know the president's name, how to read or drive a car)

How long can their fugue last?

Hours, days, or even years

Many believe that DID is rare and even iatrogenic, meaning what?

Iatrogenic means that its unintentionally produced by practitioners

Subpersonalities may differ in features such as age, gender, race, family hx. These features are called

Identifying features

If you have depersonalization or derealization experiences by themselves, do they count as depersonalization-derealization disorder?

NO, transient depersonalization or derealization rxns are pretty common

If subpersonalities have diff blood pressure and allergies they have what kind of differing features?

Physiological responses

How do subpersonalities interact in mutually cognizant patterns?

Subpersonalities are well aware of the rest (may talk among themselves or hear one another's voices)

How do subpersonalities interact in mutually amnesic relationships?

Subpersonalities have no awareness of one another

This transition in DID from one subpersonality to another is dramatic and sudden and is called...

Switching

What do opponents say about repressed memory concept?

That childhood sexual abuse is usually remembered very well, not repressed

What is the subpersonality in DID that appears more often than the others?

The host or primary

Aftereffects are few in. T/F

True

The majority of people who go through fugue regain most or all of their memories and never have a reocurrence. T/F

True

How many times more often do women recieve this diagnosis as opposed to men?

Women diagnosed 3x more than men

Are dissociative disorders rare?

Yes

In dissociative disorders what happens to memory?

a persons memory or identity becomes dissociated, or separated from other parts of his or her memory or identity

What is an episode of amnesia typically triggered by?

a traumatic or upsetting event

When subpersonalities' evoked potentials were measured, eeg records showed that each personality type had...

a very different variations in their records, enough to be of 2 different people

Subpersonalities may differ in features such as ability to drive, speak a foreign language, play an instrument. memories of abstract and encyclopedic info were different per personality. These features are called

abilities and preferences

What are the ages of experience for depersonalization-derealization disorder?

adolescents and YA, hardly ever ppl over 40

If someone is in fugue when they are found by family/friends they are taken to therapist where they ask them...

alot of questions about details of life and repeatedly remind them who they are

If a soldier forgets battle but can remember stuff before and after this is called an

amnestic episode

According to people working with sybil, she was actually highly hypnotizable, extremely suggestible and...

anxious to please her therapist, ppl think her disorder may be induced largely by hypnosis and therapist suggestion

the end if a fugue is always

brief, they end abruptly

In one way amnesic relationships, the aware ones are called what?

coconscious subpersonalities, or quiet observers

Sx for this dissociative disorder are long lasting and recurrent if severe stress is present. few theories to explain the disorder and few studies. Which disorder is this?

depersonalization-derealization disorder

This dissociative disorder usually comes on suddenly and may be triggeres by extreme fatigue, physical pain, intense stress or recovery from subtance abuse

depersonalization-derealization disorder

What kind of sx are the following? other ppl seem removed, mechanical, dead

derealization sx

Childhood abuse, particularly sexual abuse can trigger

dissociative amnesia

People with this disorder arent able to recall impt info, usually stressful, about their lives

dissociative amnesia

wartime and natural disasters can trigger

dissociative amnesia

The extreme version of dissociative amnesia is called

dissociative fugue

When do DID sx begin?

early childhood after episodes of trauma or abuse (usually sexual abuse)