Dissociative and Somatoform Disorders

Dissociative Disorders (dissociated)Disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts and feelings. –May have multiple personalities, amnesia, or become someone else –Very popular subject for TV and movies –But, very very rare and some argue their existence

Dissociative Identity Disorder distincta person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. –Women tend to average 15 pers. and men about 8 –Herschell Walker multiple personality disorderformally known as multiple personality disorder.

Dissociative Amnesia characterized by a loss or blocking out of critical personal information

Dissociative Amnesia Does NOT result from other medical trauma (e.g. a blow to the head).

Dissociative Fugue Characterized by reversible amnesia for personal identity fugitiveFugue comes from the word fugitive An individual in a fugue state is unaware of or confused about his identity, and in some cases will assume a new identity (although this is the exception). Can involve unplanned traveling or wandering

Depersonalization Disorder Marked by a feeling of detachment or distance from one's own experience, body, or self. One can easily relate to feeling as they are in a dream, or being "spaced out." A person's experience with depersonalization can be so severe that he or she believes the external world is unreal or distorted.

Somatoform Disorders Confusion of Mind & Body noDisorders involving physical symptoms or complaints with no real physical cause or explanation Two types –Conversion disorder May suffer from a loss of movement in a limb or feeling in a hand or arm or loss of vision –Hypochondriasis You believe something is very wrong with your health

Dissociative Amnesia - Types Localized amnesia –an individual who has no memory of specific events that took place, usually traumatic. The loss of memory is localized with a specific window of time. For example, a survivor of a car wreck who has no memory of the experience until two days later is experiencing localized amnesia. Selective amnesia –when a person can recall only small parts of events that took place in a defined period of time. –For example, an abuse victim may recall only some parts of the series of events around the abuse. Generalized amnesia –when a person's amnesia encompasses an entire life. Systematized amnesia –characterized by a loss of memory for a specific category of information. –A person with this disorder might, for example, be missing all memories about one specific family member.

Causes of Dissociative Disorders An attempt to escape a traumatic experience –Protecting the “self” –Traumatic event in childhood Highly imaginative children –Make-believe games become part of real life Could just be attention seeking personalities