Dissociative Disorder-Split Personality Disorder- Amnesia disorders-Dual Personality-PsychoDoctor

 

Dissociative Disorders

What are the dissociative disorders?

Dissociative disorders in Psychology can be defined as

"Disorders in which a person faces severe disruption or alteration of their identity, memory, or consciousness"

       These are Characterized by persistent, maladaptive disruptions in the integration of memory, consciousness and identity.

      Person with a dissociative disorders may be

1. Unable to remember many details about the past
2. He or she may wander far from home and perhaps assume a new identity.
3. Two or more personalities may coexist within the same person

·         In the past Dissociative Disorders were viewed as expressions of hysteria.

     Greek, hysteria means “uterus,” and the term hysteria reflects ancient speculation that these disorders were caused by frustrated sexual desires, particularly the desire to have a baby.

·         Janet and Freud were eager to explain and treat hysteria.

What are the symptoms of Dissociative Disorders?

• Depersonalization is a form of dissociation wherein people feel detached from themselves or their social or physical environment
• Amnesia—the partial or complete loss of recall for particular events or for a particular period of time. 
• Effected person feels he is disconnected from himself and the world around him.

• Effected person forget about certain time periods, events and personal information
• Effected person has multiple distinct identities or Personalities.
• Person feels little or no physical pain.
• Dissociative disorders typically involve disruption of identity, dissociative amnesia can involve loss of memory without loss of identity.

Diagnosis of Dissociative Disorders

·         Descriptive approach to classification introduced in DSM-III (1980) led to the
separation of dissociative and somatoform disorders into discrete diagnostic categories.

         The distinction is preserved in DSM-IV-TR (2000), because the symptoms of the two disorders

          differ greatly.

Types of Dissociative Disorders

There are generally five types of dissociative disorders.

1.         Dissociative amnesia
2.         Dissociative fugue
3.         Dissociative identity disorder
4.         Depersonalized disorder
5.         Derealization disorder

1- Dissociative Amnesia symptoms

Forgetfulness is not yet the same as memory loss

The person with memory loss is unable to recall important personal information too extensive to be viewed in terms of forgetfulness.

In dissociative (psychogenic) amnesia, the memory system is not physically damage yet there is selective psychologically motivated forgetting

Often, what has been forgotten is traumatic for the individual. It can sometimes be retrieved from memory

Types of dissociative amnesia

            There are two types of dissociative amnesia

1-      Selective dissociative amnesia

Forgets some but not of what happened during a certain period of time

2-      Generalized dissociative amnesia

Forgets one’s entire life history

 

Why do we forget? Theories of Forgetting

 Forgetting happens as a routine part of life, and there are several explanations for   why we forget.

Decay theory maintains that loss of memory is a result of disuse and the passage  of time; if information is not used or rehearsed it fades over time.

Interference theory suggests that memory has a limited capacity; when its capacity is reached; you are susceptible to confusion and forgetting

Another theory suggests that forgetting occurs when there is failure in the process of retrieving information. The information is there, stored away, but it appears to have been forgotten because you cannot retrieve it.

Repression, then, is motivated forgetting, or the burying of unwanted memories in the unconscious where they stay largely unreachable.

2- Dissociative Fugue Symptoms

Fugue state involves physical retreat

During a fugue, the individual suddenly and unexpectedly departs

Two important features for diagnosing dissociative (psychogenic) fugue

·         1-  A sudden unexpected travel away from home

·         2- Work with an inability to recall one’s past, and confusion about                   personal identity

   Marked confusion about personal identity interferes with routine daily activities, so, in an effort to adjust and relate to others, the person assumes a new identity

·  Despite the new assumed identity, characteristics of the “old self” are recognizable.

·  Complicated behaviors are carried out during the fugue such as:

·  A victim may drive a long distance, find a place to live, obtain employment, and begin a new life.

Who is affected with Dissociative Amnesia and Fugue?

Both dissociative amnesia and fugue are rare.

Disorders can appear at any point in the life span, though less among the elderly

Amnesia is most frequent among adolescent and young women, but its incidence increases slightly among men.

 

Treating Dissociative Amnesia and Fugue

A person in an amnesic or in a fugue state who is unaware of important facts about his or her own identity is often equally uninformed about the need for therapy

Dissociative amnesic and fugue patients do not seek treatment themselves rather, are referred to a therapist after an episode has occurred

The therapy itself often addresses clients’ need for more adaptive ways to
manage personal distress and conflict.

Stress management programs, may be used to treat dissociative amnesia and fugue.

      3- Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

·         Also known as multiple personality

·         Existence of two or more distinct personalities in a single individual.

·         At least two of these personalities repeatedly take control of the person’s behavior

·         The original personality especially is likely to have amnesia for subsequent personalities, which may
     or may not be aware of the “alternates.”

·   Example of dissociative personality disorder (DID)

        The Three Faces of Eve, who describes a client, whose three different personalities virtual opposites in terms of their emotional and behavioral patterns. Eve White was the quiet, polite, hard-working, and conservative mother of a young daughter; Eve Black was seductive, impulsive, risk-taking, and adventure-seeking. Jane, the third personality, was a confident and capable woman.

Who Is Affected with Dissociative Identity Disorder?

·     Occur many time more often in women than in men (estimated rates are three
to nine times higher in women).

·     Because women are typically more exposed to sexual abuse, women may handle their psychological traumas in “internal” ways and finally women tend to seek help more than men do.

Treatment of dissociative personality disorder

·         Antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs

·         Typical treatment involves psychotherapy aimed at helping replace the patients’ internal division with a unity of personalities

 

       4&5- Depersonalization/Derealization disorder

·         Characterized by severe and persistent feelings of being detached from oneself.

      Feeling as though you were in a dream or were floating above your body and observing yourself acted.

·         Occasional depersonalization experiences are normal and are reported by about half of the population..

Others Related Psychology Resources

       (Books, Notes and Handouts)

1. DSM-V and Others 20 pdf Clinical Psychology Books 
2. PSY-101 Introduction to Psychology Handouts Pdf
3. PSY-101 SOLVED ASSIGNMENT VU
4. PSY 402 handouts PDF- EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
5. PSY 403 handouts PDF- SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
6. PSY-404 Solved Assignments
7. PSY 404 HANDOUT Abnormal Psychology PDF
8. PSY 405 Personality Psychology Handouts
9. PSY 406 Educational Psychology Handouts
10. PSY 407 handouts PDF- SPORT PSYCHOLOGY
11. PSY 408 handouts PDF- HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
12. PSY 409 handouts PDF- POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
13. MGT 501 handouts PDF- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
14. PSY-502 Handouts History and System of Psychology 
15. PSY-504 Cognitive Psychology Handouts
16. PSY 505 handouts PDF- DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
17. PSY 510 Organizational Psychology Handouts
18. PSY 512 handouts PDF- GENDER ISSUES IN PSYCHOLOGY
19. PSY-513 Forensic Psychology Handouts
20. PSY 514 HANDOUTS Consumer Psychology
21. PSY 515 handouts- CROSS CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY
22. Psy-610 Neurological Basis of Behavior
23. STA-630 RESEARCH METHODS handouts
24. PSY-631 HANDOUTS(Psychological Testing and Measurement)
25. Psy-631 Solved Assignment 1
26. Psy-631 Solved Assignment 2
27. PSY 632 handouts PDF- THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COUNSELING

Others Important Topics of Psychology

1. How to use emotional intelligence for better performance at workplace
2. How to quit smoking? in Detail Psychological methods
3. Stress Management Techniques
4. Psychotherapy- Types and Procedure
5. Borderline Personality disorder
6. Antisocial Personality Disorder
7. Histrionic Personality Disorder
8. Paranoid Personality Disorder
9. Dissociative Disorders
10. Schizophrenia in detail
11. Narcissistic Personality Disorder
12. Anxiety and Anxiety Disorder
13. Depression and Major Depressive Disorder
14. Attention-Deficit Hyperactive Disorder
15. Schizoid Personality Disorder
16. Schizotypal Personality Disorder