Abnormal Psychology: Dissociative Disorders Quiz

Dissociative Disorders

• Dissociative disorders are mental health conditions that involve disruptions or breakdowns of memory, awareness, identity and/or perception.
• Dissociative disorders often develop in response to trauma or stressful experiences, such as abuse, neglect, or witnessing violence.
• Dissociative disorders are characterized by feelings of detachment or disconnection from reality.

Types of Dissociative Disorders

• Dissociative identity disorder: This disorder involves the presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states.
• Dissociative amnesia: This disorder involves a loss of memory for personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.
• Depersonalization/derealization disorder: This disorder involves a persistent or recurrent sense of detachment from one's own thoughts, feelings, or body.

Relationship to Trauma and Stress Disorders

• Acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are often related to dissociative disorders.
• Trauma, particularly in childhood, is a significant factor in the development of both dissociative disorders and PTSD.
• Dissociation is considered a common coping mechanism for dealing with the overwhelming stress associated with trauma.

Triggers and Development

• Significant trauma, particularly during childhood, is a primary trigger for dissociative disorders.
• Factors like neglect, abuse, and witnessing violence can contribute to the development of dissociative disorders in childhood.
• A key factor in development of dissociative disorders in children is the disruption in bonding and attachment.

Symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder

• Dissociative identity disorder often manifests with: experiencing different 'personality states' or identities, switching between these identities, experiencing memory gaps or amnesia, being unable to recall information about personal details, and having different behaviors, preferences, and even physical symptoms depending on the identity present.

Symptoms of Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder

• Depersonalization/derealization disorder involves: feelings of detachment from one's own thoughts, feelings, or body, the feeling of being an observer of one's own life, experiencing the self as unreal or dreamlike, having a distorted sense of time, and experiencing a sense of detachment from the environment (things around them are unreal or distant).

Dissociative Amnesia

• Different from normal forgetting, dissociative amnesia involves a loss of memory for personal information too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.
• Dissociative amnesia can affect specific events, periods of time, or even one's identity.
• Symptoms typically begin in late adolescence or early adulthood.

Self-Harm and Suicide

• Individuals with dissociative identity disorder have a high risk of suicide.
• Studies indicate that as many as 70% of individuals with dissociative identity disorder have attempted suicide at some point in their lives.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

• Common triggers for DID typically stem from severe trauma experienced during childhood, most commonly complex trauma involving repeated abuse, neglect, violence, or other traumatic events.
• People with DID show various behaviors including: having different identities or personalities, fluctuating mood and behavior, having gaps in memory, experiencing identity confusion, and sometimes exhibiting different physical symptoms for each identity.