Dissociation

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Dissociation is a psychological phenomenon in which certain thoughts, emotions, sensations, or memories are separated from the rest of the psyche. In the normal population mild dissociative experiences are highly prevalent, with 80% to 90% of the respondents indicating that they have had low level dissociative experiences . ^{[How to reference and link to summary or text]}

The French psychiatrist Pierre Janet (1859-1947) coined the term in his book L'Automatisme psychologique; he emphasized its role as a defensive manoeuver in response to psychological trauma. While he considered dissociation an initially effective defence mechanism that withdraws the individual psychologically from the impact of overwhelming traumatic events, a habitual tendency to dissociate would, however, promote psychopathology.

The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition considers symptoms such as depersonalization, derealization, and psychogenic amnesia to be core features of dissociative disorders.

Testing for Dissociation

There are multiple tests developed to estimate a persons level of dissociation in relation to various disorders of modern psychology.

Dissociative Experience Scale (DES) [1]

See also

• Altered state of consciousness
• Amnesia
• Consciousness disturbances
• Consciousness states
• Depersonalization
• Dissociative amnesia
• Dissociative disorders
• Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
• Emotional detachment
• Fugue

• Recovered memory therapy

External links

• International Society for the Study of Dissociation A society that advances the formal study of dissociation and dissociative disorders.