Transcript The Nature of Alters


Depersonalization - Derealization
Disorder

Dissociative Amnesia

Dissociative Fugue
Dissociative
Identity Disorder
Normal
Dissociation
Amnesia
Partial
DID
Poly-Fragmented
DID
Fugue
Complex
DID

Clinical Description
 Primary Features
– Depersonalization
– Derealization
 Impairs Functioning
 Causes Significant Distress
 Runs a Chronic Course

Clinical Description
Generalized
– Unable to Remember Anything
 Localized or Selective
– Failure to Recall Specific Events
– more common form

Clinical Description
Memory Loss
– Specific Incident
Go to Another Location
– Unaware “How They Arrived”
May Assume New Identity;
partial disintegration of identity
Fugue Usually Ends Abruptly

Clinical Description
 Differs Across Cultures
– Sudden Changes in Personality
often attributed to Possession by Spirit
– may not be abnormal
 Often Related to Trauma
 Females > Males

Clinical Description
 Formerly called
Multiple Personality Disorder
 May Adopt 100 Identities
– “Alters”
– The Nature of Alters
 Person’s Identity is Dissociated

Central Features
 Host Identity
– One Who Asks for Treatment
– Attempt to Hold Alters Together
 A Switch
– Abrupt Change in Personalities
– Usually Instantaneous

Facts and Statistics
 Average Number of Alters?
– 15
 Females > Males (9:1)
 Onset in Childhood
– Linked to Extreme Abuse
 Runs a Chronic Course

Causes
 Unspeakable Childhood Abuse
– 97% of Cases
– Escape Into Fantasy World
– Become Someone Else
– Do What It Takes to Survive
 DID as a Means of Coping?

Other Related Features
 Suggestibility
 Hypnotizability
– Similar to Dissociation
 Are These Related to DID?
 Abuse:
Controversial Issues
False vs. Real Memories
Do Therapists Plant Memories?
Can False Memories be Created?
– Elizabeth Loftus
– associative memory illusion
 Treatment
 Dissociative Amnesia & Fugue
– Usually Improve on Their Own
– Stress Reduction and Coping
 Dissociative Identity Disoder
– No Controlled Research
– Treatments are Similar to PTSD