Psychology 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Dissociative Identity Disorder, Fugue State, Dissociative Disorder

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Dr.Mike

Document Summary

To avoid troubling thoughts, feeling or memories remove from conscious awareness. Patient unable to remember specific events, time in life or identity. Develops new identity: dissociative identity disorder. Patient develops 2 or more separate identities that co-exist. Under stress patient switches from one identity to another. Criteria: did: 2 or more distinct identities, at least 2 of these identities recurrently take control of behaviour, amnesia for important personal data, not due to substance abuse. Normal educational background 37% college; 88% high school. May be aware that others exist (usually not: rare . Patient becomes curios about blackouts and memory lapses. 200 cases reported until 1980 current: about 7000 diagnosed cases in north america. Mean number of personalities up from 3 to 15. Very rare to nonexistent outside of north america. Perhaps due to popularity of movies like 3 faces of eve . Some have suggested that disorder is extreme form of role playing eg spanos.