PSYC 2230 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Amygdala, Derealization, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Document Summary
Dissociation process in which different parts of individual"s identity, memories, consciousness become split off from one another: mild dissociative experiences are pretty common. Dissociative identity disorder ~ there are separate, multiple personalities in same individual: multiple personality disorder. Dissociative amnesia ~ person loses memory of important personal facts, including personal identity, for no apparent organic cause: organic cause would be car accident causing swelling in brain. Symptoms: loss of memory due to psychological rather than physiological causes; memory loss is usually confined to personal information only. Treatment: help individual remember traumatic events and accept them. Symptoms: person suddenly moves away from home and assumes an entirely new identity, with no memory of previous identity. Etiology: fugue states usually occur in response to some stressor, but because they are extremely rare, little is known about etiology. Treatment: psychotherapy to help person identify stressors leading to fugue state and learn better coping skills.