Dissociative Disorders Lecture Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering the definitions and distinct types of dissociative disorders as discussed in the lecture.

Dissociative disorders

Disorders defined by a disturbance of or alteration in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, and identity.

Dissociative amnesia

An inability to recall important personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature, that is inconsistent with ordinary forgetting and not a function of organic (neurological damage or toxicity) problems.

Localized Amnesia

Failure to remember events that happened during a specific time frame.

Selective Amnesia

Failure to remember some, but not all, events that happened during a time frame.

Generalized Amnesia

A very rare failure to remember all of one’s life history, often associated with dissociative fugue.

Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder

A disorder characterized by the presence of persistent or recurrent depersonalization, derealization, or both.

Depersonalization

A disturbance in the perception of oneself, involving experiences of unreality, detachment, or being an outside observer with respect to one’s thoughts, feelings, sensations, body, or actions.

Derealization

An alteration in the perception of the external environment where surroundings are experienced as unreal, dreamlike, or detached.

Dissociative identity disorder (DID)

Formerly called multiple personality disorder, this is characterized by the existence of two or more distinct personality states in a single individual.

Disruption of identity

A characteristic of DID involving two or more distinct personality states with related alterations in affect, behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and/or sensory-motor functioning.