Women's Mental Health Home - Mental Health Conditions

Dissociative Disorder

A complex mental process known as dissociation allows children and adults to survive very painful situations, such as rape or incest. The memory of a traumatic experience is blocked from one's ongoing memory, which creates a temporary mental escape from the pain of the trauma. Because this process can produce changes in memory, people who frequently dissociate cannot recall important personal information.

Repeated dissociation can result in at least two separate "beings," or mental states, being created within one person, a condition known as Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly called multiple personality disorder. These identities, also called "alters" or "personality states," have their own distinct personal history, self-image, and identity.

Women are diagnosed with this disorder far more often than men. Symptoms can include depression, mood swings, suicidal tendencies, sleep disorders, panic attacks, substance abuse, hallucinations, amnesia, trances, and eating disorders. Treatment often consists of individual therapy, medications for specific mood or anxiety symptoms, education about the illness, social skills training, learning better communication and coping skills, and group support. Among severe psychiatric disorders, this disorder may have the best prognosis, if properly diagnosed and treated.

Dissociative Disorder

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