High dissociatives, nature versus nurture?

Non-pathological dissociative experiences are common among the general population, and anyone may experience them to some degree. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the degree of dissociative experiences such as fantasy proneness, imagination, and absorption in fine arts undergraduates prior to beginning their artistic studies, and at the end of their studies at the faculty of fine arts. Moreover, education undergraduates were used as a comparison group. The sample consisted of 440 undergraduates (204 fine arts, and 236 education undergraduates; 224 first-year undergraduates, and 216 fourth-year undergraduates), who were administered three dissociative experiences tests: Dissociative Ability Scale, Dissociative Experiences Scale, and Questionnaire of Experiences of Dissociation. The working hypotheses were substantiated with dissociative experiences being a distinctive personality trait of fine arts undergraduates. We have found a grade level difference between first-year and fourth-year fine arts undergraduates, although the study does not examine the nature of the change itself. The results are discussed in the light of previous studies, and new lines of research proposed.

Dissociative Identity Disorder Scan in National Wrestlers and Comparison According to Several Variables

Aims: The purpose of this study was to scan dissociative identity disorders in wrestlers who represented their nations in International tournaments. Material and methods: Dissociative Experiences Scale-DES was used as a data collection tool. Relational and Causative comparison models in quantitative research methods were also used in our research. Study group consisted of 14 male wrestlers competed in International tournaments. As sample number did not meet parametrical norms, non-parametric tests were taken place. Desctiptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, One-Way variance analysis and Spearmen Correlation analysis were used for statistical analysis. Results: As a result of statistical analysis, dissociative scores of wrestlers in study group were determined to be above 30. When this results was evaluated according to Dissociative Experiences Scale, it can be suggested that there might be dissociative disorders in wrestlers inside study group. Conclusions: Consequently, as a result of statistical analysis, Wrestlers were determined to have 30 and above dissociative scores. And when this is examined according to Dissociative Experience Scale; It indicated that there is a Dissociative disorder in wrestlers.

Pathologische Dissoziation bei Patienten mit einer Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung

ZusammenfassungTrotz der hohen Relevanz dissoziativer Phänomene bei der Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung (BPS) ist das Konzept der pathologischen Dissoziation bisher kaum in diesem Kontext untersucht worden. Zur Operationalisierung von pathologischer Dissoziation wurden diverse Indizes vorgeschlagen, deren klinische Nützlichkeit in der vorliegenden Studie ebenso untersucht wurde wie ihre Häufigkeit, klinischen Korrelate und prädiktive Bedeutung. Hierzu bearbeiteten 487 stationäre BPS-Patienten bei Aufnahme Selbstbeurteilungsverfahren zu Dissoziation (Dissociative Experiences Scale, DES-28) sowie allgemeiner und Borderline-typischer Pathologie (Gesundheitsfragebogen für Patienten [PHQ-D], Borderline Symptom Liste [BSL-95]). Diejenigen Patienten, die mindestens 6 Wochen an der stationären Dialektisch-Behavioralen Therapie (DBT) teilgenommen hatten, füllten am Ende erneut den PHQ‑D und die BSL-95 aus (n zwischen 342 und 361). Je nach Operationalisierung der Dissoziation litten zwischen knapp 20 % und 37 % der BPS-Patienten unter pathologischer Dissoziation. Diese war eng mit allgemeiner und Borderline-typischer Symptomatik bei Aufnahme assoziiert. Ein hohes Ausmaß an pathologischer Dissoziation zu Behandlungsbeginn prädizierte ein schlechteres symptombezogenes Therapieergebnis. Konsistent mit einer Vielzahl anderer Studien unterstreichen diese Befunde die Relevanz von Dissoziation bei der BPS. Die aus nur 8 Items der DES-28 bestehende DES-Taxon (DES-T) kann pathologische Dissoziation anwendungs- und auswertungsfreundlich erheben, erweist sich als mindestens ebenso relevant wie die DES-28 und hat für das symptombezogene Behandlungsergebnis sogar eine höhere prädiktive Relevanz. Daher empfiehlt sich ein Screening aller BPS-Patienten auf pathologische Dissoziation mit der DES‑T.

A Meta-analytic Study Examining the Relationship between Alexithymia and Dissociation in Psychiatric and Nonclinical Populations

Alexithymia and dissociation have been consistently linked in the literature, particularly in psychiatric populations. Both arise from a disconnection between conscious aspects of self-experiences and perceptions at both the mental self and bodily levels. This results in difficulty integrating thoughts, feelings and experiences into consciousness and memory, negatively impacting emotion awareness/regulation and reflective functioning. We conducted a meta-analysis to examine the strength of the relationship between alexithymia and dissociation in both clinical and non-clinical populations. Studies using two common measures of these constructs were included (i.e., the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Dissociative Experiences Scale). Analyzing the effect sizes derived from 19 studies (including a total of 4664 participants) revealed moderate to strong relationships between alexithymia and dissociation. The strength of the association increased in clinical and younger aged non clinical populations. These findings are discussed in the context of treatment recommendations.

USE OF AVERSION THERAPY IN DISSOCIATIVE PSEUDO-SEIZURE PATIENTS

Background: psychological methods are less commonly used in treatment of psychiatric illnesses in hospital setup. In some psychiatric illnesses drug use has limiting effect in full cure of illness due to psychosocial dynamics associated with those illnesses. Aim: In dissociative conversion disorder one theory states that primary gain is conversion of mental or emotional feeling into physical symptoms and secondary gain is any other external benefit from physical symptom occurred in primary gain. Like in a disturbed marital conflict wife develops episodic unresponsiveness (pseudo seizures) as primary gain and revived attention and care of husband due to this episodic unresponsiveness (pseudo seizures) as secondary gain. It is hypothesized that dissociative conversion reaction develops and become resistant by getting these two primary and secondary gains. Our study aim at providing unpleasant mild aversive electric current to the subjects along with standard pharmacotherapy to make patient condition to this painful stimulus and end their maladaptive behavior. Material and Methods: Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 was used for making diagnosis and Dissociative Experiences Scale and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) for evaluating the response of treatment. Mild electric current (30 mili columb) was used in test group along with standard treatment group. Results: In test group improvement in terms of Dissociative Experiences Scale and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and number of episodes of unresponsiveness was better. Conclusion: Use of mild electric current as aversive stimulus as compared to standard treatment group was found more affective mode of treatment Keywords: dissociative, conversion, aversion therapy, pseudo seizures, electric current

Improving the psychometric properties of the dissociative experiences scale (DES-II): a Rasch validation study

Background The Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II) is a self-report questionnaire that measures dissociative experiences such as derealization, depersonalization, absorption and amnesia. The DES-II has been prevalently used as a screening tool in patients suffering from psychotic disorders or schizophrenia. However, dissociative experiences can also be part of normal psychological life. Despite its popularity, the most problematic aspect of the DES-II is the inconsistency in its factor structure, which is probably due to the tendency to treat ordinal responses as responses on an interval scale, as it is assumed in the Classical Test Theory approach. In order to address issues related to the inconsistency of previous results, the aim of the present study was to collect new psychometric evidence to improve the properties of the DES-II using Rasch analysis, i.e. analyzing the functioning of the response scale. Methods Data were obtained on a sample composed by 320 Italian participants (122 inmates and 198 community-dwelling individuals) and were analyzed with the Rasch model. This model allows the estimation of participants’ level of dissociation, the degree of misfit of each item, the reliability of each item, and their measurement invariance. Moreover, Rasch estimation allows to determine the best response scale, in terms of response modalities number and their discriminant power. Results Three items of the scale had strong misfit. After their deletion, the resulting scale was composed by 25 items, which had low levels of misfit and high reliability, and showed measurement invariance. Participants tended to select more often lower categories of the response scale. Conclusions Results provided new knowledge on the DES-II structure and its psychometric properties, contributing to the understanding and measurement of the dissociation construct.