Clandestine Psychopathology: Unrecognized Dissociative Disorders in Inpatient Psychiatry

Abstract

Surveys among Israeli mental health professionals found that almost half of them doubt the validity of dissociative disorders (DD) and have no experience in either diagnosing or treating DD patients. These findings, in line with arguments that DDs are socially construed North American phenomena, call for the need to investigate it in Israel. Eighty-one psychiatric inpatients were screened for dissociative pathology. Participants categorized as having low levels of dissociation (n = 26) and those demonstrating high levels of dissociation (n = 22) were asked to participate in a Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-Dissociative Disorders-Revised. One-quarter of all participants were identified as having probable dissociative psychopathology. Based on the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-Dissociative Disorders-Revised, estimates of DD range between 12 and 21%. None of the participants had any indication of a DD diagnosis in their medical records. Diagnosis of personality disorder and psychiatric comorbidity were related to the likelihood of a DD diagnosis and its severity.