Dissociative Experiences and Stressful Life Events in Dissociative Disorders - A Cross Sectional Study

Rajan Shastri,Surjeet Sahoo,Rakesh Mohanty

doi:10.13189/ujph.2021.090616

Abstract

Background: Unconscious defenses and dissociative experiences have always been related to stressful life events. A stressful life event has a role to play both in normative and pathological dissociation. These events can be desirable and undesirable and both acute and chronic events can lead to dissociative phenomena Aims: To assess the dissociative experiences and type of stressful life events and also to correlate the events with dissociative disorders. Methodology: A detailed history was obtained along with the application of Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and Presumptive Stressful Life Event Scale (PSLES) to know the type of dissociative experiences and the type of stressors. Their correlation was studied using SPSS-20 software. The scores of dissociative experiences and stressful life events were also calculated to find any relation between the scores and the type of dissociative presentation. Results: The majority of people diagnosed with dissociative disorders were females, although there is no gender difference in the DES scores. The mean age of presentation is 25.21±9.12 years. We found out that any subtype of patients can have any score on DES scale. The PSLES scores did not determine the type of dissociative presentation (subtype). Conclusion: Dissociative experiences are related to stressful events in last year, and it acts as a precipitating factor for people with poor coping mechanisms. The scores do not predict the subtype of dissociation.

Highlights

Dissociation is interpreted as an unconscious defense mechanism which involves the separation of behavioral and mental processes from the rest of psychological activities of the person
This can be sudden, gradual, chronic or transient and the signs and symptoms of the disorder that are often preceded by some kinds of psychological trauma
A lot of evidence from studies and extreme life situations has suggested that there is a common link between stress and illness but proof regarding the effects of commonly occurring stressful events are not very clear

Summary

Introduction

Dissociation is interpreted as an unconscious defense mechanism which involves the separation of behavioral and mental processes from the rest of psychological activities of the person. There is a disturbance in some functions of mind such as personal identity, memory, perception, motor behavior and consciousness. This can be sudden, gradual, chronic or transient and the signs and symptoms of the disorder that are often preceded by some kinds of psychological trauma. It is thought to be a defense mechanism against profuse fear, pain or helplessness which a stressful event produces [2]. These events trigger the beginning of strong emotions and exert a shattering effect on mind (psychic trauma) [3]. There are various issues regarding the measurement of association of stressful life events and illness as there exist a lot of differences across cultures

Materials and Method

Dissociative Experiences Scale –II

Results and Discussion

Conclusions

Limitations and Future