Dissociative amnesia, identity disorder, and fugue

Dissociative disorders represent a collection of various disorders that have an element of psychological disruption of some kind in common which are characterized by a disconnection or break from reality. These disorders can include disruptions in awareness, memory, identity, or perceptions among others. Most of these disorders develop out of some kind of acute psychological trauma. The total population of people with dissociative disorders is estimated at 2%, with women being more likely than men to be diagnosed and almost half of adults in the United States experience at least one depersonalization/derealization episode in their lives, with only 2% meeting the full criteria for chronic episodes (National Alliance on Mental Illness, N.d.). This will provide a brief introduction to three of the specific disorders included in this category of disorders.

Dissociative Amnesia

The primary symptom for this disorder is difficulty recalling information about an individual's own self. Generally dissociative amnesia surrounds a specific event or trauma and can last anywhere from minutes to years (National Alliance on Mental Illness, N.d.). Any individual may experience multiple episodes of this disorder in their lifetime and there is no average age of onset. Characteristically, patients who are diagnosed with dissociative amnesia experience one or more episodes in which they forget some or all of the events that occurred during a period of time; these gaps in memory can represent only a few hours or can encompass years (The Merck Manual, N.d.). Once patients have an amnestic episode they can become confused, distressed, or possibly indifferent to the memory gap. Others are not even aware that they are missing memories and do not seek any further treatment. This condition is commonly treated through psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, medication, family therapy, creative therapies, hypnosis, or some combination of multiple methods. The objective is to relieve symptoms and control problem behaviors (WebMD, N.d.).

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Dissociative identity disorder was formerly and more commonly referred to as multiple personality disorder. Dissociative identity disorder is thought to be an effect of severe trauma during early childhood, usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, or emotional abuse and represents a form of dissociation with reality (WebMD, N.d.). The symptoms of the disorder include the presence of two or more distinct personalities that continually manifest in a person's behavior and the personalities may have their own age, sex, or race that is different from the primary personality. The switching between personalities can occur in seconds, minutes, or days. Psychotherapy is generally considered to be the main component of treatment but some medications can also be used to manage some symptoms (Dryden-Edwards, 2014).

Dissociative Fugue

Dissociative Fugue is one or more episodes of amnesia in which the inability to recall some or all of one's past and either the loss of one's identity or the formation of a new identity occur with sudden, unexpected, purposeful travel away from home (Psych Central Staff, N.d.). The DSM-5 now includes dissociative amnesia with "dissociative fugue" now being regarded as a subtype of dissociative amnesia, rather than its own diagnosis (WebMD, N.d.). Specific symptoms of this disorder include (Psych Central Staff, N.d.):