Dissociation

Background: We sought to determine hippocampal volumes in a sample of inpatients in a Trauma Program specializing in posttraumatic stress disorder and dissociative disorders. Methods: We measured whole brain and left and right hippocampal volumes on MRI in a sample of 20 inpatients in a Trauma Program and 20 controls. Results: There were no differences between the two groups. Nineteen inpatients also completed a set of diagnostic and symptom measures; 16 met criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); the average score on the Dissociative Experiences Scale was (M = 45.4, SD = 20.1); and the average score on the secondary features of dissociative identity disorder section of the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule was (M = 9.1, SD = 4.9). Conclusion: We hypothesized that dissociation may have a neuro-protective effect, which accounts for the normal hippocampal volumes in the patients, despite their PTSD and trauma histories.

Perceptual asymmetries for tasks involving aesthetic preference or line bisection can be affected by asymmetrical neurological mechanisms or left/right reading habits. This study investigated the relative contribution of these mechanisms in 100 readers of Japanese and English. Participants made aesthetic judgments between pairs of mirror-reversed pictures showing: (a) static objects, (b) moving objects and (c) landscapes. A line bisection task

Our purpose was to investigate the hypothesis that suicidal adolescents, compared with depressed nonsuicidal and nonsuicidal normal adolescents, display a more negative attitude toward their bodies. Scales for suicidal tendencies, dissociative tendencies, ...

This presentation traces the history and appearance of so-called multiple states from their earliest role in the development and theorization of scientific psychology at the turn of the 19th century with the work of William James, Frederic Myers, Theodore Flournoy, and Morton Prince, to MPDs later resurgence in the 1980s, and its evolution and further theorization as “dissociative identity disorder” in the 1990s.  This historical “genealogy” serves as the theoretical basis to examine both the madness of the Marvel character “Legion” in The New Mutants comic book series as well as the creative – and profound – therapeutic healing that he undergoes.  In doing so, this highly illustrated presentation raises important questions around the nature of pathological versus non-pathological dissociation, how extreme states of psychological fragmentation and madness can be visualized, much less theorized, and takes up anew William James’ centuries-old question regarding the possibilities of “supernormal powers” and their potential relationship to psychological trauma. The presentation concludes with a depth psychological reading of The New Mutants through the contemporary lens of Jungian analyst and clinical psychologist Donald Kalsched’s mytho-poetic model of what he terms the “Self-Care System” (SCS).

In order to determine the comorbidity profile of individuals meeting criteria for a proposed new disorder, Daydreaming Disorder (more commonly known as Maladaptive Daydreaming, MD), the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders were administered to 39 participants who met criteria for MD on a structured interview. We determined high rates of comorbidity: 74.4% met criteria for more than three additional disorders and 41.1% met criteria for more than four. The most frequent comorbid disorder was attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (76.9%); 71.8% met criteria for an anxiety disorder; 66.7% for a depressive disorder; and 53.9% for an obsessive-compulsive or related disorder. Notably, 28.2% have attempted suicide. Individuals meeting criteria for MD suffer from complex psychiatric problems spanning a range of DSM-5 disorders. This finding provides evidence that MD is different than normal daydreaming, and that these individuals experience considerable distress and impairment.

From 1913 to 1937 a St. Louis homemaker, Pearl Cur-ran, seemed to channel conversations and literary works from a seventeenth-century Englishwoman named Patience Worth. The communications were at first produced through the use of a Ouija board and then later through automatic speech. “Patience” displayed knowledge, sophistication, and creative capacities apparently radically different from those of Mrs. Curran. In addition to volumes of engaging and often acerbic conversation, Patience produced several novels, plays, thousands of poems, witty epigrams and pithy aphorisms, many of them of exceptional merit. Patience also displayed unprecedented improvisational, mnemonic, and creative capacities. She could improvise poems on any subject proposed to her, sometimes performing astonishing literary stunts, and her works were produced without need of revision or correction. Moreover some of her works were written in a novel archaic Anglo-Saxon dialect, and even her more modern works contained a peculiar preponderance of Anglo-Saxon root words. Because scrupulous investigation has found no person corresponding to the Patience Worth persona, it seems likely that Patience represents a set of latent creative talents unleashed dissociatively in Pearl. This achievement resembles similar accomplishments of savants and prodigies, and the case raises intriguing issues about the limits of and prerequisites for human creativity.

In the present study, toremifene urinary excretion studies were evaluated in order to examine main metabolic reactions and to select target metabolites in doping control analysis. Urine samples from three female subjects were collected every 3 h for at least 15 days after the oral administration of a single dose of Fareston® (60 mg). The elemental compositions of the compounds detected were determined by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry using a time-of-flight system with accurate mass measurement. More detailed structure elucidation was obtained by monitoring the presence or absence of structure-specific ions, using product ion scan and neutral loss acquisition modes, whereas the metabolites urinary profiles were evaluated in selected reaction monitoring acquisition mode. The results showed that the main routes of phase-I modifications involved carboxylation of the chlorinated side chain, N-demethylation and hydroxylation in different positions. Fifteen metabolites were found in all subjects studied, most of them were detected for more than 10 days in the free, glucuronide and sulphate fractions, with a maximum of excretion generally after 9–22 and 34–47 h from drug administration. These metabolites can be divided in two groups: metabolites with the characteristic chlorine isotope pattern and metabolites without the characteristic chlorine isotope pattern. The most abundant and long-term compounds were the carboxylated metabolites followed by the hydroxylated metabolites. Their product ions originating after collision-induced dissociation were observed to occur prevalently in the dimethylaminoethoxy and in the chlorinated side chains. These structure-specific ions were used to design screening and confirmation procedures to positively identify toremifene administration in doping control analysis. Figure Suggested main metabolic routes of toremifene, as postulated by excretion studies followed by both LC-MS/MS assays with different acquisition modes and LC-QTOF

We read with great interest the editorial by Krüger (2020) in which she provides a review of some of the cultural aspects of dissociation and trauma. We especially appreciate her call for the study of the “entire spectrum of dissociation” (p. 1) from normal to pathological. We have been working along similar lines (e.g., Maraldi et al., 2017; Maraldi et al., 2019) and would like to take the opportunity offered by Krüger to explore further the literature on possession experiences, which she mentions only briefly in her paper. Cardeña et al. (2009, p. 173) define possession trance as “a temporary alteration of consciousness, identity, and/or behavior, attributed to possession by a spiritual force or another person”. When involuntary, unwanted and incompatible with cultural or religious norms and practices, such experiences might be classified as pathological. The diagnosis of “possession trance disorder” was first proposed in the DSM-IV (APA, 1994) as a condition for further study, but in the DSM-5 (APA, 2013) pathological experiences of possession were subsumed under the dissociative identity disorder (DID) category. Pathological possession is now thought in terms of a “possession-form presentation” of DID. But the link between DID and possession trance has been contested by researchers from different countries (e.g., Delmonte et al., 2015; Maraldi et al., 2017; Van Duijl et al., 2013). Also, it is still unclear to what extent pathological possession differs from other pathological phenomena, such as possession delusions in psychosis and some of the so-called cultural syndromes (e.g., ataque de nervios, LewisFernández, 1994), which are considered by some authors as instances of dissociative phenomena (Hegeman, 2013; Ross et al., 2018). On the other hand, there are many nonpathological dissociative experiences about which we know very little, including spiritual experiences reported during religious or ritualistic practices (Alvarado, 2005; Queiroz, 2017). The DSM

The goals of this naturalistic, cross-sectional study were to describe the patient, therapist, and therapeutic conditions of an international sample of dissociative disorder (DD) patients treated by community therapists and to determine if community treatment for DD appears to be as effective as treatment for chronic PTSD and conditions comorbid with DD. Analyses found that across both patient (N 280) and therapist (N 292) reports, patients in the later stages of treatment engaged in fewer self-injurious behaviors, had fewer hospitalizations, and showed higher levels of various measures of adaptive functioning (e.g., GAF) than those in the initial stage of treatment. Additionally, patients in the later stages of treatment reported lower symptoms of dissociation, posttraumatic stress disorder, and distress than patients in the initial stage of treatment. The effect sizes for Stage 5 versus Stage 1 differences in DD treatment were comparable to those published for chronic PTSD associa...

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have become a major concern in the mental health field. The literature suggests that ACEs could be associated with various mental health problems. Yet, ACEs require further investigation in Chinese cultures, especially in Hong Kong. Both the frequency of ACEs and their relationships with dissociation remain unknown in clinical settings in Hong Kong. In this study, we administered the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), the Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ) and the 10-item Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Questionnaire to 202 community mental health service users in Hong Kong. The frequency of ACEs and dissociation is reported and the trauma model of dissociation can be observed in this sample. Consistent with the Western literature, we found that ACEs are associated with mental health problems and that participants with childhood abuse and/or neglect report a significantly higher level of dissociation. While this study is preliminary, we suggest that ACEs and dissociation should receive more attention in the Chinese mental health field. Implications for practice are highlighted. Further studies are warranted.

טראומה היא אירוע מכונן בחייו של אדם. פרויד, ובעקבותיו חוקרים מובילים, טוענים
כי אפשר להתייחס לטראומה ברמת הקבוצה כמו לטראומה ברמת הפרט. במאמר זה
אני מבקר גישה זו בהתייחסי למאפיינים שונים בחוויה הטראומטית. אני מציע כאן
מודל של טראומה הפועלת כמעין חור שחור בספֵרה הציבורית ומעוותת את החלל–זמן.
הסובייקט הפוסט–טראומטי, כך אני מבקש להראות, משמש סוכן טראומה: גופו מנכיח
באופן אלים את הממשי בתוך הסדר הסמלי ומעצב מחדש את הסדר הסמלי, ועם זאת,
על מנת להיות מסוגלים לעבור מטראומה של הפרט לטראומה של הקבוצה, עדיין
נדרשת עבודה רבה הן אמפירית והן תאורטית. יש אפוא לענות על השאלה הבאה: איך
טראומה במישור האישי הופכת להיות טראומה במישור הלאומי. בשלב זה לא ברור
על אילו יסודות עומד רעיון הטראומה במישור הלאומי או רעיון הזיכרון הקולקטיבי,
אך אין ספק שהן פרויד והן לאקאן, כל אחד בדרכו, מסייעים לנו להבין טוב יותר כיצד
חורגת טראומה אישית מהפרט ועוברת לרמת הקבוצה. במובן זה הדיון בפרויד ובלאקאן
אינו עקר אלא מפרה, ופותח לפנינו שער שדרכו אפשר להתחיל לחשוף את היסודות
הטראומטיים של החברה.

אין ספק שטראומה היא אירוע מכונן בחייו של אדם. פרויד, ובעקבותיו חוקרים מובילים, טוען כי לטראומה ברמת הקבוצה ניתן להתייחס כפי שניתן להתייחס לטראומה ברמת הפרט; במאמר זה, אני מבקר גישה זו בהתייחסי למאפיינים שונים בחוויה הטראומטית. אני מציע כאן מודל על פיו טראומה פועלת כמעין חור שחור בספרה הציבורית וכמו חור שחור היא מעוותת את החלל זמן. הסובייקט הפוסט-טראומטי, כך אבקש להראות, משמש כסוכן טראומה: גופו מנכיח באופן אלים את הממשי בתוך הסדר הסמלי ומעצב מחדש את הסדר הסמלי ועם זאת, על מנת להיות מסוגלים לעבור מטראומה של הפרט לטראומה של הקבוצה, עדיין נדרשת עבודה רבה. בשלב זה לא ברור על אילו יסודות עומד רעיון הטראומה במישור הלאומי או רעיון הזיכרון הקולקטיבי, אך אין ספק שהן פרויד והן לאקאן, כל אחד בדרכו, מאפשרים לנו להבין טוב יותר כיצד חורגת טראומה אישית מהפרט ועוברת לרמת הקבוצה ובמובן זה הדיון בפרויד ובלאקאן אינו עקר, אלא מפרה והוא פותח בפנינו שער דרכו ניתן להתחיל לחשוף את היסודות הטראומטיים של החברה.

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-- TOC and book summary in downloadable .pdf] 
According to the poet Elias Canetti, "All the things one has forgotten / scream for help in dreams." To the ancient Egyptians they were prophecies, and in world folklore they have often marked visitations from the dead. For Freud they were expressions of "wish fulfillment," and for Jung, symbolic representations of mythical archetypes. Although there is still much disagreement about the significance and function of dreams, they seem to serve as a barometer of current mind and body states.

In this volume, Deirdre Barrett brings together the study of dreams and the psychology of trauma. She has called on a distinguished group of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers--among them Rosalind Cartwright, Robert J. Lifton, and Oliver Sacks--to consider how trauma shapes dreaming and what the dreaming mind might reveal about trauma. The book focuses on catastrophic events, such as combat, political torture, natural disasters, and rape. The lasting effects of childhood trauma, such as sexual abuse or severe burns, on personality formation, the nature of memories of early trauma, and the development of defenses related to amnesia and dissociation are all considered. The book also takes up trauma and adult dreams, including Vietnam veterans and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Holocaust survivors and perpetrators, rape victims, and firestorm survivors. Finally, this volume concludes with a look at the potential "traumas of normal life," such as divorce, bereavement, and life-threatening illness, and the role of dreams in working through normal grief and loss.

Taken together, these diverse perspectives illuminate the universal and the particular effects of traumatic experience. For physicians and clinicians, determining the etiology of nightmares offers valuable diagnostic and therapeutic insights for individual treatment. This book provides a way of juxtaposing the research in the separate fields of trauma and dreams, and learning from their discoveries.

The relationship between perception–action coupling and anticipatory skill in an interceptive task was examined using an in-situ temporal occlusion paradigm. Skilled and novice cricket batsmen were required to predict the direction of balls bowled towards them under four counterbalanced response conditions of increasing perception–action coupling: (i) verbal, (ii) lower-body movement only, (iii) full-body movement (no bat), and (iv) full-body movement with bat (i.e., the usual batting response). Skilled but not novice anticipation was found to improve as a function of coupling when responses were based on either no ball-flight, or early ball-flight information, with a response requiring even the lowest degree of body movement found to enhance anticipation when compared to a verbal prediction. Most importantly, a full-body movement using a bat elicited greater anticipation than an equivalent movement with no bat. This result highlights the important role that the requirement and/or opportunity to make bat–ball interception may play in eliciting skill differences for anticipation. Results verify the importance of using experimental conditions and task demands that closely reflect the natural performance environment in order to reveal the full nature of the expert advantage.