Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 2 (June 1997)
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Item Open Access Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 2, p. 080-090 : On the treatment of traumatic memories of DID patients: always? never? sometimes? now? later?(Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1997-06) Kluft, Richard P., 1943-Patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) have been overwhelmed by early life events. However, their recollections of those events may become distorted in the course of their registration, retention, and retrieval of those events, and the processing of those recalled events may itself prove so difficult that efforts to do so risk retraumatizating them rather facilitating their growth. The integration of the DID patient's identity appears to require the working through his or her traumatic memories, however flawed with respect to historical accuracy and however emotionally unsettling work with such memories may be. Drawing upon a stage-oriented view of the treatment process and data from DTMI (Dimensions of Therapeutic Movement Instrument) research, I will offer pragmatic guidelines with which to address the questions posed to me by the organizers of the Amsterdam Congress: Should we treat the traumatic memories of DID patients - Always? Never? Sometimes? Now? Later?Item Open Access Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 2, p. 130-134 : A notion of "dissociogenic stress"(Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1997-06) Okano, KenDissociative disorders and the related stress can take different forms in different cultures. In Japanese society, the stress responsible for dissociative disorders appears less visible, embedded in a close relationship with others ("relational stress "), compared to more overt traumatic stress such as childhood sexual and physical abuse. It is more reasonable to include covert and apparently non-traumatic stress as a factor contributing to dissociative disorders, rather than to limit our attention to overt and stereotyped forms of trauma, including childhood sexual and physical abuse. Despite their different manifestations, covert stress and overt stress can both cause dissociative pathology in certain conditions. I postulate that these conditions involve the suppression of projection and externalization of negative mental contents. The stress in these conditions may be called "dissociogenic stress." Whether or not an individual develops a dissociative disorder as a result of dissociogenic stress also depends on the individual's constitutionally based dissociative and hypnotic tendencies and other exogenous stresses.Item Open Access Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 2, p. 125-129 : The contribution of attachment to pets and attachment to nature to dissociation and absorption(Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1997-06) Brown, Sue-Ellen; Katcher, Aaron HonoriThe intent of this study was to determine if people who were highly attached to pets and/or nature would have higher levels of dissociation and absorption as measured by the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and the Tellegen Absorption Scale (TAS). Three hundred and five college students were given the DES, the TAS, the Pet Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ) and five questions devised to measure attachment to nature. Correlational analyses showed pet attachment was significantly correlated with both dissociation and absorption, while high nature attachment was significantly related to absorption but not significantly related to dissociation. Forty-one percent of subjects with high pet attachment had clinical levels of dissociation. As dissociation is often related to trauma, pet attachments may provide a compensatory relationship for people with histories of trauma. An attachment to nature may be indicative of seeking an experience of sensory absorption, but not a relationship.Item Open Access Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 2, p. 120-124 : Frequency of EEG abnormalities in a large dissociative population(Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1997-06) Braun, Bennett G.; Schwartz, David R.; Kravitz, Howard M.; Waxman, JordanA retrospective chart review was conducted to determine the frequency of electroencephalographic abnormalities, particularly those suggesting temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), among patients with dissociative disorders. Electroencephalograms (EEGs) from 160 inpatients with dissociative disorders who were treated at either of two sites specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of dissociative disorders were reviewed. EEGs were categorized as normal, possible drug effect, or abnormal. Overall, 7.5 % of patients had EEGs that were interpreted as abnormal but only two (1 .25%) of the entire sample had findings that suggested TLE. The two sites differed significantly in the percentage read as abnormal (30.9% versus 10.5%; X2=19.4, df=2, p< .0001). According to these results, a small minority of patients with dissociative disorders have non-specific EEG abnormalities as well as more specific temporal lobe dysrhythmias. However, the population and context in which the dissociation-epilepsy association is explored will influence the outcome of any attempt to resolve the question regarding the relationship.Item Open Access Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 2, p. 114-119 : Handwriting examination: Can it help in establishing authenticity in Dissociative Identity Disorder?(Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1997-06) Somer, Eliezer, 1951-; Yishai, RonQuestions with regard to the genuineness of amnesia and DID in forensic settings have been of considerable past concern in trials of accused criminals claiming amnesia, accused perpetrators of incest and psychotherapists accused of negligently implanting memories or creating DID symptoms. This study has used document examination methods to investigate 30 different manuscripts suspected to have been mailed by three alters of a DID patient. In the present single case study we have found that despite the striking differences between the three handwritings identified, single authorship of the documents could be established. We have also shown that these handwritings could not have been a result of conscious disguise, and we were thus able to determine the authenticity of the phenomenon. Forensic implications of these findings are discussed.Item Open Access Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 2, p. 104-113 : The 19th century DID case of Louis Vivet: new findings and re-evaluation(Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1997-06) Faure, Henri; Kersten, John; Koopman, Dinet; Hart, Onno van der, 1941-Although not the first patient to be described as a multiple, the French patient Louis Vivet was the first to be explicitly named a multiple personality at the end of the 19th century. Recent critics have disputed the validity of the diagnosis or the number of alter personalities in this widely publicized case, by stating that his alter personalities were iatrogenically created, or by giving credit only to the first publication on Vivet, pertaining to his stay at the asylum of Bonneval during 1880-1881 (Camuset, 1882). The senior author of the present paper recently discovered Vivet's original medical file bearing on the same period. Comparing both sources, we conclude that Vivet manifested at least three personality states during this period and that there is no firm evidence that his situation was iatrogenic.Item Open Access Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 2, p. 091-103 : Time distortions in dissociative identity disorder: Janetian concepts and treatment(Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1997-06) Hart, Onno van der, 1941-; Steele, KathyThis paper addresses the time disturbances DID patients may frequently and intensely experience. Time sense is described as a subset of reality perception. In his pioneering work, Pierre Janet analyzed these time disturbances in terms of degrees of perceived reality. His normative hierarchy of time and related experiences (such as fantasies, ideas, and thoughts) is presented. Janet distinguished two basic ways in which patients manifest their disturbance of reality and time sense: placing accounts of episodes too high in the hierarchy, and placing accounts too low. This distinction is utilized in discussing some ways in which DID patients may suffer time disturbances. Special attention is paid to the ways in which reactivated traumatic memories interfere with the experience of a normal sense of reality and time. Therapeutic change is, in essence, the reorganization of the experience of reality and time. In this paper, therapeutic approaches that address this reorganization are presented within the context of a phase-oriented treatment.Item Open Access Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 2, p. 065-079 : The treatment of traumatic memories in DID: indications and contra-indications(Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1997-06) Boon, SuzetteA treatment model with a focus on trauma treatment and subsequent integration is widely accepted as the most successful among therapists treating DID. However, this model may not be the best option for all DID patients. Lower functioning patients often do not have the strength or therapeutic potential and/or opportunity to endure this kind of treatment. This article discusses indications and contra-indications for entering into the second phase in the treatment of DID patients: the treatment of traumatic memories. A checklist was developed to evaluate the treatment process and make a well-founded decision about the transition from phase I, stabilization and symptom reduction, to phase II, treatment of traumatic memories. Criteria that influence a decision to focus on phase I only, without proceeding to phase II, will be discussed. Clinical examples will demonstrate the use of the checklist.Item Open Access Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 2, p. 063-064 : Editorial : Remembering Amsterdam(Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1997-06) Kluft, Richard P., 1943-Item Open Access Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 2, p. 000 : Cover, table of contents(Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1997-06)