Dissociation : Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 024-032 : The Switch Process in Multiple Personality Disorder and Other State-Change Disorders

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Date

1988-03

Authors

Putnam, Frank W., 1947-

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Volume Title

Publisher

Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality & Dissociation

Abstract

This paper explores the properties of states of consciousness as they are revealed by the process of state-change or switching. Drawing on examples of state of consciousness transitions in infants, altered states of consciousness, and psychiatric disorders, a number of common principles are derived. These include the observation that states of consciousness are discrete self-organizing patterns of behavior differing along axes of affect, access to memory, attention and cognition, regulatory physiology, and sense of self. State transitions are marked by non-linear changes in these variables. A developmental model is outlined and the implications for treatment and further research are discussed.

Description

p. 24-32.

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