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Dissociative Disorders

Dissociative Disorders are characterized by significant malfunctions of memory, identity, perception or awareness.

The American Psychiatric Association lists several different dissociative disorders; for example:

• Depersonalization Disorder – People with this disorder periodically suffer periods of detachment, and they typically describe as these experiences as feeling "unreal". It is important to note that, unlike psychosis, such individuals know that the unreality of such experiences is only a feeling: They are not hallucinating and are not out of touch with reality per se.
   
• Dissociative Amnesia - People suffering from this disorder are unable to remember significant facts, events, or periods from their past, and this impairment is sometimes so broad as to include their own identities. This disorder is believed to result from trauma, and the sufferer may not be able to identify what the trauma was or any details about it, including when it occurred.
   
• Dissociative Identity Disorder - People suffering from this disorder alternate – usually without warning or any awareness – between two or more separate personalities. While in one identity, a person may have striking personality characteristics, psychological problems, or even serious illnesses (e.g., diabetes), which are absent when in another identity.