Prevalence of dissociative disorders among psychiatric inpatients in a German university clinic

The aim of the study was to determine the frequency of dissociative disorders among psychiatric inpatients in Germany and to investigate the relationship between childhood trauma and dissociation. The German version of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), the Fragebogen für Dissoziative Symptome (FDS), was used to screen 115 consecutive inpatients admitted to the psychiatric clinic of a university hospital. Patients with FDS scores higher than 20 were interviewed by a trained clinician, using the German translation of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D-R). The German version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) was administered to investigate prevalence of childhood trauma and relations between childhood trauma and dissociation in adult life. Twenty-five of the 115 patients (21.7%) had a score higher than 20 on the FDS. Of these, 15 patients were interviewed with the SCID-D-R. One patient was diagnosed with a dissociative identity disorder, three with dissociative disorders not otherwise specified, and one patient with depersonalization disorder. All diagnoses were confirmed clinically. A significant positive relationship was found between the severity of childhood trauma and dissociation. Dissociative disorders are common among German psychiatric inpatients. Clinicians who work in psychiatric inpatient units should be mindful of these disorders.     

Dissociative disorders in the psychiatric emergency ward

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of dissociative disorders among emergency psychiatric admissions. METHOD: Forty-three of the 97 consecutive outpatients admitted to the psychiatric emergency unit of a university hospital were screened using the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). Seventeen (39.5% of the 43 evaluated) patients with a DES score above 25.0 were then interviewed with the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule and the Structured Clinical Interview for Dissociative Disorders. RESULTS: Fifteen emergency unit patients (34.9% of the 43 evaluated participants) were diagnosed as having a dissociative disorder. Six (14.0%) patients had dissociative identity disorder, 6 (14.0%) had dissociative disorder not otherwise specified, and 3 (7.0%) had dissociative amnesia. The average DES score of dissociative patients was 43.7. A majority of them had comorbid major depression, somatization disorder, and borderline personality disorder. Most of the patients with dissociative disorder reported auditory hallucinations, symptoms associated with psychogenic amnesia, flashback experiences, and childhood abuse and/or neglect. CONCLUSIONS: Dissociative disorders constitute one of the diagnostic groups with high relevance in emergency psychiatry.     

Frequency of dissociative disorders among psychiatric outpatients in Turkey

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of dissociative disorders among psychiatric outpatients in Turkey. One hundred fifty consecutive outpatients admitted to the psychiatry clinic of a university hospital were screened with the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). Twenty-three patients (15.3%) with a DES score greater than 30 and a comparison group selected from the same outpatient population who scored less than 10 on the scale were then interviewed with the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule (DDIS) in a blind fashion. According to the DDIS, 18 patients (12.0%) received a diagnosis of dissociative disorder; 83.3% (n = 15) of the dissociative patients reported neglect, 72.2% (n = 13) emotional abuse, 50.0% (n = 9) physical abuse, and 27.8% (n = 5) sexual abuse during childhood. Dissociative disorders are not rare among psychiatric outpatients. Self-rating instruments and structured interviews can be used successfully for screening dissociative disorders, which are usually underrecognized. Neglect was the most frequently reported type of childhood trauma, suggesting the importance of other childhood experiences in addition to sexual and/or physical abuse in the development of dissociative psychopathology.     

Dissociative disorders among inpatients with drug or alcohol dependency

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of dissociative disorders among inpatients with alcohol or drug dependency. METHOD: The Dissociative Experiences Scale was used to screen 215 consecutive inpatients admitted to the dependency treatment center of a large mental hospital over a 1-year period (March 1, 2003, to March 31, 2004). Patients who had scores of 30.0 or above were compared with patients who scored below 10.0 on the scale. The patients in both groups were then evaluated using the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders. The interviewers were blind to the Dissociative Experiences Scale scores. RESULTS: Of the patients, 36.7% had a Dissociative Experiences Scale score of 30.0 or above. The prevalence of DSM-IV dissociative disorders was 17.2% (N = 37). On average, 64.9% of these patients' dissociative experiences had started 3.6 years (SD = 2.9; range, 1.0-11.0 years) before onset of the substance use. Patients with dissociative disorders were younger, and the mean duration of their remission periods was shorter. Dissociative disorder patients tended to use more than 1 substance, and drugs were used more frequently than alcohol in this group. The frequency of borderline personality disorder, somatization disorder, history of suicide attempt, and childhood abuse and neglect occurred more frequently in the dissociative disorder group than in the nondissociative disorder group. History of suicide attempt (p = .005), female sex (p = .050), and childhood emotional abuse (p = .010) were significant predictors of a dissociative disorder diagnosis. Significantly more patients with dissociative disorders stopped their treatment prematurely (p < .001). CONCLUSION: Impact of dissociative disorders on development and treatment of substance dependency requires further study.     

Dissociative disorders among alcohol-dependent inpatients

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of dissociative disorders among inpatients with alcohol dependency. The Dissociative Experiences Scale was used to screen 111 alcohol-dependent patients consecutively admitted to the inpatient unit of a dependency treatment center. Subgroups of 29 patients who scored 30.0 or above and 25 patients who scored below 10.0 were then evaluated with the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule and the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders. The interviewers were blind to the Dissociative Experiences Scale scores. Of the 54 patients evaluated, 10 (9.0% of the original 111) patients had a dissociative disorder. A considerable number of the remaining patients reported a high level of dissociative experiences. Among the dissociative disorder group, nine patients had dissociative disorder not otherwise specified and one patient had depersonalization disorder. Female gender, younger age, history of suicide attempt, childhood emotional and sexual abuse, and neglect were more frequent in the dissociative disorder group than among non-dissociative patients. The dissociative disorder group also had somatization disorder, borderline personality disorder, and lifetime major depression more frequently. For 9 of the 10 dissociative patients, dissociative symptoms started before the onset of alcohol use. Although the probability of having a comorbid dissociative disorder was not higher among alcohol-dependent inpatients than among the general psychiatric inpatients, the dissociative subgroup had distinct features. Many patients without a dissociative disorder diagnosis (predominantly men) provided hints of subtle dissociative psychopathology. Implications of comorbid dissociative disorders and dissociative experiences on prevention and treatment of alcohol dependency and the importance of gender-specific characteristics in this relationship require further study.     

Des états dissociatifs vers une clinique des troubles dissociatifs

Dissociation can be defined as a dysfunction of the normally integrated functions like memory, consciousness and perception of environment. The history of dissociative disorders rejoins the history of hysteria with the work of Charcot, Janet and Freud at the end of the 19^th century and the beginning of the 20^th century. The concept of hysteria disappeared from the international classifications of mental disorders (DSM-III and DSM-IV, ICD-10) which stimulate a regain of interest in the past 20 years for the field of somatoform and dissociative disorders. After discussing the clinical and etiological issues of the concept of dissociation, we emphasize the interest for the clinician to recognize dissociative states and dissociative disorders, while insisting on the differential diagnosis and the psychiatric comorbidities. Dissociation is now considered as a trans-nosographical entity that can be observed in many psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and mood disorders, personality disorders, substance-related disorders and even some organic disorders. Substantial progress has been recently made in diagnosing and treating these disorders, allowing the development of sensitive (DES - Dissociative Experience Scale, DQ - Dissociation Questionnaire) and specific (DDIS - Dissociative Disorder Interview Schedule, SCID-D-R - The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders-Revised) diagnostic tools. Despite important differences found in the epidemiological studies, the prevalence of the dissociative disorders being around 10 % in the general population, there is a consensus in the literature concerning the importance of precocious detection of these disorders, in order to improve the management of the patients.     

Multivariate Analysis of Relationship between Childhood Trauma and Psychotic Symptoms in Patients with Schizophrenia

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between childhood trauma and psychotic symptoms in schizophrenic patients after controlling for the possible confounding factors, such as depression and dissociative symptoms. Ninety-eight schizophrenic inpatients participated. Childhood trauma was examined using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaires (CTQ), which consists of physical abuse (PA), sexual abuse (SA), emotional abuse (EA), physical neglect (PN), and emotional neglect (EN). Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Dissociative Experience Scale (DES), and Beck''s Depression Inventory (BDI) were also administered. Data were analyzed by partial correlation and general linear model. The total score of CTQ was positively correlated with positive, general, and total scores of PANSS. All five types of childhood trauma were associated with dissociative symptoms. EA and EN were positively correlated with depressive symptoms. Only SA significantly predicted positive symptoms of schizophrenia after controlling for age, sex, BDI, and DES scores, with a dose-response relationship between SA and positive symptoms.     

Childhood emotional abuse, dissociation, and suicidality among patients with drug dependency in Turkey

Aim: The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and correlates of dissociative disorders among patients with drug dependency. Methods: The Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) was used to screen 104 consecutive patients at an addiction treatment center. Thirty‐seven patients who had scores ≥30 were compared with 21 patients who scored <10 on the DES. Both groups were then evaluated using the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule and the Structured Clinical Interview for Dissociative Disorders (SCID‐D). The interviewers were blind to the DES scores. Results: Twenty‐seven patients (26.0%) had a dissociative disorder according to the SCID‐D. Dissociative patients were younger than the non‐dissociative group. History of suicide attempt and/or childhood emotional abuse was significant predictors of a dissociative disorder. The majority (59.3%) of dissociative drug users reported that dissociative experiences had existed prior to substance use. More patients in the dissociative disorder than in the non‐dissociative group stopped their treatment prematurely. Conclusion: A considerable proportion of drug users have a dissociative disorder, which may also interfere with treatment process. The relatively young age of this subgroup of patients and frequent reports of childhood emotional abuse underline potential preventive benefits of early intervention among adolescents with developmental trauma history and dissociative psychopathology.     

Comparison of dissociative identity disorder with other diagnostic groups using a structured interview in Turkey

Twenty patients with dissociative identity disorder (DID), 20 with schizophrenic disorder, 20 with panic disorder, and 20 with complex partial epilepsy were evaluated with the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule (DDIS) and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). Subjects with dissociative identity disorder were more frequently diagnosed as having somatization disorder, past or concurrent major depressive episode, borderline personality disorder, depersonalization disorder, and dissociative amnesia than other groups. They reported Schneiderian symptoms and extrasensory perceptions more frequently. In their anamnesis suicide attempts, trance states, sleepwalking, and childhood traumas were more frequent than those in comparison groups. The secondary features of dissociative identity disorder and the DES score differentiated these patients from comparison groups significantly. DID has a set of clinical features different from that of schizophrenic disorder, panic disorder and complex partial epilepsy. The differences are similar to those yielded previously in studies from North America.     

Dissociative disorders in Turkish inpatients with conversion disorder

The aim of our study was to determine the frequency of dissociative disorders (DDs) among inpatients with conversion disorder (CD) in a university clinic settled in Eastern Turkey. During a period of 24 months, 59 consecutively admitted adult CD patients were screened with the Dissociative Experience Scale (DES). Patients who scored above 30 (DDs group) did not differ by age or gender from a group of inpatients who scored below 10 on the scale (comparison group). All patients in the two groups were then interviewed in a blind manner using the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule (DDIS) and Structured Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D). According to the SCID-D, 18 of 59 patients (30.5%) received a diagnosis of dissociative disorder; nine of these 18 patients (50%) were diagnosed as having dissociative identity disorder, eight (44.4%) were diagnosed as having dissociative disorder not otherwise specified (NOS), and one (5.6%) was diagnosed as having dissociative amnesia. Accordingly to the DDIS, borderline personality disorder was frequent in the DDs group, and all of the patients in the DDs group reported sexual abuse and neglect during childhood, latency, or adolescence. A high proportion of CD patients have significant dissociative pathology. The proper diagnosis of these patients has important implications for their clinical course.     

Prevalence of dissociative disorders in psychiatric outpatients

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence of DSM-IV dissociative disorders in an inner-city outpatient psychiatric population. METHOD: Subjects were 231 consecutive admissions (84 men and 147 women, mean age=37 years) to an inner-city, hospital-based outpatient psychiatric clinic. The subjects completed self-report measures of dissociation (Dissociative Experiences Scale) and trauma history (Traumatic Experiences Questionnaire). Eighty-two patients (35%) completed a structured interview for dissociative disorders (Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule). RESULTS: The 82 patients who were interviewed did not differ significantly on any demographic measure or on the self-report measures of trauma and dissociation from the 149 patients who were not interviewed. Twenty-four (29%) of the 82 interviewed patients received a diagnosis of a dissociative disorder. Dissociative identity disorder was diagnosed in five (6%) patients. Compared to the patients without a dissociative disorder diagnosis, patients with a dissociative disorder were significantly more likely to report childhood physical abuse (71% versus 27%) and childhood sexual abuse (74% versus 29%), but the two groups did not differ significantly on any demographic measure, including gender. Chart review revealed that only four (5%) patients in whom a dissociative disorder was identified during the study had previously received a dissociative disorder diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Dissociative disorders were highly prevalent in this clinical population and typically had not been previously diagnosed clinically. The high prevalence of dissociative disorders found in this study may be related to methodological factors (all patients were offered an interview rather than only those who had scored high on a screening self-report measure) and epidemiological factors (extremely high prevalence rates for childhood physical and sexual abuse were present in the overall study population).     

Diagnosing dissociative disorders in The Netherlands: a pilot study with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Dissociative Disorders

OBJECTIVE: To improve the ability to diagnose dissociative disorders in The Netherlands, the authors conducted a study using a Dutch version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D) with additional questions on childhood trauma and symptoms of borderline and histrionic personality disorders. METHOD: All interviews were audiotaped or videotaped and rated by two investigators separately. Forty-four patients (42 women and two men) participated in the study. Most of the patients had been referred for evaluation of dissociative symptoms; five had participated in a nationwide survey on incest. None of the patients had ever received a diagnosis of a dissociative disorder, and none had evidence of organic brain syndrome or mental retardation. All patients were in active treatment; 23 were being treated in an outpatient psychiatric service, 13 in an inpatient psychiatric service, and eight in private practice. Thirty-two patients had been psychiatric inpatients at least once. RESULTS: Four diagnostic groups of patients were identified: two with dissociative disorders (12 patients with multiple personality disorder and 11 with dissociative disorder not otherwise specified), one with DSM-III-R personality disorders (11 patients), and one without dissociative or personality disorders (10 patients). CONCLUSIONS: Dissociative disorders are clearly not only an American phenomenon. The diagnosis can be made outside of the United States if the symptoms are sought. The SCID-D proved to be a promising instrument.     

住院精神障碍患者中分离性障碍的调查

目的调查住院精神障碍患者中分离性障碍的患病情况。方法以分离性体验量表(Dissociative Experiences Scale,DES)和临床晤谈对总共569例研究对象中分离性障碍的患病情况进行调查。结果临床诊断为分离性障碍的患者共计28名,在入组的住院精神障碍患者中患病率为15.29%。结论根据DSM-IV诊断标准和临床晤谈结果,在中国住院精神障碍患者中确实存在相当比例的患者符合分离性障碍诊断。     

Childhood abuse and dissociative symptoms in adult schizophrenia

Dissociative symptoms, occurring in many psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, are often preceded by traumatic experience. We hypothesized that various types of childhood trauma would correlate with levels of dissociative symptomatology in adult patients. Twenty-six patients completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Dissociation was significantly correlated with emotional abuse (r=0.84, one-tailed p<0.001), and physical abuse (r=0.55, p<0.01). We suggest that emotional abuse may play an important role in the etiology of dissociation in schizophrenia.     

Trauma and dissociation in China

OBJECTIVE: In order to determine whether pathological dissociation occurs in China, the authors conducted a survey among psychiatric inpatients, outpatients, and the general population in Shanghai, China. There is virtually no popular or professional knowledge of dissociative identity disorder in China, and therefore professional and popular contamination cannot exist. METHOD: Chinese versions of the Dissociative Experiences Scale and the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule were administered to 423 inpatients, 304 outpatients, and 618 factory workers in Shanghai by Chinese psychiatrists working at the Shanghai Mental Health Center. RESULTS: Dissociative disorders were diagnosed in 24 respondents by structured interview, and 15 respondents fell into the dissociative taxon on the Dissociative Experiences Scale. The outpatients reported the highest rates of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse and of pathological dissociation. CONCLUSIONS: Pathological dissociation can be detected readily among psychiatric outpatients in China but is much less common in the general population. Pathological dissociation is more frequent in more traumatized subsamples of the Chinese population. The findings are not consistent with the sociocognitive, contamination, or iatrogenic models of dissociative identity disorder.     

The differential diagnosis of epilepsy, pseudoseizures, dissociative identity disorder, and dissociative disorder not otherwise specified

The authors review the co-occurrences of dissociative symptoms and disorders with epilepsy and pseudo-seizures and examine newer diagnostic instruments that assist in accurate diagnosis of persons with concomitant seizure behaviors and dissociative symptoms. They also review seizure behaviors and electroencephalographic findings in persons with dissociative identity disorder (DID) and dissociative disorder not otherwise specified (DDNOS) and dissociative symptoms in persons with epilepsy and with pseudoseizures. Dissociative symptoms in 15 patients with epilepsy and 15 with pseudo-seizures were examined using the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D). On the SCID-D, pseudo-seizure patients had significantly higher dissociative symptom scores than epileptic patients, but DES scores did not reliably distinguish epileptic and pseudo-seizure patients. Misdiagnosis of persons with seizures and dissociative symptoms can be avoided by careful adherence to DSM dissociative disorder criteria, the use of video-EEG monitoring, and systematic assessment of dissociative symptoms with the SCID-D.     

Advances in the clinical assessment of dissociation: the SCID-D-R

A comprehensive assessment of dissociative symptoms is recommended for effective treatment of trauma survivors. The author reviews the systematic detection of dissociative symptoms and disorders using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders--Revised (SCID-D-R) in adolescents and adults (Steinberg, 1994b). Numerous investigations have reported good-to-excellent reliability and validity of the SCID-D-R, both in the United States and abroad. Clinical applications, including the SCID-D-R's utility for psychological and forensic evaluations, treatment planning, differential diagnosis, and evaluation of malingering, are reviewed.     

Does dissociation mediate the relationship between childhood trauma and hallucinations,delusions in first episode psychosis?

BackgroundChildhood trauma has been linked to the presence of delusions and hallucinations in psychosis, although the mechanisms underlying this relationship require elucidation. Dissociation, characterized by disruptions to the integrative functioning of several core mental domains, has emerged as a potential mechanism. There is a paucity of research using a clinician-rated measure of dissociation to test the indirect effect of dissociation on the relationship between childhood trauma and psychotic symptoms. This study aimed to investigate whether dissociation mediated both the relationships between childhood trauma and hallucinations, and childhood trauma and delusions utilizing a clinician-administered measure of dissociation, namely the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders - Revised (SCID-D-R).MethodSixty-six first-episode psychosis (FEP) participants completed a research interview and questionnaires. Information about experiences of childhood trauma, psychosis, dissociation, general psychopathology and demographics were collected.ResultsWhen using the SCID-D-R, childhood trauma positively correlated with dissociation. Further, dissociation mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and delusions. Contrary to previous findings, we found no relationship between dissociation and hallucinations and no mediating effect of dissociation on the association between childhood trauma and hallucinations. The results of the SCID-D-R differed significantly from those of the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II) which were consistent with previous research.ConclusionsOur findings are the first to use a clinician-rated measure to test the mediating effect of dissociation on the relationship between childhood trauma and positive symptoms (i.e., hallucinations and delusions). Given the discrepancies in results between the SCID-D-R and DES-II, how dissociation is measured in future research is an important consideration. The results add to a body of work that increasingly recognizes the importance of dissociative symptoms on the relationship between childhood trauma and psychosis. The results suggest that dissociative symptoms should be part of routine assessment in those with a history of trauma and present to FEP services.     

Dissociative detachment relates to psychotic symptoms and personality decompensation

Previous studies have addressed the prominence of psychotic symptoms in conjunction with multiple personality disorder (now dissociative identity disorder). The present study examines the relation between psychotic symptoms and a more pervasive form of dissociative disturbance, namely dissociative detachment. Two hundred sixty-six women in inpatient treatment for severe trauma-related disorders completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), and 102 of these patients also completed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-111). A factor analysis of the DES yielded two dimensions of dissociative detachment: detachment from one's own actions and detachment from the self and the environment. Each of these DES dimensions relates strongly to the thought disorder and schizotypal personality disorder scales of the MCMI-III. We propose that severe dissociative detachment, by virtue of loosening the moorings in inner and outer reality, is conducive to psychotic symptoms and personality decompensation.     

Dissociative disorders in Dutch psychiatric inpatients

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to determine the frequency of dissociative disorders in Dutch psychiatric inpatients. METHOD: During a period of 12 months, 122 consecutively admitted adult psychiatric patients were screened with the Dissociative Experiences Scale. Patients scoring 25 and higher and a random selection of patients scoring lower than 25 were blindly interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders, Revised. Interviews were scored independently by a blind rater. RESULTS: Ten (8%) of the 122 patients were diagnosed as having a dissociative disorder; two (2%) were diagnosed as having a dissociative identity disorder. Two patients (2%) had factitious dissociative identity disorder. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of dissociative disorders in this group of Dutch patients is comparable to the rates reported in other European studies but lower than rates reported in North American studies.