dsm iv tr diagnostic criteria

DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria

DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria

Due to copyright infringement issues and editorial concerns, the

American Psychiatric Association has requested that specific reference

to the DSM-IV-TR by Wikipedia be outlinked. The current diagnostic

criteria for Dissociative identity disorder published in the

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders may be found

here:

A definition of dissociationDissociation is a complex mental process

that provides a coping mechanism for individuals confronting painful

and/or traumatic situations. It is characterized by a dis-integration

of the ego. Ego integration, or more properly ego integrity, can be

defined as a person's ability to successfully incorporate external

events or social experiences into their perception, and to then

present themselves consistently across those events or social

situations. A person unable to do this successfully can experience

emotional dysregulation, as well as a potential collapse of ego

integrity. In other words, this state of emotional dysregulation is,

in some cases, so intense that it can precipitate ego dis-integration,

or what, in extreme cases, has come to be referred to diagnostically

as dissociation.

Dissociation describes a collapse in ego integrity so profound that

the personality is considered to literally break apart. For this

reason, dissocation is often referred to as "splitting" or "altering".

Less profound presentations of this condition are often referred to

clinically as disorganization or decompensation. The difference

between a psychotic break and a dissociation, or dissociative break,

is that, while someone who is experiencing a dissociation is

technically pulling away from a situation that s/he cannot manage,

some part of the person remains connected to reality. While the

psychotic "breaks" from reality, the dissociative disconnects, but not

all the way.

Because the person suffering a dissociation does not completely

disengage from his/her reality, s/he may appear to have multiple

"personalities". In other words, different "people" (read:

personalities) to deal with different situations, but generally

speaking, no one person (read: personality) who will retreat