Dissociative Disorders

An artist's interpretation of one person with dissociative identity disorder.

1. Dissociative disorders are conditions that involve disruptions or breakdowns of memory, awareness, identity, or perception.
2. Depersonalization disorder (DPD) is a mental disorder in which the sufferer has persistent or recurrent feelings of being a detached observer of themselves and/or derealization.
3. Dissociative amnesia (dissociative fugue) is a dissociative disorder characterized by retrospectively reported memory gaps. These gaps involve an inability to recall personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature.
4. Dissociative identity disorder is a mental disorder characterized by the appearance of at least two distinct, relatively enduring identities or dissociated personality states that alternately control a person's behavior, accompanied by memory impairment not explained by ordinary forgetfulness.
5. Derealization is an alteration in the perception or experience of the external world so that it seems unreal.
6. Conversion disorder causes patients to suffer from neurological symptoms, such as numbness, blindness, paralysis, or fits without a definable organic cause.