Universal Journal of Public Health Vol. 9(6), pp. 477 - 483
DOI: 10.13189/ujph.2021.090616
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Dissociative Experiences and Stressful Life Events in Dissociative Disorders - A Cross Sectional Study

Rajan Shastri ¹, Rakesh Mohanty ², Surjeet Sahoo ^2,*
1 Punjab Civil Medical Services, India
² Department of Psychiatry, IMS & SUM Hospital, Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (Deemed to be) University, Odisha, India

ABSTRACT

Background: Unconscious defenses and dissociative experiences have always been related to stressful life events. A stressful life event has a role to play both in normative and pathological dissociation. These events can be desirable and undesirable and both acute and chronic events can lead to dissociative phenomena Aims: To assess the dissociative experiences and type of stressful life events and also to correlate the events with dissociative disorders. Methodology: A detailed history was obtained along with the application of Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and Presumptive Stressful Life Event Scale (PSLES) to know the type of dissociative experiences and the type of stressors. Their correlation was studied using SPSS-20 software. The scores of dissociative experiences and stressful life events were also calculated to find any relation between the scores and the type of dissociative presentation. Results: The majority of people diagnosed with dissociative disorders were females, although there is no gender difference in the DES scores. The mean age of presentation is 25.21±9.12 years. We found out that any subtype of patients can have any score on DES scale. The PSLES scores did not determine the type of dissociative presentation (subtype). Conclusion: Dissociative experiences are related to stressful events in last year, and it acts as a precipitating factor for people with poor coping mechanisms. The scores do not predict the subtype of dissociation.

KEYWORDS
Stressful Life Events, Trauma, Dissociative Experiences, Dissociative Disorder

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Rajan Shastri , Rakesh Mohanty , Surjeet Sahoo , "Dissociative Experiences and Stressful Life Events in Dissociative Disorders - A Cross Sectional Study," Universal Journal of Public Health, Vol. 9, No. 6, pp. 477 - 483, 2021. DOI: 10.13189/ujph.2021.090616.

(b). APA Format:
Rajan Shastri , Rakesh Mohanty , Surjeet Sahoo (2021). Dissociative Experiences and Stressful Life Events in Dissociative Disorders - A Cross Sectional Study. Universal Journal of Public Health, 9(6), 477 - 483. DOI: 10.13189/ujph.2021.090616.