Terminology

Trauma terminology/dictionary definitions related to dissociation & Dissociative Identity Disorder. Alters, introjects, co-consciousness, core, host, polyfragmentation, integration, ANP, EP, switching and splits explained. Trauma terminology related to Dissociative Disorders, as well as general terminology used in psychology and psychiatry.

The literature on trauma and dissociation is complicated, and it has a long history, and although there is an inherent verbal confusion due to this, here in this "Trauma and Dissociation Wiki" an attempt to offer the newest and most precise definitions of terms, as they relate to trauma and dissociation will take precedence. For instance, take the word consciousness, which is used interchangeably with terms like personality, mind, psyche and ego to explain specific dissociative phenomena. In this wiki we will use the words as they are most recently used in relation to trauma and dissociation.

A

 * abuse
 * "interactions in which one person behaves in a violent, demeaning or invasive manner towards another person (e.g. child or partner)"


 * Addiction
 * addiction
 * dependence
 * Dependence
 * Drug or alcohol addiction is the "repeated use of a psychoactive substance or substances, to the extent that the user (referred to as an addict) is periodically or chronically intoxicated, shows a compulsion to take the preferred substance (or substances), has great difficulty in voluntarily ceasing or modifying substance use, and exhibits a determination to obtain psychoactive substances by almost any means." Dependence is the term used to refer to addiction in the ICD diagnostic manual.


 * affect
 * "a person's present emotional responsiveness, which can be inferred from facial expressions" including both the degree and range of expressive behavior. This can also be shown in tone of voice, hand and body movements.


 * alexithymia
 * Alexithymia
 * "inability to difficulty in describing or being aware of one's emotions or moods; elaboration of fantasies associated with depression, substance abuse and posttraumatic stress disorder" People with alexithymia are incapable of soothing themselves when under stress.


 * abulia
 * "Reduced impulse to act and to think, associated with indifference about consequences of action."


 * alogia
 * "Inability to speak because of a mental deficiency or an episode of dementia."


 * Alter
 * alter
 * alters
 * alter identity
 * alter identities
 * Altered states of consciousness
 * Exchangeable terms include parts, dissociative parts, personality states, self-states, states, identities, selves, or ego states. Alters are present only in those with dissociative identity disorder or similar presentations of other specified dissociative disorder, where the parts of the personality are highly dissociated and isolated. No alter, including the host alter, is a complete personality, even though an alter might feel as if they are.
 * Alters are psychodynamically interacting parts, each with their own separate centers of subjectivity, identity, autonomy, and sense of personal history.
 * An individual with dissociative identity disorder may have few or many |alters, which include a variety of ages, cross gender, animal or objects, with coconsciousness (see coconsciousness) at varying degrees, and communication can be limited to one direction. (one way amnesia)


 * alter creation
 * An alter is an altered state that makes up the personality which is referred to as an altered state or in structural dissociation, as an ANP/EP system.


 * amnesia
 * Amnesia
 * Memory loss.


 * Amnesic boundary
 * Dissociative boundaries
 * dissociative boundary
 * A dissociative boundary separates dissociated states.


 * Analgesia
 * Analgesic
 * loss of sensitivity for pain A negative symptom of somatoform dissociation (loss of a physical ability).


 * anesthesia
 * anesthesic
 * loss of sensory awareness; all sensory modalities, touch, kinesthesia, smell, taste, hearing, vision. A negative symptom of somatoform dissociation (loss of a physical ability)


 * antagonism
 * Alters often have opposing views due to compartmentalization, allowing contradictory beliefs and ideas to exist together. Early in life, traumatic dissociated experiences were not internalized, which can also lead to antagonism between alters.


 * anterograde amnesia
 * loss of memory for events after the onset of amnesia; common after trauma


 * localized amnesia
 * Partial loss of memory; amnesia restricted to specific or isolated experiences.


 * American Psychiatric Association
 * APA
 * The APA is a scientific and professional organization that represents psychiatrists in the United States. The American Psychiatric Association publishes the DSM. Commonly confused with the American Psychological Association.


 * aphasia
 * A language/communication impairment which can be caused by traumatic brain injury and is classed as a neurological deficit. Aphasia is a disorder of oral language, can include compromised verbal expression or comphrension (understanding of words). Written communication (alexia and agraphia) is often impaired in people with aphasia.


 * Apparently normal part
 * Apparently Normal Part
 * ANP
 * A distinct state who performs the job of daily activities and does not hold trauma memories. Dissociative identity disorder is the only mental disorder where an individual can have two or more ANP.


 * apathy
 * Dulled emotional tone associated with detachment or indifference; observed in certain types of schizophrenia and depression."


 * Attachment
 * attachment
 * The communication of emotion between an infant and their primary caregiver(s) is essential to shaping the developing mind. "Emotion serves as a central organizing process within the brain. In this way, an individual's abilities to organize emotions - a product in part, of early attachment relationships directly shapes the ability of the mind to integrate experience and to adapt to future stressors." Interruption in the attachment pattern of young children with their caretaker(s) has been shown to be a primary precursor to Dissociative Disorder pathology. (see etiology)


 * audible thoughts
 * Audible thoughts
 * Audible Thoughts
 * A person's thoughts being spoken aloud. A Schniederian first-rank symptom often associated with schizophrenia. but not associated with DID.


 * ataxia
 * lack of coordination, physical or mental. Intrapsychic ataxia refers to lack of coordination between feelings and thoughts; seen in schizophrenia and severe OCD.

B

 * Betrayal trauma theory
 * Betrayal Trauma Theory
 * Betrayal trauma theory (BTT) reports that a negative event enacted by a primary caregiver will influence how events are processed and remembered. The child is more likely to recall abuse by a stranger than by a caregiver.


 * Bizarre delusion
 * bizarre delusion
 * A bizarre delusion is a false belief that is patently absurd or fantastic (e.g., invaders from space have implanted electrodes in a person's brain). Common in schizophrenia. In non-bizarre delusion, content is usually within the range of possibility


 * Blunted affect
 * blunted
 * Blunted affect - "Disturbance in affect manifested by a severe reduction in the intensity of externalized feeling tone"


 * brain
 * The brain is a approximately a 1300-gram organ containing 100-billion neurons. It is the control center of the central nervous system. The mind and brain are not the same thing. (see mind) The mind emerges out of interactions between the brain and relationships during the earliest years of childhood. Different child-parent attachment relationships form differing physiological responses, patterns for interpersonal relationship and how an individual views the world. (see attachment)

C

 * Coconscious
 * Coconsciousness
 * coconscious
 * When two or more distinct states share memory.


 * Coparticipation
 * coparticipation
 * When therapy consists of several alters participating together.


 * Comorbidity
 * comorbid
 * dual diagnosis
 * Comorbid
 * Dual diagnosis
 * Comorbid means the the presence of more than one psychiatric diagnosis at once, with substance use this is often referred to as "dual diagnosis" Also see Cormobid.


 * Confabulation
 * confabulation
 * A unconscious filling of gaps in memory usually done by the ANP in charge at the moment, who does not have access to the true memories, but can also be by the states within before all trauma memories are brought forth and processed.


 * Conversion
 * conversion
 * Conversion phenomena
 * Conversion disorders
 * Conversion Disorder
 * Functional Neurological symptoms
 * Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder
 * Somatization Disorder
 * somatization disorder
 * somatization
 * "The development of symbolic physical symptoms and distortions involving the voluntary muscles or special sense organs; not under voluntary control and not explained by any physical disorder." Sadock (2008). Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder is the new name for Conversion Disorder in the DSM-5 manual, and is part of the Somatic Symptom and Other Related Disorders category. Somatization Disorder was removed during the changes, but is represented in this category.
 * Conversion symptoms are most common in conversion disorder, but also seen in a variety of mental disorders."
 * "Conversion disorders" is the ICD-10 category includes somatoform dissociation within dissociative disorders of movement and sensation.


 * Core
 * core
 * Original
 * The terms "core" and "original" were used back in history to mean the part that body was born with, but today we know there is no such part. Many also incorrectly assume the host or ANP is what they call the core.  (see personality and alters) (see personality)
 * Note: Outside of the dissociative disorders the term core is used by some to mean an individuals "suchness;" a part that is "beneath narrative and memory, emotional reactivity and habit."


 * Counselor
 * Counsellor
 * counselor
 * American Mental Health Counselors Association states that counselors "combine traditional psychotherapy with a practical, problem-solving approach that creates a dynamic and efficient path for change and problem resolution" and "offer assessment and diagnosis, psychotherapy, treatment planning and utilization review, brief and solution-focused therapy, alcoholism and substance abuse treatment, psychoeducational and prevention programs and crisis management".


 * Covert
 * covert
 * Covert dissociative identity disorder gives Dissociative experiences scale scores that are lower than those with overt dissociative identity disorder. These individuals are skilled at hiding overt symptoms. The overwhelming majority of individuals with dissociative identity disorder have this version.

D

 * Defence mechanisms
 * Defence mechanism
 * Defense mechanism
 * Defense mechanisms
 * Defenses
 * defenses
 * defense
 * "specific, unconscious, intra-psychic adjustment that occurs in order to resole emotional conflict and to reduce an individual's anxiety. A mental mechanism, an ego defense mechanisms, or an adjustive technique."


 * delirium
 * Delirium
 * "Acute reversible mental disorder characterized by confusion and some impairment of consciousness; generally associated with emotional liability, hallucinations or illusions, and inappropriate, impulsive, irrational, or violent behavior delusion"


 * delusional
 * delusion
 * delusions
 * Delusion
 * Delusions
 * Delusional perception
 * A delusion is a "false belief, based on incorrect inference about external reality, that is firmly held despite objective and obvious contradictory proof or evidence and despite the fact that other members of the culture do not share the belief."
 * Delusional perception is a "perception that has a unique and idiosyncratic meaning for a person, which leads to an immediate delusional interpretation". A Schniederian first-rank symptom often associated with schizophrenia but not associated with dissociative identity disorder.


 * Denial
 * denial
 * Psychology - Defense mechanism in which the existence of unpleasant realities is disavowed; refers to keeping out of conscious awareness any aspects of external reality that, if acknowledged, would produce anxiety
 * Crime - "various processes by which individual actors, social groups or states either 'block, shut out, repress or cover up certain forms of disturbing information [about wrong doing] or else evade, avoid or neutralize' its consequences. (Cohen (1995)) Refers to the denial of a perpetrator of a crime, for example denying the crime or the impact of the crime, denying the victim, counter-attacks and appealing to "higher loyalties".


 * Detachment
 * detachment
 * Characterized by distant interpersonal relationships and lack of emotional involvement


 * Disinhibition
 * Disinhibited
 * disinhibited
 * "(1) Removal of an inhibitory effect, as in the reintroduction of the inhibitory function of the cerebral cortex by alcohol (2) In psychiatry, a greater freedom to act ion accordance with inner drives or feelings and with less regard for restrains dictated by cultural norms or one's superego"


 * Disinhibited social engagement disorders
 * A stressor-related disorder, formerly a subtype of Reactive Attachment Disorder.


 * Dissociation
 * dissociation
 * Dissociation is a compartmentalization of experience, where elements of a trauma are not integrated into a unified sense of the self.
 * The lay persons idea of dissociation, that which exists in the normal mind, is not what is referred to in this document.

Dissociative Disorders


 * Dissociative amnesia
 * dissociative fugue
 * psychogenic amnesia
 * Dissociative amnesia (DA) was previously called psychogenic amnesia is a form of temporary amnesia that presents often in traumatic situations; for example in car accidents or victim or witness of a violent crime. Dissociative Amnesia is described in the DSM as a disorder that causes significant distress or impairment in functioning, such as when a person cannot remember significant events that happened to them.


 * Dissociative fugue
 * dissociative fugue
 * fugue state
 * psychogenic fugue
 * A temporary loss of personal identity due to trauma, reclassified as dissociative amnesia within the DSM-5. Dissociative amnesia includes dissociative fugue as a subtype, since fugue is a rare disorder that always involves amnesia, but does not always include confused wandering or loss of personality identity.


 * Depersonalization
 * Depersonalisation
 * depersonalitarion
 * depersonalization/derealization
 * Depersonalization/derealization
 * A sense of detachment from the self. Depersonalization disorder includes derealization, since the two often co-occur.


 * Derealization
 * derealization
 * Depersonalization disorder includes derealization, since the two often co-occur.


 * DDNES
 * Dissociative Disorders Not Elsewhere Specified
 * Unspecified dissociative disorder replaces DDNOS in the DSM-5.


 * DDNOS type 1
 * DDNOS-1
 * DDNOS1
 * The distinction between dissociative identity disorder and not otherwise specified in the DSM can be made either on presence/absence of amnesia and having or not having two or more distinct parts. Dissociative identity disorder has to have both; lacking amnesia, the individual is diagnosed as not otherwise specified.


 * Dissociative identity disorder
 * dissociative identity disorder
 * DID
 * Dissociative identity disorder is a disorder of mental states, where a individual switches from one distinct state to another distinct state, which distinguished it from OSDD/DDNOS, BPD and PTSD.


 * DSM
 * Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
 * Published by the American Psychiatric Association as the standard classification of mental disorders used by US mental health professionals. It consists of diagnostic classification, the diagnostic criteria sets, and descriptive text. The DSM-II listed multiple personality disorder as a symptom of hysterical neurosis, dissociative type. The DSM-III (1980) moved Multiple Personality Disorder from a symptom to its own disorder. The DSM-IV changed the name to dissociative identity disorder (1994) and the DSM-5 (May 2013) updated the listing to current standards.


 * dysthymia
 * dysthymic disorder
 * Dysthymia
 * Dysthymic disorder
 * Depressive disorder with only mild depression symptoms. See Depression.

E

 * ego
 * "the notion of a being who both thinks and acts". Feeling is also a characteristics of the ego. (van der Hart & Horst (1989)) Ego states is a term sometimes used to refer to several different identities within a person with Dissociative Identity Disorder, i.e., several different dissociative parts of the personality, each with his/her own sense of "me".


 * EMDR
 * Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
 * A valid psychotherapeutic approach, especially for treating trauma.


 * empathy
 * feeling with another person. This means that not only do you listen to the person's words, you also allow yourself to feel something of what he is feeling.


 * etiology
 * The study of the cause of a disorder or disease. In the case of dissociative identity disorder, early and severe childhood trauma, especially abuse is considered to be the cause.


 * Emotional Part
 * emotional part
 * EP
 * An state that holds trauma memory. A term used in structural dissociation.


 * Executive control
 * executive control
 * The state that has control of an individual at that moment has executive control, and the dissociated state most often in executive control is commonly called the host.

F
Factitious Disorder involves a person knowingly pretending to have either physical or mental illness which they do not have, without a clear external gain. Sadock (2008)
 * Factitious disorder
 * Factitious Disorder
 * factitious disorder
 * factitious
 * feigning
 * faked
 * Feigning
 * Factitious


 * Flashback
 * flashback
 * Flashbacks
 * A flashback is a reactivated traumatic memory experienced as intrusive thoughts, feelings, or images associated with past trauma, but lacking a sense of being from the past. It is experienced by the state referred to as the EP.


 * Flat affect
 * flat affect
 * "Absence or near absence of any signs of effective expression"


 * Florid
 * florid
 * Overt DID
 * overt DID
 * An organization that has been voted down by other experts, because it mixes many disorders together.


 * fMRI
 * functional magnetic resonance imaging
 * A type of neuroimaging. Neuroimaging is an approach that allows researchers to view areas of the brain that become active during behavioral events such as emotion, perception and cognition. It is part of the science of in psychophysiology.


 * Front
 * front
 * Out
 * fronting
 * A term sometimes used by those with dissociative identity disorder to refer to the alter who is either in executive control of the individual, or who has come close to the one that is in executive control. (see executive control)


 * Full dissociation
 * full dissociation
 * switching
 * Full dissociation is when an alter switches with the alter currently in executive control, resulting in amnesia for that alter. (see executive control) In full dissociation, there is complete amnesia between dissociated states, which is a  criteria for a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder in the DSM-5.

G

 * Grounded (Present)
 * Grounding Techniques
 * Grounded
 * grounded
 * grounding
 * Grounding
 * A basic, but important skill for those with dissociative disorders which allows an individual to feel less spacey, foggy, fuzzy, or without realizing it, experience past negative feelings. Also used to manage flashbacks in PTSD.


 * Gustatory hallucinations
 * gustatory
 * gustatory,
 * Gustatory
 * gustatory hallucinations
 * Gustatory hallucinations involved an altered sense of taste. These are rare in Schizophrenia but often present in temporaral lope epilepsy and PTSD (in the form of flashbacks).

H

 * hallucinations
 * Hallucinations
 * hallucination
 * The DSM-IV-TR psychiatric manual defined hallucinations as a "sensory perception that has the compelling sense of reality of a true perception but that occurs without external stimulation of the relevant sensory organ. Auditory hallucinations are common both in schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder.
 * Hallucinations can be auditory (voices, noises or other sounds), voices commenting on the person's behavior or thoughts, voices conversing, somatic or tactile (peculiar physical sensations), olfactory (unusual smells), visual (shapes or people that are not present).
 * Visual hallucinations are the most common type of hallucination and are often in geometric forms and figures Illusions are similar to visual hallucinations but are based on real images or sensations.


 * Harmful use
 * harmful use
 * Non-dependent use
 * substance use
 * Substance use
 * Harmful Use is a pattern of psychoactive substance use that results in damage to physical or mental health, e.g. hepatitis following injecting drugs or depression which is secondary to heavy alcohol intake. Adverse social consequences normally also occur. Previously known as "non-dependent use" in the ICD manual, referred to as "substance use" in the DSM manual.


 * Hazardous use
 * hazardous use
 * Patterns of substance use that are of public health significance despite the absence of a current disorder in the person. Hazardous use increased the risk of harmful consequences for the user.


 * Host
 * When dissociative identity disorder was previously called multiple personality disorder, the individual who experienced the outside world most frequently and managed daily life was known as the host. ANP (apparently normal part) is now used. See structural dissociation.


 * Hyperaroused
 * Hyperarousal
 * hyperarousal
 * hyperaroused
 * Increased arousal response, which is a diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Symptoms include "hypervigilance, exaggerated startle, sleep disturbance, concentration difficulties and anger" plus physical tension, and emotions include anxiety and fear, a feeling of "experiencing too much".


 * hypersomnia
 * Hypersomnia
 * This means oversleeping (either in the night or daytime), or excessive daytime sleepiness.


 * Hypervigilance
 * Hypervigilant
 * hypervigilance
 * hypervigilance
 * "Excessive attention to and focus on all internal and external stimuli." {{Rp|26} A pattern presenting with fight or flight reactions is common in individuals with unprocessed trauma memories. A PTSD symptom. Hypervigilance is an arousal symptom within PTSD and acute stress disorder.


 * Hypnotic
 * Hypnotics
 * hypnotics
 * Sedative
 * sedative
 * sedatives
 * A hypnotic/sedative is a substance which is a central nervous system depressant with the capacity to relieve anxiety, induce calmness and sleep. Some hypnotics cause amnesia and muscle relaxation. Examples include alcohol, buspirone, benzodiazepines and barbiturates. Sometimes this term is used to refer to drugs to calm anxiety in order to differentiate them from minor tranquillizers. Long term use can cause impairments in memory, learning, speed and coordination which last after detoxification, and can result in a permanent amnestic disorder.


 * Hypoaroused
 * Hypoarousal
 * hypoaroused
 * To cope with and avoid feeling that are both internal and external. The hypoaroused individual appears detached, avoidant, unemotional, exhibiting numbing, analgesia, derealization, depersonalization, catatonia and fainting, along with low heart rate, bradycardia."


 * Hysteria
 * hysteria
 * Hysterical Neurosis
 * Hysterical neurosis
 * hysterical neurosis
 * hysterical neuroses
 * The prejudicial term "hysterical" came from the myth that hysteria is a specific disorder of women.
 * Hysteria is an historic term which refers to several different disorders. The DSM-II (1968) listed "multiple personality" as a symptom of "Hysterical Neurosis, dissociative type". This later become Multiple Personality Disorder before being renamed to Dissociative Identity Disorder, retaining code 300.14, and becoming part of the Dissociative Disorders category along with Depersonzaliation Disorder (formerly Depersonzaliation Neuroses).
 * "Hysterical Neurosis, conversion type" was listed under "Neuroses" in the DSM-II (code 300.13), and later became "Somatoform Disorder", but is now known as Somatization Disorder in the DSM manual, and Conversion Disorders in the ICD manual. This represents physical symptoms which are common in dissociative disorders.
 * Hysteria also refers to physical symptoms which are believed to have an unconscious psychological cause, for example Conversion Disorder. "Hysteria is still stigmatized and frequently associated with lying or malingering." However, symptoms are not under the person's voluntary control. Cottencin (2013)
 * Hysterical Personality Disorder was renamed to Histronic Personality Disorder. The prejudicial term "hysterical" came from the myth that hysteria is a specific disorder of women.


 * hysterical
 * Hysterical
 * In psychiatry the term 'hysterical' historically referred to a person with 'hysteria'. This prejudicial term came from the myth that hysteria is a specific disorder of women, and was removed by the publication of the DSM-III.

I

 * Identity alteration
 * Identity Alteration
 * identity alteration
 * alterations of identity
 * Defined as "objective behaviors that are manifestations of the assumption of different identities or ego states" within DID, also known as "switching". The structured clinical interview for the dissociative disorders and other diagnostic tools assess identity alteration.


 * Identity confusion
 * identity confusion
 * Defined as "a feeling of uncertainty, puzzlement, or conflict about one's own identity. " . The structured clinical interview for the dissociative disorders and other diagnostic tools assess identity confusion.


 * Illusion
 * illusions
 * illusion
 * Illusions are distortions of real images or sensations, however hallucinations are not based on things which are not real. Illusions have many different causes include being substance related, or caused by a disorder such as Schizophrenia or PTSD (reexperiencing the truma).


 * Inhalants
 * Inhalants
 * inhalant
 * inhalants
 * These are substances inhaled for psychoative effects, including organic solvents (e.g., glue, aerosol, paints and gasoline), and aliphatic nitrites such as amyl nitrite. Some are directly toxic to the heart, kidney or liver and can produce progressive brain degeneration. These vaporize at ambient temperatures. Also known as a volatile substance.


 * Intrapsychic
 * intrapsychic
 * "pertaining to conflicts and attempts of resolutions of problems that occur within the psyche of an individual".


 * Personality
 * personality
 * Self
 * The DSM-IV uses the term identity in its definition of dissociation. (see identity)


 * Inner world
 * inner world
 * Inner reality in dissociative identity disorder (Closed System). In this disorder each dissociated state has its own inner reality, while at the same time there is a common inner reality where states have a distinct, phantom appearance. A closed system is a self care system that helps a child manage traumatic attachments, and provide as a supplement to the scarce supplies available in an abused child's interpersonal environment.


 * Inner child
 * inner child
 * Other common terms include: child within, divine child, wonder child, true self, child. This concept is not an alter and is not associated with dissociative identity disorder. The inner child is a concept used in popular and analytical psychology to describe child-like aspects of an adult's psyche. It is those feelings and memories from childhood that are left unresolved.


 * Integration
 * integration
 * unification
 * final fusion
 * Integration (state of unification) occurs in the minds of all individuals and is a process rather than an end product. "If integration is impaired, the result is chaos, rigidity, or both. Chaos and rigidity can then be seen as the red flags of blocked integration and impaired development of the mind." The natural process of the mind is to link differential parts (distinct modes of information processing) into a functional and unified self. No child has unified personality when born, in fact, they need years of sufficient nurturing for the parts of their personality to integrate.   "Integration is more like making a fruit salad than like making a smoothie: It requires that elements retain their individual uniqueness while simultaneously linking to other components of the system. The key is balance of differentiation and linkage."  Integration is the normal process that occurs in early childhood, but if interrupted by trauma, the child may not be able to integrate.

L

 * Labile affect
 * Labile
 * Labile mood
 * labile
 * Labile affect - "Affective expression characterized by rapid and abrupt changes unrelated to external stimuli."
 * Labile mood - "Oscillations in mood between euphoria and depression or anxiety" Can be a feature of borderline personality disorder.


 * Limbic system
 * limbic system
 * A group of interconnecting pathways and centers in the brain that includes the hippocampus, hypothalamus, amygdala, paraolfactory area and epithalamus among the subcorticial structures, and the portion of the cortex which includes hippocampal gyrus and the orbitofrontal area. - assumed to play an important role in emotion, motivation and memory.

M

 * 'Made' actions
 * 'made' actions
 * 'Made' acts
 * 'made' acts
 * Made acts
 * Made actions
 * 'Made' or intrusive actions are also called 'made volitional acts'; a person's actions are "from and are controlled by an external agent; the person is a passive participant in the action". A Schnieder first-rank symptom often present in schizophrenia, but common in DID.
 * In dissociative identity disorder the behavior does not feel like it belongs to the person, they make be unaware of the actions or may "see" another part take control of the body. In dissociative identity disorder there are three types of experience of made actions:
 * 1. Depersonalized stance - inside or outside of the body just passively watching or observing your actions
 * 2. feeling as if you are being suddenly being "overpowered, taken over, controlled, or even possessed"
 * 3. observing a part of your body which suddenly seems to have a mind of its own, and performs an unintended action.


 * 'Made' feelings
 * Made feelings
 * made feelings
 * 'made' feelings
 * intrusive feelings
 * 'Made' emotions
 * 'Made' or intrusive feelings and emotions are unexpected surges of feeling-pain, hurt, anger, fear, shame, and so on. Often these surges of feeling are inexplicable and frankly puzzling". A Schnieder first-rank symptom often present in schizophrenia. These tend to be partially dissociated intrusions from another self-state, fairly common in "PTSD, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, panic disorder and ADHD."


 * 'Made' impulses
 * Made impulses
 * 'made' impulses
 * made impulses
 * These impulses for action are imposed on the person and do not feel like they belong to the person, who feels like the impulses are "coming from somewhere else or someone else". In dissociative disorders this can some other part is trying to overrule the host/apparently normal part of the personality. A Schnieder first-rank symptom often present in schizophrenia but common in DID.
 * In schizophrenia or psychosis the impulses may be given a delusional explanation, for example naming a person or object who the impulses appear the be coming from.


 * Malingering
 * malingering
 * Feigning disease to achieve a specific goal, e.g., to avoid an unpleasant responsibility, for financial gain or to avoid criminal charges. This is not a mental illness. Factitious disorder involves feigning either physical or psychological symptoms without a specific goal beyond seeking emotional care and attention from medical staff; this is a mental illness and cannot usually be stopped at will by the patient. Sadock (2008)


 * Mania: A disorder marked by persistent feeling of euphoria, usually accompanied by a highly agitated motor activity and a variety of other symptoms. A symptom of bipolar disorder.


 * Memory
 * memory
 * "Memory is not a static thing, but an active set of processes." "Our earliest experiences shape not only what we remember, but also how we remember and how we shape the narrative of our lives. Memory can be seen as the way the mind encodes elements of experience into various forms of representation. As a child develops, the mind begins to create a sense of continuity across time, linking past experiences with present perceptions and anticipations of the future."


 * Implicit Memory
 * implicit memory
 * (Mental models, behaviors, images and emotions). Implicit memory involves parts of the brain that do not require conscious processing during encoding or retrieval."
 * This form of memory is available in infancy and, when retrieved, it is not thought to carry an internal sensation that something is being recalled."
 * Implicit memory is the first layer of encoded memory to be laid down. The encoding literally shapes a child's architecture of the Self.
 * At 18 months old, the hippocampus develops and this region of the brain matures and begins to integrate the building blocks of implicit memory together to form explicit memory.
 * ■ Earliest form of memory.
 * ■ Devoid of the subjective internal experience of "recalling," of self, or time.
 * ■ Involves mental models and "priming."
 * ■ Focal attention is not required for encoding.
 * ■ Mediated via brain circuits involved in the initial encoding and independent of the medial temporal lobe/hippocampus.


 * Explicit Memory
 * explicit memory
 * (Facts, events and autobiographical consciousness). Explicit Memory is the second layer of encoded memory to be laid down. Both factual and autobiographical memory develop after 18 months of age. The narrative process is one way that the mind attempts to integrate.
 * "As a child develops, the mind begins to create a sense of continuity across time, linking past experiences with present perceptions and anticipations of the future. Within these representa­tional processes, generalizations or mental models of the self (see self) and the Self with others are created; these form an essential scaffold for the minds growing interactions with the world." It is late memory - present beginning in the first year of life.
 * ■ Semantic : Factual memory. Initial development by one or two years of age.
 * ■ Autobiographical : Collections of episodic memory. Progressive development with onset after second year of life.
 * ■ Requires conscious awareness for encoding and having the subjective sense of recollection (and, if autobiographical, of self and time).
 * ■ Focal attention required for encoding.
 * ■ Hippocampal processing required for storage and initial retrieval. Cortical consolidation makes selected events a part of permanent memory and independent of hippocampal involvement for retrieval.


 * Mental Disorder
 * mental disorder
 * The DSM-5 psychiatric manual defines this as "a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities. An expected or culturally approved response to a common stressor or loss, such as the death of a loved one, is not a mental disorder. Socially deviant behavior (e.g., political, religious, or sexual) and conflicts that are primarily between the individual and society are not mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict results from a dysfunction in the individual, as described above."


 * mental health professional
 * MHP
 * The various mental health professionals provide services basked on their training and area of expertise.


 * Mind
 * The mind exist independently of the brain, is made up of various parts, and is a mental, rather than a physical organ like the brain. It relates to our inner subjective experience and the process of being conscious or aware. In addition, the mind can also be defined as a process that regulates the flow of energy and information within our bodies and within our relationships, an emergent and self organizing process that gives rise to our mental activities such as emotion, thinking, and memory." (see integration)


 * Minnesota Multiplasic Personality Inventory
 * MMPI
 * A multi-item true-false inventory used in determining an individual's personality dispositions. It provides scores on ten clinical scales and four validity scales.


 * MKULTRA
 * MK-ULTRA
 * Project MKULTRA was "mind control" project designed and perpetrated by US intelligence agencies and those of other countries, it is an example of ritual abuse.


 * Mood
 * mood
 * "Pervasive and sustained emotion" which affects a person's perception of the world.


 * moral panic
 * Moral panic
 * "A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media;the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people;socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions; ways of coping are evolved or(more often) resorted to; the condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates and becomes more visible Cohen (1972)."
 * Key characteristics of a moral panic are stereotyping, exaggeration, distortion, sensitization.
 * In modern use "A disproportional and hostile social reaction to a condition, person or group defined as a thread to societal values, involving stereotypical media representations and leading to demands for greater social control as well as creating a spiral of reaction."
 * The phrases ‘false memories’, ‘moral panic’ and ‘community hysteria’ are today still as a form of counter-attack from on behalf of people accused of sexual offenses, for example after Jerry Sandusky was charged with 40 counts of child sexual abuse his lawyer compared the allegations about him to the 'moral panic' about 'satanic ritual abuse' Sax (2011). Some journalists and academics continue to refer to ongoing child protection investigations or legal cases as a 'moral panic'.


 * Motor control
 * motor control
 * loss of motor control is an example of somatoform dissociation, e.g. loss of movements, voice, swallowing, etc. A negative symptom of somatoform dissociation (loss of a physical ability).


 * Multiple
 * Plural
 * multiple
 * All humans are multiple. The idea of a unitary continuous self is actually an illusion our minds attempt to create, when in fact, the mind has many states which are needed to carry out the diverse activities of life.


 * Multiple Personality Disorder
 * multiple personality disorder
 * Dissociative identity disorder
 * Dissociative Identity Disorder
 * dissociative identity disorder
 * MPD
 * Prior to the DSM-IV, dissociative identity disorder was known as multiple personality disorder, which was from 1980-1994. The International Classification of Diseases,(ICD) still uses this label, even though the ICD-11 is expected to change it. The term is misleading. No one can have more than one personality, nor is the disorder a personality disorder.


 * Multiplicity
 * multiplicity
 * Plurality
 * implies "the presence of more than one center of consciousness.

N

 * Narcissism
 * narcissism
 * 1. classical psychoanalysis: early stage of human development characterized by extreme concern for self and lack of concern for others. May persist into adulthood as a fixation.
 * 2. Generally, a state of experience in which the person himself - body, needs, feelings, thoughts, property, people - is experienced as real while everything and everybody that does not form part of self is not fully real.


 * Narcissistic character
 * Narcissist
 * narcissist
 * A personality pattern characterized by excessive self-concern and overvaluation of self


 * Narcissistic Personality Disorder
 * NPD
 * A grandiose sense of uniqueness or self-important that leads a person constantly to seek admiration and to become preoccupied with fantasies of success.


 * Negative signs
 * Negative symptoms
 * negative symptoms
 * negative signs
 * Refers to the loss of an important, previous ability. "In schizophrenia - flat affect, alogia, abulia, and apathy".


 * neurasthenia
 * Neurasthenia
 * Classed as as somatization disorder in the DSM but retained in the ICD. This disorder involves weakness and fatigue, and has previously been called "nervous exhaustion". Sadock (2008)


 * neurobiophysiological
 * Alter identities often vary in neurobiophysiological ways such as how they talk, look, allergies they have, vision, voices they speak with, handwriting and electrical brain activity. Many parts will have names.


 * Neuroleptics
 * neuroleptic
 * neuroleptic
 * major tranquillizers
 * antipsychotics
 * anti-psychotics
 * Neuroleptics are a class of drug used to treat acute or chronic psychoses; also known as major tranquillizers and antipsychotics. For example chloropromazine, thioridazine and the butyrophenones (e.g. haloperidol).


 * Neuroscience
 * neuroscience
 * Neuroimaging is an approach in psychophysiology that allows researchers to view areas of the brain that become active during behavioral events such as emotion, perception and cognition. Neuroimaging tests include positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).


 * Neurosis
 * Neurotic
 * neurosis
 * neurotic
 * Neurosis is an emotional disorder. Neurotic refers to a person displaying a symptom of emotional distress, which could range from anxiety, panic attacks depression, and lying, to promiscuity. This historical term referred to a very large group of conditions, which were later divided between Mood Disorders, Dissociative Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Somatization Disorder and Personality Disorder. Neurosis was removed from the DSM completely because it suggested a "cause" common to the categories under that term, and to "reduce confusion"


 * Nihilism
 * nihilism
 * Nihilism is the "Delusion of the nonexistence of the self or part of the self; also refers to an attitude of total rejection of established values or extreme skepticism regarding moral and value judgments"
 * Nihilistic delusion is a "Depressive delusion that the world and everything related to it have ceased to exist."


 * non-medical use
 * Non-medical use
 * non-prescription use
 * Non-prescription use
 * medication abuse
 * Medication abuse
 * medication misuse
 * Medication misuse
 * misuse
 * Non-medical use of a prescription drug (whether obtained by prescription or other means). For example, use in a manner not prescribed, or by a person it was not prescribed to, or for a different time period or greater dose than that prescribed. "Misuse" may also refer to substances used in a way which is not legal.

O

 * olfactory hallucinations
 * Olfactory hallucinations
 * oldfactory,
 * olfactory hallucination
 * Olfactory hallucinations involve smells or odors. These have several different causes and can be a symptom of a physical condition such as temporal lobe epilepsy or may be based on a previous experience in the case of a flashback due to PTSD; oflactory hallucinations are rare in Schizophrenia.


 * organised abuse
 * Organised Abuse
 * Organised Abuse
 * Organized Abuse
 * organized abuse
 * Organized abuse
 * No precise definition of organized abuse exists, but definitions typically refer to situations with multiple victims and multiple perpetrators (abusers), particularly involved sexual abuse alongside other types of abuse.


 * Original abuser
 * The actual abuser, rather than an internal introject (internalized version) of the abuser.


 * overdose
 * overdoses
 * Overdose
 * Use of any drug in a quantity that causes acute adverse physical or mental effects. Overdoes of legal drugs are more common than those of illegal drugs. The effects may be transient or lasting. Deliberate overdose is a common means of suicide.

P

 * paramnesia
 * Disturbance in memory in which reality and fantasy are confused. It is observed in dreams and in certain types of schizophrenia and organic mental disorders; it includes phenomena such as déjà vu and déjà entendu, which may occur occasionally in normal persons


 * paraplegia
 * Paralysis of both arms and legs. Can be a symptom of traumatic brain injury.


 * Paranoia
 * paranoia
 * A rare psychotic syndrome, involves the "gradual development of a highly elaborate and complex delusional system, generally involving persecutory or grandiose delusions."


 * parasuicidal
 * NSSI
 * non-suicidal self injury
 * self-injury
 * self injury
 * Self-injury (direct self-harm) with non-suicidal intent.


 * paresis
 * paresis/paraplegia
 * Paresis is "weakness or partial paralysis" which is organic in origin. It is a motor problem caused by intra-axial brain stem damage and can be a symptom of traumatic brain injury. Paresis is normally caused by penetrating head injuries or lesions, for example frontal lobe injuries may cause gaze paresis.


 * paroxysm
 * paroxysms
 * "The sudden intensification or recurrence of a disease, physical or physiological; also a seizure or spasm." Basavanna (2000)


 * Partial Dissociation
 * partial dissociation
 * intrusion
 * Intrusion
 * intrusions
 * Parts of the personality influence each other, whether they are aware of others or not. Any part may intrude on, and influence the experience of the part that is functioning in daily life, without taking full control of functioning. In dissociative identity disorder and other disorders, dissociative symptoms are felt when one dissociated state intrudes into the experience of another. Intrusions occur in perceptions, ideas, wishes, needs, movements and behaviors.  In partial dissociation, amnesia is not present.


 * Personality
 * personality
 * Every individual has a personality that is composed of many diverse, fragmentary and generally illusory images of self. (see multiples)


 * Personality State
 * personality state
 * Personality state - Many terms are used that have the same meaning including: parts, selves, part of the Self, subselves, selves, parts of the personality, subpersonalities, sides, internal Self-states, identities, states, ego states, part of the mind, and entity. The personality is an agglomeration of many personality states.


 * Personality states
 * dissociated states
 * dissociated personality states
 * The highly dissociated and compartmentalized personality states found in dissociative identity disorder occur in various mental disorders. Other terms meaning the same thing include: dissociated part, dissociated part of self and disaggregate self-state, but often the same terms used for non-dissociated state are used for dissociated states.


 * Personality System
 * personality system
 * DID system
 * All states that make up the personality in an individual.


 * Phobia of dissociative parts (active non-realization)
 * phobia
 * phobia of dissociative parts
 * Phobia of dissociated states is evident in all dissociative disorders, but in dissociative identity disorder it is highly evident.


 * PET
 * positron emission tomography
 * Positron Emission Tomography
 * A type of neuroimaging. Neuroimaging is an approach that allows researchers to view areas of the brain that become active during behavioral events such as emotion, perception and cognition. It is part of the science of in psychophysiology.


 * Polyfragmented
 * polyfragmented
 * Polyfragmented refers to a personality system that consists of 100 or more dissociative states. This can be in a dissociative identity disorder system, but that would be unlikely and rare. It is normally seen in otherwise specified dissociative disorder.


 * Positive signs
 * Positive symptoms
 * positive signs
 * positive symptoms
 * Positive Symptoms
 * "In schizophrenia - hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorder"


 * PTSD and Dissociative Identity Disorder
 * Posttraumatic stress disorder within dissociative identity disorder
 * PTSD within dissociative identity disorder
 * PTSD and DID
 * PTSD and OSDD
 * Each dissociated state can have PTSD.


 * praxis
 * apraxias
 * apraxia
 * Praxis
 * Praxis refers to the ability to execute skilled purposeful movements on demand", requires basic motor abilities. Impairments of praxis are described as apraxias. A possible symptom of traumatic brain injury.


 * Programming
 * programming
 * mind control programming
 * mind control
 * Mind control programming only exists is specific to other specified dissociative disorder. It is not seen in dissociative identity disorder except under rare cases. Programming is the act of installing internal, pre-established reactions to external stimuli so that a person will automatically react in a predetermined manner to things like an auditory, visual or tactile signal or perform a specific set of action according to a date and/or time. This is achieved through using extreme, usually life-threatening trauma such as torture to create disassociated identities during childhood. These states are created to be programmed so that the person with otherwise specified dissociative disorder engage in activities chosen by the abusive group (for example, a cult) without any conscious awareness of it and without a conscious choice on behalf of a state, for example activities like sex slavery, murder or spying.  This is not possible to do with people with dissociative identity disorder, and thus is the reason for cults creating members with otherwise specified dissociative disorder.


 * Program
 * program
 * A mind control term. A "conditioned response which a state has been trained to perform", such as falling asleep in therapy, calling abusers to report back to them, being unable to understand English, self-harm or threatening to/trying to hurt a therapist. Suicide attempts can also be cause by such programs.


 * Projection
 * projection
 * Unconscious defense mechanism in which persons attribute to another unconscious ideas, thoughts, feelings, and impulses that are in themselves undesirable or unacceptable, as a form of protection from anxiety arising from an inner conflict; by externalizing whatever is unacceptable, they deal with it as a situation apart from themselves


 * Psychogenic nonepileptic seizes
 * psychogenic nonepileptic seizes
 * Non-epileptic seizures
 * non-epileptic seizures
 * PNES
 * Common in those with dissociative identity disorder. Symptoms of pseudoseizures include "side-to-side shaking of the head, bilateral asynchronous movements (eg, bicycling), weeping, stuttering, and arching of the back, that are "predicted by preserved awareness, eye flutter, and episodes affected by bystanders (intensified or alleviated).


 * Psyche
 * psyche
 * The Greek word for soul. It is also used in psychology to signify the mind and/or personality. Psyche was also Carl Jung's term for total personality.


 * Psychiatrist
 * psychiatrist
 * Professionals who are medically trained doctors with specialist training in psychiatry. They can prescribe medication, diagnose and conduct research. Besides psychiatric medication treatments include ECT and psychotherapy.


 * psychoactive
 * Psychoactive
 * "A psychoactive drug or substance affects mental processes, e.g. cognition or affect. " This includes both legal and illegal substances or drugs, but does not necessarily mean only those which produce dependence.
 * The ICD diagnostic manual uses the term psychoactive substance use disorders to defined being clinically relevant use (for example intoxication, harmful use, the cause of a psychotic disorder). Examples include alcohol, cannabis and stimulants.


 * Psychogenic
 * psychogenic
 * term use to signify that illness and symptoms are of a mental origin.


 * Psychologist
 * psychologist
 * Psychologists usually have an advanced degree, most commonly in clinical psychology, and often has extensive training in research. Psychologists use psychotherapy (often referred to as "talk therapy" or just "therapy") to treat mental disorders. Some psychologists specialize in psychological testing and evaluation.


 * Psychopath
 * psychopath
 * "someone who exhibits antisocial behaviours and is indifferent to morality." Linked to harsh, cruel, neglectful or disinterested child-rearing practices, which inhibit the possibility of the child identifying with suitable and loving authority figures. Authority figures should symbolize the moral values of the society. Poor treatment of child or their own lack of superego functioning compromises the superego (sometimes referred to as the conscience).


 * Psychophysiological
 * Psychophysiology
 * psychophysiological
 * psychophysiology
 * Psychophysiology refers to "the science which studies the physiology of psychic functions through the brain-body-interrelationships of the living organism in conjunction with the environment" Psychophysiology is concerned with measuring of psychological responses in order to understand behavior, including activities such as reactions to stress, sleep, memory, learning, perception or any activities that psychologists are inclined to study.  This includes measuring heart rate, biofeedback, neuroimaging, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potential (ERP) approaches to studying the brain and body, including the nervous system, memory, neurotransmitters, motor functions (movement) and brain wave activity for example.


 * Psychosis
 * psychosis
 * psychosis
 * "Mental disorder in which thoughts, affective response, ability to recognize reality, and the ability to communicate and relate to others are sufficiently impaired to interfere grossly with the capacity to deal with reality." Impaired reality testing, hallucinations, delusions, and illusions are classic characteristics.


 * Psychotic
 * psychotic
 * A person experiencing psychosis, or a characteristic of psychosis.


 * Psychotherapist
 * psychotherapist
 * therapist
 * Therapist
 * Pyschotherapists are often called a 'therapists'. These professionals may be a psychiatrist, psychologist or other mental health professional who have specialist training in psychotherapy. They are qualified to work with patients in a clinical setting.


 * psychotropic
 * Psychotropic
 * Psychotropic generally means the same as "psychoactive", i.e. a substance affecting the mind/mental processes, but a more precise use means any chemical agent which has significant effects on the nervous system. Anti-depressants, neuroleptics and antimanic agents are often called psychotropic substances, and the term is also used for substances with a high abuse liability including stimultants, hallucinogens and hypnotics (for example alcohol).

R

 * Reactive_attachment_disorder
 * RAD
 * Originally the only attachment disorder listed in the DSM. A stressor-related disorder, disinhibited social engagement disorder was originally a subtype of RAD.


 * recreational use
 * Recreational use
 * Using a substance (often an illegal one) in social or relaxing circumstances. Suggests no dependence or problems occur due to use.


 * Repressed Memories
 * Repression
 * Recovered Memory
 * repression
 * recovered memory
 * repressed memory
 * Repressed memory is a term mostly used by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation and their followers, that is meant to refer to when memories are unconsciously, suppressed. This is not a real term and is not the same as dissociation.


 * Repression
 * repression
 * Freud's term for an unconscious defense mechanism in which unacceptable mental contents are banished or kept out of consciousness; important in normal psychological development and in neurotic and psychotic symptoms formation.


 * Regression
 * regression
 * Unconscious defense mechanism in which a person undergoes a partial or total return to earlier patterns of adaptation; observed in many psychiatric conditions, particularly schizophrenia."


 * Retrograde amnesia
 * retrograde amnesia
 * "Loss of memory for events preceding the onset of amnesia."


 * Revictimization
 * revictimization
 * Repeated victimization (repeated harm in adult life) is common in people who have experienced prolonged periods of childhood abuse. One study reported that women who were sexually abused in childhood have twice the risk of example rape, sexual harassment, and battering in adulthood as those who were not. Herman (1992)


 * Ritual
 * ritual
 * "(1) Formalized activity practiced by a person to reduce anxiety, as in OCD. (2) Ceremonial activity of cultural origin."


 * ritual abuse
 * Ritual abuse
 * Ritual Abuse
 * ritualistic abuse
 * Typically involves a combination of extreme abuses, including sexual, physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual abuse and is usually carried out by groups rather than lone individuals. May include murder and torture, often to near death. Torture may be used along side mind control and brainwashing techniques; combined these can be used to further control a person who has developed dissociative parts or identities in order to cope with the abuse. Survivors of ritual abuse report that most groups force them to commit horrific acts including harming others, including other children, vulnerable adults or pets, and being drugged. Miller (2012) Types of abuse used have been compared to the torture and brainwashing techniques used on political prisoners. (Matthew (2001))


 * Rorschach inkblot test
 * A projective test consisting of ten ambiguous inkblots, which a person is asked to interpret.


 * Rumination
 * "Constant preoccupation with thinking about a single idea or theme". Sadock (2008) This involves spending extended periods of time worrying about problems, and is common in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and many Anxiety disorders. Depressive rumination is common in Major Depressive Disorder (severe depression)..

S

 * Schniederian first-rank
 * Schniederian first rank
 * Schniederian First-Rank
 * Schniederian first-rank symptoms are a list of 11 symptoms often associated with schizophrenia which were devised by Kurt Schieder. Eight of these symptoms are also experienced in dissociative disorders like DID and other specified dissociative disorder. The symptoms are: audible thoughts, voices arguing or discussing, voices commenting on patient's actions, somatic passivity (tactile or visceral hallucinations that are imposed by some external agent; can be combinations of different somatic hallucinations), thought withdrawal, thought insertion, thought broadcasting, made feelings, made actions (made volitional acts), made impulses or drives, and delusional perception.  These symptoms alone are not sufficient to make the diagnosis of schizophrenia. The three Schniederian first-rank symptoms not associated with DID are audible thoughts, broadcasting.


 * Sense of self
 * sense of self
 * Normal sense of self is experienced as alterations in consciousness, but the sense of self remains stable and consistent. In individuals with a Dissociative disorder the sense of self alternates and is inconsistent across time and experience. There is no unified sense of self.


 * Singleton
 * singleton
 * integrated personality
 * unified self
 * Integrated personality
 * Unified self
 * Unified sense of self
 * Integrated identity
 * An individual with a unified personality. "Singleton" is a term used by some with dissociative identity disorder to refer to a person that does not have alters. (see multiples)


 * Social worker
 * LCSW
 * social worker
 * In the United States licensed clinical social workers (LCSW) are professionals who have either a bachelor, master's or doctoral degree and perform assessment and treatment of psychiatric illnesses and case management. They are qualified to work with patients in a clinical setting and to perform a variety of roles including counseling.


 * Sociocognitive
 * sociocognitive
 * An old idea that dissociative identity disorder is caused by therapists (iatrogenesis) and/or is role-playing/caused by social influence, rather than caused from childhood abuse. This theory has no evidence to support it, and is discounted by those who research or practice in the field of trauma or dissociation.


 * Somatoform
 * Somatic Symptom Disorder
 * somatic symptoms
 * somatoform
 * Somatoform Dissociation - refers to dissociative symptoms that involve the body; these symptoms are characteristic of dissociative disorders.
 * Somatoform or somatic symptoms are physical symptoms that resemble, but cannot be explained by, a medical symptom or the direct effects of a substance. These include bodily sensations such as numbness/loss of sensation, inability to feel pain and dizziness. They are strongly linked to past trauma.


 * Somatic hallucinations
 * Somatic hallucination
 * somatic hallucinations
 * somatic,
 * Somatic hallucinations are physical sensations localized within the body.


 * Somatoform Disorder Questionnaire
 * SDQ-20
 * SDQ
 * SDQ-5
 * The Somatoform disorders questionnaire in available in a 20 question or 5 question format and measures somatoform dissociation.


 * Somatic passivity
 * somatic passivity
 * Influences on the body
 * influences on the body
 * influences playing on the body
 * External influences
 * Somatic passivity is also referred to as "influences on the body". These are tactile or visceral hallucinations that are imposed by some external agent (can be combinations of different somatic hallucinations). Common in Schizophrenia in Dissociative Identity Disorder.


 * Somnambulism
 * somnambulism
 * Historically somnambulism was described as a dissociative symptom. Taylor (2000) states that the term "dissociation" was first coined in psychology by William James, who used the term to explain alterations of consciousness, including somnambulism, dissociative fugue and "conditions of double consciousness". Personality was considered a "plurality of states" of which waking consciousness was only one such state, meaning performing actions apparently without conscious awareness of those actions.
 * "Artificial somnambulism" refers to deep hypnosis. (van der Hart and Horst (1989))


 * Split
 * Splitting
 * split
 * splitting

Using the term correctly: Split refers to primary structural dissociation, so it is seen in PTSD only. The term fractured could be used correctly in secondary structural dissociation, so it is seen in other specified dissociative disorder, dissociative forms of borderline personality disorder, and in dissociative posttraumatic stress disorder. The terms split and fracture are incorrect terms if applied to dissociative identity disorder. A corrects term for would include: creation of, multiplication of, infection of, or anything that explains the creation of parts without taking anything from the originating part.


 * Structural Dissociation
 * structural dissociation
 * Structural dissociation
 * Structural dissociation (SD) is one of the three accepted etiological ideas for the etiology of dissociative identity disorder.  It also explains other specified dissociative disorder, dissociative forms of borderline personality disorder, and dissociative posttraumatic stress disorder
 * Structural dissociation of the personality is a theory that describes the effect of trauma on the personality. It applies to PTSD, complex PTSD, other specified dissociative disorder and dissociative identity disorder.


 * Primary structural dissociation
 * Acute stress disorder and Posttraumatic stress disorder are examples. An individual with primary structural dissociation will have one ANP and one very limited EP.


 * Secondary structural dissociation
 * Other specified dissociative disorder, dissociative forms of borderline personality disorder are examples. An individual with secondary structural dissociation will usually have one ANP and more than one fairly elaborate EP.


 * Tertiary structural dissociation
 * This is present in dissociative identity disorder, and is defined as an individual usually having more than one ANP and more than one highly distinct and elaborate EP.


 * Switching
 * refers to identity alteration in dissociative identity disorder and otherwise specified dissociative disorder, it occurs with a person changes from one identity to another.


 * switchy
 * A term used by some with dissociative identity disorder to describe a feeling that a switch to another alter is about to occur, or switching between alters happens frequently.


 * Subsystem
 * subsystem
 * A system, within a system, is seen in otherwise specified dissociative disorder and possibly dissociative identity disorder if the individual were programmed.


 * Subtle DID
 * subtle DID
 * A term used by Dell to mean subtle dissociative identity disorder, but it was found to be a problem term and thus never used.


 * Sybil
 * Sybil is a biography describing the life of a woman with suppose dissociative identity disorder, (which was thought to actually be otherwise specified dissociative disorder) published as a book in 1973 and released as a TV movie in 1976.
 * The diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder began in the last 1800s with Pierre Janet, a French psychiatrist, and William James, a student of philosophy and psychology." "Sybil" included descriptions of the severe abuse and sexual abuse she suffered during her childhood, and the help she received from her psychiatrist, Dr. Wilbur.


 * sympathy
 * feeling for another person


 * System
 * DID system
 * Also known as a dissociative identity disorder system. This term refers to all dissociated states in a personality system in an individual with dissociative identity disorder.

T

 * tactile hallucination
 * tactile hallucinations
 * Tactile hallucinations
 * tactile
 * Tactile refers to the sense of being touched. Tactile hallucinations primarily involve the sense of touch and can occur in mental disorders or by caused by substance use or another medical condition. The sensation of bugs crawling just beneath the skin (formication) is one type of tactile hallucination which is particularly associated with cocaine and amphetamine use.


 * temporal lobe epilepsy
 * Temporal lobe epilepsy
 * Temporal lobe epilepsy is a seizure disorder which can cause personality change. As many as 40% of people with temporal lobe epilepsy also have psychosis; often involving religious delusions and olfactory hallucinations (unusual tastes or smells).
 * Temporal lope epilepsy is a medical condition which can cause symptoms similar to dissociative disorders and schizophrenia. A dissociative disorder cannot be diagnosed if temporal lobe epilepsy is present and may account for the symptoms.


 * Time loss
 * time loss
 * losing time
 * 'losing' time
 * Is a period of time where either no state is present, such as the time it takes to switch or is the time where an ANP takes over for an EP or another ANP. This occurs often in otherwise specified dissociative disorder and dissociative identity disorder.


 * Thought broadcasting
 * thought broadcasting
 * The belief that "a person's thoughts are experienced as real phenomena by others - the thoughts are made audible or heard through telepathy". A Schnieder first-rank symptom often associated with schizophrenia but not associated with DID.


 * Thought insertion
 * thought insertion
 * thoughts ascribed to others
 * The person believes that thoughts that are not his/her own thoughts have been inserted into his/her mind.
 * This is a symptom of schizophrenia, but either thought withdrawal and thought insertion are also very common in people with Dissociative Identity Disorder.


 * Thought withdrawal
 * thought withdrawal
 * Thought Withdrawal
 * The person believes thoughts have been taken away from his/her mind. This is a symptom of schizophrenia, but either thought withdrawal and thought insertion are also very common in people with Dissociative Identity Disorder.


 * Trance
 * trance
 * "periods of absence-like staring and unresponsiveness; well documented in severely dissociative people for over 100 years"


 * Tolerance
 * tolerance
 * In substance and/or drug use tolerance refers to a decreased response to a drug dose that occurs with continued use. Increased doses are needed to produce the same effects. One of the criteria for the dependence syndrome.


 * Tranquillizer
 * Tranquillizers
 * tranquillizer
 * tranquillizers
 * tranquilizer
 * tranquilizers
 * Tranquillizer
 * A class of drugs which are calming agents used to treat mental or behavioral disorders. "Minor tranquillizer" refers to any drug used for the treatment of anxiety disorders. "Major tranquillizers" refers to antipsychotic drugs (neuroleptics). This class of drugs can lead to dependence.


 * Trauma bonding
 * trauma bonding
 * Where an abused child bonds with their abuser due to the misuse of fear and other feelings by the abuser. A similar trauma bond occurs during other close relationships, including domestic violence. Stockholm syndrome as also an example of a trauma bond.


 * Trauma model
 * trauma model
 * trauma-dissociation model
 * Trauma-dissociation model
 * Dissociative identity disorder is caused by early and severe childhood trauma and neglect as supported by the three accepted models recorded in the 2011 ISSTD guidelines.


 * Trauma
 * Psychological trauma
 * psychological trauma
 * trauma
 * The most fundamental effect of trauma is dissociation, so we define trauma as the event(s) that cause dissociation. The original trauma in those with dissociative identity disorder was failure of secure attachment with a primary attachment figure in early childhood.


 * Traumatic brain injury
 * Traumatic Brain Injury
 * TBI
 * mTBI
 * Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is "a traumatically induced structural injury and/or physiological disruption of brain function as a result of an external force".
 * Mild TBI is known as mTBI. (Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense (2009))


 * Trigger
 * trigger
 * triggering
 * triggered
 * A reactivating stimulus in trauma disorders. A stimulus in the present which is a reminder of a part of a traumatic memory, which can cause the part of an individual that hold the trauma (EP) to feel as if it is reliving past trauma experience. Also known as a trauma trigger.

U

 * unification
 * Unification
 * Also known as final fusion. See 'integration'.

V

 * Voices conversing
 * voices conversing
 * Voices arguing
 * voices arguing
 * Two or more voices conversing, they may be arguing. Common in both schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. This is a type of auditory hallucination. In dissociative identity disorder the voices belong to alter identities and this may extend to alters who are contending for physical control, for example involving the person feeling a force or an "other" that ties to control or change the person's actions, or feeling or hearing an angry other that tries to control the person.


 * Voices commenting
 * Vocies Commenting
 * voices commenting
 * Refers to voices commenting (in the form of a running commentary) on the person's behavior or thoughts. Common in both schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. This is a type of auditory hallucination.


 * volatile substance
 * see inhalants.

W

 * withdrawal syndrome
 * Withdrawal
 * withdrawal
 * withdrawal syndrome occurs when intake of a psychoactive substance is reduced or stopped, usually occurs when the substance has been taken repeatedly and for a prolonged period or in high doses. It may be accompanied by signs of physiological disturbance. Withdrawal syndrome is an indication of dependence.