Dissociative Disorder in Children and Adolescents

Conceptually, the term dissociation means alteration of subjective experiences in perceptual, affective, memory, and identity functions in response to stress. The presentations of dissociative disorders may include distorted sensory perceptions, altered time perception, amnesia, conversion symptoms, derealization, depersonalization, fugue states, and multiple personality disorder, in isolation or in combination. Dissociation has also shown to serve major defensive roles; has psychoanalytic and neurobiological underpinnings. It has been shown that dissociation has a developmental basis beginning right from infancy (as seen in relation to attachment theory). Until recently there has been little research in this area. In this chapter we shall focus on how the concept of dissociation has evolved, addressing the defensive functions of dissociation, neurobiological characteristics particularly the developmental basis of dissociation.