Dissociation is a mental process attributable to the mechanisms of psychological defense . As a result of the work of this mechanism, a person begins to perceive what is happening to him as if it was happening not with him, but with someone else. Such a "dissociated" position protects against excessive, intolerable emotions .
The term “dissociation” was proposed at the end of the 19th century by the French psychologist and physician P. Janet , who noted that a set of ideas can be detached from the main personality and exist independently and without consciousness (but can be returned to consciousness using hypnosis ).
Content
Description
Dissociation is a fairly common, though not used by most people under ordinary conditions protection. People who have experienced the work of this mechanism, usually describe the dissociated state with phrases like: "as if this was not happening to me." In some cases, a person can so dissociate from himself that he begins to see himself from the side, up to the feeling of leaving the body.
How an Adaptive Process
Dissociation is normal - a reaction to psychological trauma , to a strong negative experience in conditions requiring emotional composure and control over one’s own actions. Turning to the perception of the events of his life as if from the outside, a person gets the opportunity to soberly evaluate them and react with cold calculation [1] .
As a defense mechanism
Although the adaptive function of dissociation itself is protective, this mechanism can be used by some people to protect not only from really complex and dangerous situations that require an immediate sober assessment, but also from simply emotionally unbearable events. People with increased sensitivity to negative emotions can dissociate in situations most common to other people that require them to be emotionally involved. Such people find it difficult to establish emotional contact, seem extremely cold and cold-blooded. Providing the ability to “soberly” assess any situation, dissociation often blocks the ability to adequately assess its emotional component. Particularly inclined to dissociate are people who have repeatedly suffered (especially in childhood) a serious psychological trauma : subjected to violence , survivors of a catastrophe, etc. [1]
Mental Disorders
Nancy Mac-Williams describes dissociation as the central defense of people with multiple personality disorder . [1] In general, this defense underlies all dissociative disorders .
See also
- Dissociative disorders
- Dissociative Identity Disorder
- Dissociative substances
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 chapter “Dissociation” // Mc-Williams N. “Psychoanalytic diagnosis”
Literature
- Mc Williams N. Psychoanalytic diagnosis: Understanding personality structure in the clinical process. - M .: Class, 1998 .-- 480 p. - ISBN 5-86375-098-7 .