According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, dissociative symptoms may occur in Acute Stress Disorder that is diagnosed when a person suffered an overwhelming psychological shock. Dissociation may occur during and after the shock. The mind of the person experiencing the shock protects itself from the overwhelm by fragmenting the experience, resulting in splitting off parts of the experience in memory.
Depersonalization
Depersonalization is a form of dissociation that causes a person to feel as if he is not real. Often he can experience the event as if he watching a movie of what is happening to him from some other perspective, such as from above.
Derealization
In derealization, the person experiences everything happening around her as unreal. Some describe this state as similar to watching a slow-motion movie, or having everything seem "surreal."
Dissociative Amnesia
Often a person suffering a shock does not remember the event, or has only little flashes of memory for some parts of the event. This amnesia is another from of dissociation, in which the mind splits off the troubling memory. It may return in fragments, or all at once, or never. If the memory returns, it is likely to produce very strong emotions in the patient.
Dissociative Experiencing
At any time, the person may feel numb, emotionally and physically. She may feel detached from things around her, and fail to respond emotionally as she ordinarily would. She may feel as if she is in a daze. In these dissociative states, she is aware of all that is occurring, but she just does not feel anything related to the experience.
Further Dissociations
Much milder dissociative symptoms may be present. They manifest as the person lacking concentration, losing time and then finding himself in a different place, brief lapses of memory or experiencing mental fog.
References
- "The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th ed., Text Revision(DSM-IV)"; American Psychiatric Association, 2000
- "Trauma and Recovery"; Judith Herman, M.D; 1992
