dissociate

(verb)

To experience a wide array of conditions from mild detachment from immediate surroundings to more severe detachment from physical and emotional experience.

Related Terms

Examples of dissociate in the following topics:

  • Dissociation

    • The major characteristic of all dissociative phenomena involves a detachment from reality.
    • Although some dissociative experiences involve memory loss, others do not.
    • At the pathological end of the dissociation spectrum are the dissociative disorders.
    • Psychoactive drugs can often induce a state of temporary dissociation.
    • Pathological dissociation involves the dissociative disorders, including dissociative fugue and depersonalization disorder.

  • Dissociative Disorders

    • More pathological dissociation involves dissociative disorders.
    • These are both examples of dissociation.
    • Dissociation of this sort is fairly normal from time to time; however, there are five types of dissociative disorders which are considered psychopathological: dissociative identity disorder, disociative amnesia, depersonalization/derealization disorder, other specified dissociative disorder, and unspecified dissociative disorder.
    • Dissociative fugue, while it used to be its own diagnosis in the previous DSM-IV-TR, is now subsumed under dissociative amnesia as a specifier (i.e., dissociative amnesia with or without dissociative fugue).
    • The old category of dissociative disorder not otherwise specified is now split into two according to the DSM-5 (2013): other specified dissociative disorder and unspecified dissociative disorder.

  • Hallucinogens

    • Hallucinogens affect the levels of serotonin or glutamate in the brain and are divided into psychedelics, dissociatives, and deleriants.
    • Most dissociative drugs simulate a dream-like experience.
    • Primary dissociatives are NMDA antagonists, which block glutamate from entering its receptors and regulating brain function.
    • When used in excess of specified maximum dosages, dextromethorphan acts as a dissociative.
    • It can produce effects similar to the dissociative states created by other dissociative anaesthetics such as ketamine and phencyclidine.

  • Hypnosis

    • Dissociation theory states that hypnosis causes a person to actively or voluntarily split their consciousness.
    • Generally speaking, the more suggestible a person is, the more he or she can dissociate and become absorbed in the task at hand.
    • Dissociation is when a person's behavioral control is separated from his or her awareness.
    • The individual in a dissociated state is likely to respond with autonomic, reflexive behaviors.

  • Repressed Memories

    • Psychogenic amnesia, or dissociative amnesia, is a memory disorder characterized by sudden autobiographical memory loss, said to occur for a period of time ranging from hours to years. 
    • More recently, dissociative amnesia has been defined as a dissociative disorder characterized by gaps in memory of personal information, especially of traumatic events.
    • In a change from the DSM-IV to the DSM-5, dissociative fugue is now classified as a type of dissociative amnesia.

  • Depressants

    • Effects often include ataxia, anxiolysis, pain relief, sedation or somnolence, and cognitive/memory impairment; in some instances, effects include euphoria, dissociation, muscle relaxation, lowered blood pressure or heart rate, respiratory depression, anticonvulsant effects, and even complete anesthesia or death.
    • Amnesic-dissociative actions are also seen in the applied pharmacology of high doses of many shorter-acting benzodiazepines.

  • Coping with Stress

    • Maladaptive strategies include dissociation, sensitization, numbing out, anxious avoidance of a problem, and escape.

  • Cluster B: Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic, and Narcissistic Personality Disorders