Dissociation’s Other, Less Common, But More Dramatic, Forms

Isolation of affect is very common. Other forms of dissociation, while much more dramatic, are correspondingly less common. They are usually precipitated by an intensely traumatic event, leading to a disruption in the normally integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, and perception. These dissociative disorders, as they are called in modern classifications of mental disorders, may involve overlapping phenomena such as amnesia, possession trance, and stupor.