Abstract Does this patient suffer from dissociative amnesia or are memory problems caused by episodes of absorption, stress or another problem? Are these voices psychotic or dissociative? How to evaluate the identity problems? Are they caused by the existence of dissociative parts of the personality or can they be explained as symptom of a personality disorder or another psychiatric condition? How to distinguish dissociative parts of the personality from borderline modes or ego- states? Is there a difference? This is such a dramatic presentation of DID, is this genuine or false-positive? How to distinguish that?
These are just a few of the many challenges a clinician faces when assessing patients with DD’s, particularly DID. They are under -and over diagnosed. Introducing the Trauma and Dissociation Symptoms Interview (TADS-I) symptom profiles for patients with and without DD’s will be discussed based on data of a pilot study with TADS-I. Special attention will be given to cases of patients who are confused or think they have DID but do not. TADS-I differs from other semi-structured interviews in several ways: the interview aims at making a distinction between symptoms indicating a division of the personality and symptoms that may involve other alterations of consciousness such as absorption and depersonalization. Also, it includes a section on other trauma-related symptoms that can be helpful to: (a) develop a more complete clinical picture of possible comorbidity, including symptoms of PTSD and complex PTSD; (b) achieve greater insight into the (possible) dissociative organization of the personality; and (c) differentiate complex dissociative disorders from personality disorders and other disorders, such as a (complex) posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), mood disorder or psychotic disorders. Clinical examples and video clips will be used.
Learning Objectives:
At the conclusion of this session participants will be able to:
Explain the difference between symptoms indicating a division of the personality and symptoms that may involve other alterations of consciousness but are not per se dissociative
Discuss how TADS-I trauma-related questions may be helpful in differentiating dissociative disorders from other psychiatric disorders
Explain TADS-I symptom profiles of patients with a dissociative and patients with other psychiatric ( non dissociative) disorders
Distinguish between borderline modes, ego states and dissociative parts of the personality (also called dissociative selfstates or alter personalities )
Compare and distinguish between genuine and false-positive DID cases
