Overview
Victim-survivors of emotional, physical, sexual abuse, attachment trauma and neglect, present with an array of complex symptoms and behaviours, including substance abuse, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, c-PTSD, dissociative disorders, self-harm and suicidality. A client’s presentation and symptoms can shift markedly in the course of a session.
The DSM-5 defines dissociation as ‘disruption, interruption, and/or discontinuity of the normal, subjective integration of behaviour, memory, identity, consciousness, emotion, perception, body representation, and motor control’. Dissociative disorders (DD) in DSM-5 include, dissociative amnesia, depersonalization / derealization and dissociative identity disorder. Dissociation is also a symptom experienced in post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and borderline personality disorder.
Dissociation is a defense mechanism enabling a person to cope with overwhelming or traumatic experiences. It is one of the most common mental health diagnoses with one in ten people meeting the criteria for a dissociative disorder during their lifetime. It is also one of the most misunderstood and overlooked mental health presentations.
In this webinar, Dr Mary-Anne Kate and Dr Colin Ross, experts in assessment and diagnosis for DD’s will present two dissociation screening tools.
Dr Mary-Anne Kate is the creator of the Multidimensional Inventory of Dissociation – 60 item version (MID-60). She will provide an overview of dissociation and introduce the MID-60, including insights about dissociative disorder-specific subscales and related symptoms. Mary-Anne will guide participants through a series of case studies, including dissociative identity disorder (DID), the dissociative subtype of PTSD, as well as examining how dissociation commonly manifests in clients with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD, and mental health presentations such as anxiety. She will provide advice on distinguishing DID from false-positive DID, ego states, other specified dissociative disorder type 1 (OSDD-1), and false-negative dissociative disorders, and discuss fluctuations in subjective awareness of dissociation and symptoms and experiences.
Dr Colin Ross is the creator of the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule DSM-5 Version (DDIS). The DDIS is a structured interview that diagnoses the DSM-5 dissociative disorders plus somatic symptom disorder, major depressive disorder, and borderline personality disorder. In addition, it inquires about childhood physical and sexual abuse, substance abuse, psychotic symptoms, ESP/paranormal experiences and past psychiatric history. The DDIS has been shown to be valid and reliable and is included in the American Psychiatric Association’s Handbook of Psychiatric Measures. The DDIS takes 30-40 minutes to administer and can be used in any setting. It is usually administered along with the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). Attendees will be shown examples of data from DDIS research studies and will be taught how to administer the DDIS; they will be provided with copies of the DES, the DDIS and its scoring rules. This includes a consent form for the DDIS. The DES and DDIS are public domain documents and can be used without permission.