1. Dissociative, Personality, and Mood
Disorders
Chapter 12

2. Dissociative Disorders
• Conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated)
from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings
• Symptoms
– Having a sense of being unreal.
– Being separated from the body.
– Watching yourself as if in a movie.

3. Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
– A disorder in which a person exhibits two or more
distinct and alternating personalities, formerly called
multiple personality disorder.

4. Facts about DID
• Rare disorder
• Someone may lose their memory or change
their identity in response to a stressful situation
• Rarely exists outside the US (makes many think
that this is a cultural issue)
• Most people with DID have suffered some form
of abuse

5. Personality disorders
• Personality disorders- characterized by
inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that
impair social functioning
– Antisocial personality disorder (psychopath)
• Typically male, shows no conscience for his actions
• Feel and fear little
• Dennis Radar (BTK killer)

6. Dennis Radar- BTK Killer

7. Antisocial Personality Disorder
• PET scans of 41 murderers revealed reduced
activity in the frontal lobes. In a follow-up study,
repeat offenders had 11% less frontal lobe activity

8. Mood disorders
• Mood Disorders- disorders characterized by
emotional extremes
– Major depressive disorder
– Mania
– Bipolar disorder

9. Depression
• Major Depressive Disorder- a person experiences two or more
weeks of significantly depressed moods, feelings or
worthlessness, and diminished interest
– #1 reason people seek mental health services
– Women are more than X2 as likely to experience
depression than men

10. Bipolar Disorder
• Formerly called manic-depressive disorder. An
alternation between depression and mania
signals bipolar disorder.
Depressive Symptoms Manic Symptoms
Gloomy
Withdrawn
Tired
Inability to make decisions
Slowness of thought
Elation
Euphoria
Desire for action
Hyperactive
Multiple ideas

11. Mood disorders
• Mania- over-talkative, over-active
– Little need for sleep
– Fewer sexual inhibitions
– May need protection from their own poor
judgment
– May find advice irritating