Psychobiological Characteristics of Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Symptom Provocation Study

The enemy in the mirror: self-perception-induced stress results in dissociation of psychological and physiological responses in patients with dissociative disorder

“…Research on Borderline Personality Disorder patients demonstrated autonomic blunting associated with state dissociation (Ebner-Priemer et al, 2005; Schmahl et al, 2002) and is thus in line with our observations. Our psychophysiological data are furthermore in agreement with the blunted psychophysiological reactions of DID patients in their ‘neutral identity state’ when exposed to a trauma script (Reinders et al, 2006). Although none of our study participants completely fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for DID, they exhibited amnesia or identity alteration in terms of a DDNOS Type 1, but not both of these symptoms, as is required for a DID diagnosis.…”

“…‘Traumatic identity states’ showed a higher heart rate and tendencies towards a lower heart rate variability during the trauma script paradigm than the ‘neutral identity states’. Those differences could not be observed during a neutral script (Reinders et al, 2006). …”

“…This concept is based on innate action systems like those described by Panksepp (1998) and on differences between ‘Apparently Normal Part(s) of the Personality’ (responsible for coping with the demands of everyday life) and ‘Emotional Part(s) of the Personality’ (fixated in traumatic memories, which assure survival in situations of severe threat) (Van der Hart, Nijenhuis, & Steele, 2006). In DID research, Reinders et al (2006) call ‘Apparently Normal Part(s)’ ‘neutral identity states’ and ‘Emotional Parts’ ‘traumatic identity states’.…”

“…Sack, Cillien, and Hopper (2012) found an association between acute dissociative stress reactions and an inhibition in psychophysiological arousal (heart rate, parasympathetic cardiac activity reflected by the Root Mean Square of Successive Differences RMSSD) during script-driven trauma imagery in a population of traumatized subjects, partly suffering from PTSD and/or DD. In patients affected by Dissociative Identity Disorder, Reinders et al (2006) described differences in psychophysiological reactivity (e.g. heart rate, heart rate variability) to a trauma script between ‘neutral identity states’ and ‘traumatic identity states’.…”

Autonomy and Enactivism: Towards a Theory of Sensorimotor Autonomous Agency

“…Cases of double personality within the same body (Reinders et al 2003(Reinders et al , 2006 are one example of the latter. At the level of norms it is arguable that cognitive failure does not necessarily imply biological failure in any sense that is directly relevant for autopoiesis.…”