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Dissociative Disorders

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Comprehensive Handbook of Psychopathology

Abstract

Numerous case studies of dissociative reactions in the medical literature of the past century provide us with rich clinical descriptions of this intriguing realm of psychopathology. Comparatively few of these studies, however, go beyond descriptions of individual cases to more objective analyses of the phenomena observed. Because analogues for a wide variety of clinical phenomena are to be found in experimental psychology, it may be worthwhile to consider whether basic psychological principles can tell us anything about dissociative reactions. Following a review of the clinical literature in this area, we will turn to a consideration of some well-documented findings of experimental psychology to see if any of these might shed some light on the dissociative reactions met with in clinical practice.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 90007, USA

    Patricia J. Aalpoel & Donald J. Lewis

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  1. Patricia J. Aalpoel
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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA

    Henry E. Adams Ph.D.

  2. Psychology Service, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

    Patricia B. Sutker Ph.D.

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Aalpoel, P.J., Lewis, D.J. (1984). Dissociative Disorders. In: Adams, H.E., Sutker, P.B. (eds) Comprehensive Handbook of Psychopathology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6681-6_9

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