29 June 2010

Detachment and Compartmentalization

I find that the write out in the book "The Psychophysiology of Self-Awareness" by Alan Fogel is useful and would like to share it here from the extract of his book.

He has defined pathological dissociation, by following the lead of Homlmes et. al. (2005) in two basic forms: detachment and compartmentalization.

Detachment is "characterized by a sense of separation (or 'detachment') fom certain aspects of everyday experience, be it as their body (as in out-of-body experiences), their sense of self (as in depersonalization), or the external world seen in the form of entering a trancelike state in which the person seems to be frozen and immbolized, falling asleep, or creating a "pretend persona (happy, rich, playful, sexy) which is different from the more troubled "real" person.

Out-of-body experience (OBE) is a type of detachment, as the perception of self but from a distant location; the preceiver is often experienced as floating above their detached body and sees their body as if it was that of another person (Blanke et. al., 2005). Depersonalization syndrome is a feeling of iving outside one's body and outside the world. There is a feeling of separation from the self and a sense of emptiness (Fuchs, 2005).

Compartmentalization, the other form of dissociation besides detachment, "incorporates dissociative amnesia and the 'unexplained' neurological symptoms characteristics of the conversion disorder, such as conversion paralysis, sensory loss, seizures, gait disturbance, and pseudo-hallucinations" (Holmes et. al., 2005, p. 7)

Somatization occurs when people become absorbed in, dwell on, and amplify their inner experiences to the point of exaggerating their importance. They may interpret otherwise benign sensations in the chest as a heart condition and seek medical attention. They have a tendency toward hypochondriasis. (unnecessary use or overuse of medication and medical testing) and they exhibit sympotomatic conditions like chest pain without known medical explanation.
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