Dissociative disorders (DD) are conditions that involve disruptions or breakdowns of memory, awareness, identity, or perception. People with dissociative disorders use dissociation as a defense mechanism, pathologically and involuntarily.
A psychologist says, "This person's problem is that a part of her consciousness—her memory—has split off from the rest of her consciousness, even though there is no evidence of brain damage." The psychologist is describing a person with a <u>dissociative disorder</u>. Dissociative disorder is a mental disorder that results in one's loss of identity and perception causing the individual to dissociate from reality. Dissociative disorder is often caused by prolonged exposure to emotional trauma such as sexual and physical abuse. There are three major types of dissociative disorder, they are; dissociative identity disorder, dissociative amnesia and depersonalization disorder.
