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Spontaneous and Deliberate Dissociative States in Military Personnel: Are Such States Helpful?
Author(s) -
Morgan Charles A.,
Taylor Marcus K.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.21834
Subject(s) - dissociative , dissociative disorders , psychology , dissociation (chemistry) , coping (psychology) , dissociative experiences scale , stressor , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , cognition , chemistry , schizotypy
This study explored distinctions between spontaneous and deliberate dissociative states in 335 military personnel exposed to stressful survival training. Participants completed the Clinician‐Administered Dissociative States Scale (CADSS) after a stressful mock‐captivity event. They were also asked to indicate whether the dissociative experiences just happened (i.e., spontaneous), or whether they chose to have them happen (i.e., deliberate); and whether they appraised the dissociative experience as helpful (i.e., facilitative) or hurtful (i.e., debilitative) to their ability to cope with the stressful event. A majority (95.4%) endorsed dissociative states during stress. More than half (57.4%) described dissociative experiences as spontaneous, 13.0% as deliberate, and 29.5% endorsed neither. In Special Forces soldiers only, those who endorsed facilitative dissociation exhibited higher total CADSS scores than those who endorsed debilitative dissociation. Seventy‐three percent of spontaneous dissociators described the experience as debilitative to coping with stress; conversely, 76% of deliberate dissociators said these experiences facilitated coping with stress. Individuals with prior trauma exposure tended to appraise dissociative states as more debilitative to coping. This research may enhance the fidelity of studies of dissociation constructs and may offer pivot points for prevention and treatment of stress‐related disorders.