Possession experiences in dissociative identity disorder: a preliminary study

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychology
• Dissociative Disorders

Background:

• Dissociative trance disorder, including possession experiences, was a provisional diagnosis in the DSM-IV.
• The DSM-5 is considering including possession experiences within dissociative identity disorder (DID).
• Empirical data are needed to understand the relationship between DID and possession states.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of trance, possession states, sleepwalking, and paranormal experiences in patients with DID.
• To compare these experiences in DID patients with psychiatric outpatients and a general population sample.
• To provide data relevant to the potential inclusion of possession experiences in DID diagnostic criteria.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from three large samples: North American DID patients, Shanghai psychiatric outpatients, and a Winnipeg general population sample.
• Prevalence rates of trance, possession states, sleepwalking, and paranormal experiences were examined.
• The study was exploratory, and samples were not matched.

Main Results:

• Trance, possession states, sleepwalking, and paranormal experiences were significantly more prevalent in the DID patient sample.
• Comparison revealed higher frequencies of these experiences in DID patients versus the psychiatric and general population samples.
• The findings indicate a strong association between DID and the studied phenomena.

Conclusions:

• Possession experiences and related phenomena are substantially more common in individuals diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder.
• These findings support further investigation into the relationship between dissociative disorders and trance/possession states.
• The results have implications for the diagnostic classification of dissociative disorders, particularly concerning the DSM-5.