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Updated: Jul 15, 2025

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder
Published on: March 8, 2018
Dissociative episodes characterised by hair-pulling in a late adolescent woman
Danielle Nicole Healey1, Jessica J Lee2, Elizabeth Getzoff Testa3
1The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA dhealey30@gwu.edu.
Abstract:
A woman in late adolescence with a history of sickle cell disease, moyamoya disease, cerebrovascular accident, mild intellectual disability, post-traumatic stress disorder, functional seizures, generalised anxiety disorder and transient psychosis was referred for a psychiatry consultation. She presented with worsening episodes of dissociation characterised by compulsory hair-pulling. Limited research exists regarding patients engaging in activities of automated behaviour during episodes of dissociation. Thus, we aim to describe a case of a patient with episodes of hair-pulling during dissociative events to discuss the aetiology and treatment. We are describing the aetiology and treatment of a patient with episodes of hair-pulling during dissociative events.
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