Dissociative Disorders and Gender

Dissociative disorders (DDs) reflect a complex set of psychiatric presentations associated with a predominance of severe dissociative symptoms, such as depersonalization, amnesia, identity confusion, and identity alterations. These symptoms are typically produced by the structured separation of psychobiological systems that support perception, awareness, memory encoding and retrieval, sense of identity, and motor control.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), there are three major types of DDs: (1) dissociative identity disorder (DID), (2) dissociative amnesia (DA), and (3) depersonalization/derealization disorder (DDD). DA is typically characterized by the inability to remember personal information—sans cognitive or neurological issues and above and beyond forgetfulness. Individuals with DID possess or exhibit more than one identity or personality. Individuals with DDD feel detached from their ...