The Relationship Between Alexithymia and Dissociation in an Adolescent Sample

Putnam (1) describes dissociation as a complex psychopathological process that occurs on a continuum ranging from minor normative dissociations to psychiatric conditions. The descriptive DSM approach identifies the essential feature of the dissociative disorders as ‘disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment’ (2). Adolescence has been proposed as a transition period for many basic psychological processes including dissociation (3). Dissociative-like experiences of identity confusion and dividedness, periods of depersonalization and absorbtion in one’s imagination appear to be intrinsic to healthy adolescence. On the other hand chronic dissociative compartmentalization of affect, behavior and memory is likely to interfere with the adolescent’s ability to construct a cohesive sense of self and to integrate intensified sexual, aggressive and relational needs (3). Traumagenic models of the development of dissociative tendencies assign a pivotal etiological role to severe childhood trauma. In clinical samples the incidence of dissociative symptoms is found to correlate positively with self-reported childhood history of repeated instances of incest, sexual abuse more generally, physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect (4). However there has been little cross-cultural exploration of these findings. Many children and adolescents without a history of abuse can get locked into dissociative defenses in an effort to cope with overwhelming stresses, expectations, losses and fears in their lives (5). Recently alexithymia has been investigated as a possible predictor of dissociative tendencies (6-10). Alexithymia is characterized by The Relationship Between Alexithymia and Dissociation