History of the Concept of Dissociation
Onno van der Hart, Martin J. Dorahy
Abstract
Over the past two centuries dissociative phenomena have been known by different labels. There was in the late 1800s, especially in France, heightened interest in these phenomena, and they were mostly regarded as manifestations of hysteria. During the last 40 years there has been another increase in clinical and research interest in dissociative phenomena. In these more recent times, the diagnostic category of dissociative identity disorder has been the focus of special attention. This chapter provides a detailed history of the concept of dissociation, especially as it relates to traumatic experiences. What is striking in this history is that the concept as well as its many synonyms pertained to a division of the personality or the existence of multiple selves, indicated by various labels, with each having their own first person perspectives. Yet, the last few decades have seen dissociation characterized by a proliferation of other meanings. In this historical overview, then, two conceptual issues stand out: (1) dissociation as a division of the personality or multiplication of unintegrated personalities or existences, or more broadly alterations in consciousness, and (2) dissociation as both pathological and non-pathological. One conclusion is that the dissociation field is urgently in need of conceptual house-cleaning.