Literature Review Of The Out Of Body Experience

An out-of-body experience is explained by few as a sense of being detached from one’s body, and if associated with other factors like a sense that the world is not real, far away, or even foggy. This with the combination of failure to recall significant personal information, or the content of a meaningful conversation forgotten from one second to the next are signs of a psychological disorder known as Dissociative Disorder. Considered as a rare and mysterious psychiatric curiosity, Dissociative Disorders will be the psychological disorder that will be discussed in this paper.

Even though our bodies are in one place, our minds may be in another. In Martha Stout’s essay “When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday,” the author introduces us to the idea of dissociation. Dissociation is when one’s mind is away from the body and he or she does not know what is going on in the physical world. Those that have traumatic histories may experience this. But because of dissociation, victims may not know if they had a traumatic past because a memory of it never really formed. Stout also finds that individuals may use dissociation as a way to protect themselves from trauma. Sometimes the slightest and smallest piece of a traumatic memory may bring into play the dissociation. When these individuals experience dissociation

At the end of the experiment, the author found that Dissociative experiences are possible during childbirth in particular symptoms. These symptoms include sensation of a change in the pace of time, not being aware of certain things that happened, and disorientation. Traumatic childbirth also impacted perinatal dissociation. Traumatic childbirth occurred when women feared for their lives and their baby’s lives, received news about some terrible obstetrical intervention or medical

American Psychiatric Association (APA). 1994. Somatoform Dissociative Disorder, Dissociative Amnesia. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth Ed. Retrieved from http://behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/disamnesia.htm

In chapter 15 of Exploring Psychology, the author discuss the basics of psychological disorders. Within this assignment, the psychological disorder of my choosing is Dissociative Identity Disorder. The commonality of the disorder is rare. Although we’ve disassociated ourselves in some form or the other with our ability to daydream, Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is more severe and is usually linked to trauma. Formerly the disorder was known as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). Individuals who suffer from this disorder usually have more than one aspect of themselves or personalities, whom he or she is completely unaware of. Sufferers of the disorder have to deal with a variety of symptoms such as memory loss, depression, anxiety, hallucinations, black-outs, impulsiveness, and perception of being detached from the self. The severity of the trauma is usually extreme, repetitive, and long-term. The individual may have an extensive history of physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse.

Re-experiencing an event occurs in different ways. First, a person may have disturbing recollections of the traumatic event consciously while awake or unconsciously in a dream state. Other events may occur to trigger symptoms and the affected person may dissociate while reliving the traumatic moment or moments. The layman’s term, “flashback”, defines the common re-experiencing event where a person feels as though he or she is reliving the trauma (Kulkarni et al., 2011; Norman, 2000; Owens, Baker, Kasckow, Ciesla & Mohamed, 2005).

Dissociative disorder is a disorder in which individuals feel detached from themselves or their surroundings and reality, experience and identity may disintegrate. Dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, is characterized as a disorder in which up to 100 personalities or fragments of personalities coexist within one body and mind (Barlow). The client was diagnosed and given an assessment with the goal of determining the factors. In many cases, only a few characteristics are distinct, because the identities are only partially independent. DSM-5 criteria for DID include amnesia, as in dissociative amnesia. Dissociative amnesia occurs when a person blocks out certain information, usually associated with a stressful or traumatic event, leaving him or her unable to remember important personal information. With this disorder, the degree of memory loss goes beyond normal forgetfulness and includes gaps in memory for long periods of time or of memories involving the traumatic event. In DID, however, identity has also fragmented. How many personalities live inside one body is relatively unimportant, whether there are 3, 4, or even 100 of them. Through a process of discovery, the client's history finally revealed that the impotence was actually a result of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) caused by a past experience. People with PTSD fear re-experiencing a traumatic event and sometimes are unable to remember certain aspects (Barlow 138). However, through psychoanalytic therapy, this client illustrates a successful

Abdulraouf Abdulraouf Professor Matthew Mangold Expository Writing 1 October, 2014 Inducing Depression People often attempt to escape past trauma using two different, yet somehow similar means of escape: dissociation and splitting. Troubled people dissociate to forget their dark past or dull present, and live inside their souls in isolation according to psychologist Martha Stout, in her essay, “When I woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday”.

Derealization: Experiences of unreality or detachment with respect to surroundings. (e.g., individuals or objects are experienced as unreal, dreamlike,

Researchers sought to understand if there was a neurobiological explanation for the sensations of disembodiment that DPD patients experience. Interoception- cognitive processing of body signals- has extensively been considered to result in one's self-awareness. This experiment desired to determine if there were apparent differences between a DPD patient's interoception and a control groups' that might explain the feelings of detachment.

First the physiological response is when the mind becomes absorbed in and focused on a dominant idea and the nervous system is cut off from physical sensory input. The body exhibits reflex inertia, involuntary nervous responses, and frenzy. Emotional perception, another form of ecstasy, refers to overwhelming feelings of awe, anxiety, joy, sadness, fear, astonishment, passion, or any combination of intense emotion. Finally, intuitive perception occurs when there is an understanding of the transpersonal experience and expanded states of awareness or consciousness are possible. While the physiological response is always present, the emotional response and intuitive perception may not be within reach for all those who venture into ecstatic trance. Opposed to general hypnosis, practicing shamanic techniques uses self-hypnotic states to fine-tune senses and observe the inner-workings of ones mind semi-consciously. Research findings suggest that the contents of shamanic trance are not solely influenced by psychopathology, biochemical effects, or cultural influences; there is a spiritual variable that must be accounted for.

Floating outside of their bodies and watching themselves from the outside" (Kushins). Out-of-body experiences happen near the body; the spirit is watching the body. Finally, Lester’s out of body experience is similar to Mia’s out of body experience in that it also gives the

In the DSM-IV-TR, the criteria for Dissociative Identity Disorder includes the following: “A. Two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self) are present. B. At least two of these identities or personality states recurrently take control of the person’s behavior. C. Inability to recall important personal information is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. D. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., blackouts or chaotic behavior during Alcohol Intoxication) or a general medical condition (e.g. complex partial seizures). Note: In children, the symptoms are not attributable to imaginary playmates or other fantasy play” (Lyons & Martin, 2011, p. 250). The individual may switch to another personality when experiencing stress. The switch can occur within a very brief amount of time. Some other symptoms may include conversion symptoms and headaches (Lyons & Martin, p. 249). It seems that when the main individual, or host, is transitioning into another personality, he/she is unaware of the change. The individual would then have difficulty remembering what he/she has done while behaving as any of the other personalities. This explains why people with DID experience black-outs or bouts of lost time. Part of the

Despite the fact that cognitive neuropsychology can be less scientific in areas, it also deals with dissociation and double dissociation. The existence of this can help to suggest the specific parts of the brain that are impaired, thus supporting the understanding of

A couple quotes from people who said they felt nothing; “Overdosed on heroine, EMT’s said my heart stopped. Didn’t see anything, just like sleeping with no dreams.” and “Pure,perfect, uninterrupted sleep,no dreams.”. A quote from someone who felt like they could see what was happening while dead; , “I do remember a little bit of the ambulance ride, but not from my own body. It was seriously the strangest thing I have ever experienced. It could have been a dream, but I saw my own unconscious body completely flatlined in the ambulance. I remember the EMT who was in the ambulance with me (whom I did not see before I passed out)”. And here is a quote from someone who had an interaction; "I was standing somewhere. There was a fog all around me, and I saw my best friend (who at the time I'd been fighting with and he'd stopped talking to me) come out of the mist. He told me that I couldn't go yet, that I have to keep trying, and if I promised not to give up, he'd see me back on Earth. I wordlessly agreed, and I was instantly pushed (into?) my body.".