Specificity of Dissociative Disorders in Survivors of Torture and Extreme Trauma: Identification of Some Specific ‘‘Clusters’’ in the Dissociative Experience Scale

In recent years several studies have shown the high incidence of dissociative symptoms in subjects who experienced extreme trauma, such as torture or prolonged physical or psychological abuse. These processes are now considered as a specific and central consequence of repeated interpersonal trauma. Thus, new nosographic categories have been formulated to overcome the concept of PTSD (Complex PTSD, Extreme Stress Disorder). The clinical research we carried on in our Centre explored the psychopathological consequences of extreme trauma. Dissociative experiences were evaluated in a clinical population of 80 asylum seekers who had survived extreme trauma within the 12 months prior to the study. Every patient completed an assessment based on a specifically oriented semi-structured interview and a psychometric evaluation, including the Dissociative Experiences Scale. Previous studies suggested the possibility to identify a specific pattern of dissociative experiences in victims of extreme trauma. The statistic elaboration of our cluster analysis of the DES, compared to a matched control population of asylum seekers with no previous experience of extreme trauma, highlights specific dissociative phenomena in the clinical group. If these results will be confirmed in future more extended studies, they could lead towards a specific scale for post-traumatic dissociative experiences.