The Utilisation of Dissociative Mechanisms - Comparative Study in a Clinical and Non-clinical Population

Dissociative experiences are common in both clinical and general populations. In this study, we had the aim to explore the presence of any differences in the utilization of dissociative mechanisms between two types of populations, namely clinical and non-clinical and also to see if within each group there are differences in the use of these mechanisms. The research group consisted of 216 participants, of which 176 (81.5%) were non-clinical participants and 40 (18.5%) participants with a clinical diagnosis. We used two questionnaires, namely the Detachment and Compartmentalization Inventory and the Dissociative Experiences Scale and a demographic data collection tool. Our results showed that clinical participants scored significantly higher than non-clinical participants on detachment, absorption and compartmentalization. The data also showed that there are significant differences between the use of detachment, compartmentalization and absorption, separately for clinical and non-clinical participants. Detachment, absorption and compartmentalization are dissociative mechanisms used by the clinical as well as the non-clinical population, with no differences between groups in terms of gender. Age appears to influence the use of these mechanisms in the non-clinical population in that they are used less with advancing age. Absorption tends to be used less by married than unmarried people in the non-clinical population. The results of our study converge towards the theory which support the idea of "healthy dissociation".