Trauma-related altered states of consciousness in post-traumatic stress disorder patients with or without comorbid dissociative disorders
European Journal of Psychotraumatology January 1, 2018 Harald Bækkelund, P. Frewen, R. Lanius et al.
The four-dimensional (4-D) model proposes that trauma-related dissociation involves altered states of consciousness (TRASC) and normal waking consciousness (NWC) across time, thought, body, and emotion. In 142 patients with PTSD, 46 of whom also had a dissociative disorder, TRASC experiences were less frequent and more specifically linked to other dissociation measures, dissociative disorder comorbidity, and childhood sexual abuse than NWC experiences. However, the prediction that TRASC items would show lower intercorrelation was not supported. The model offers a promising way to understand dissociation in trauma-related disorders.