The validity of dissociative disorders remains unclear. Published literature on dissociation suffers from lack of adequate control populations, selection of self reported cases leading to selection bias and unwarranted conclusions. A recent increase in the prevalence of these disorders is probably due to increased publicity and enthusiastic therapists eager to give these diagnoses. A disruption in the usually integrated functions of memory, identity or perception of the environment. The subsequent pathophysiology is similar regardless of etiology.
All dissociation has a neurologic basis.
Limbic and paralimbic areas in the brain play an important role in integrating and balancing experience, thought, behavior, and affect. Disruption of these relationships results in dissociation. Dissociation is due to lowering of the firing threshold of limbic neuronal circuits. DID does not have established validity. Patients diagnosed as DID often have other disorders, such as temporal lobe epilepsy, histrionic personality, and substance abuse.