Dissociative Disorders in a Psychiatric Institute in India - A Selected Review and Patterns Over a Decade

Santosh K. Chaturvedi, Geetha Desai and Deepika Shaligram
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Santosh K. Chaturvedi: Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, NIMHANS, Bangalore, India, skchatur@gmail.com
Geetha Desai: Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, NIMHANS, Bangalore, India
Deepika Shaligram: St Elizabeth's Medical Center, 736 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA, USA

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2010, vol. 56, issue 5, 533-539

Abstract: Background: The prevalence — and type — of dissociative disorders is considered to vary across cultures and over time. Aims: The aim of the study was to examine patterns of dissociative disorders among subjects attending psychiatric services over a period of 10 years. Methods: The sample consisted of both inpatients and outpatients attending a psychiatric hospital between 1999 and 2008. Information of those subjects diagnosed to have dissociative disorders was reviewed. A semi-structured proforma was used to collect information about demographic details and diagnosis. Results: A total of 893 patients had been diagnosed with dissociative disorder over the past decade: 591 (66%) were outpatients and 302 (34%) were inpatients. The proportion of patients diagnosed with dissociative disorders ranged between 1.5 and 15.0 per 1,000 for outpatients and between 1.5 and 11.6 per 1,000 for inpatients. The majority of patients were diagnosed with dissociative motor disorder (43.3% outpatients, 37.7% inpatients), followed by dissociative convulsions (23% outpatients, 27.8% inpatients). Female preponderance was seen across all sub-types of dissociative disorder except dissociative fugue. Conclusions: Dissociative disorders are still commonly diagnosed in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Dissociative motor disorders and dissociative convulsions are the most common disorders. Unlike in the West, dissociative identity disorders were rarely diagnosed; instead, possession states were commonly seen in the Indian population, indicating cross-cultural disparity.

Keywords: dissociative disorders; patterns; India; possession states (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:56:y:2010:i:5:p:533-539

DOI: 10.1177/0020764009347335

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