Identify the dissociative disorder which has essential features of unexpected travel away from home, assumption of a new identity, inability to recall previous identity:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Dissociative Fugue
Dissociative disorders are marked by sudden temporary alterations of consciousness that blot out painful experiences; they include dissociative amnesia, dissociative identity disorder and depersonalisation/derealisation disorder.
Option (1) Dissociative Identity disorder — Incorrect. Often called multiple personality, it is the disorder in which the person assumes alternate personalities that may or may not be aware of each other. There is no running away from home in its description.
Option (2) Dissociative Depersonalisation — Incorrect. In depersonalisation there is a change of self-perception, and the person’s sense of reality is temporarily lost or changed. It brings no travel away from home and no new identity.
Option (3) Dissociative Fugue — Correct. Fugue is a part of dissociative amnesia. Its essential features are an unexpected travel away from home and workplace, the assumption of a new identity, and the inability to recall the previous identity, the very three features in the question. The fugue usually ends when the person suddenly ‘wakes up’ with no memory of what happened during it.
Option (4) Dissociative Derealisation — Incorrect. Depersonalisation/derealisation disorder involves a dreamlike state in which the person has a sense of being separated both from self and from reality; derealisation is the side concerned with reality. The person stays where she/he is and keeps her/his identity, with no flight from home.
NCERT (2025-26): “Dissociative Disorders … Sudden temporary alterations of consciousness that blot out painful experiences are a defining characteristic of dissociative disorders. Conditions included in this are Dissociative Amnesia, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and Depersonalisation/Derealisation Disorder.…” “Dissociative Disorders … A part of dissociative amnesia is dissociative fugue. Essential feature of this could be an unexpected travel away from home and workplace, the assumption of a new identity, and the inability to recall the previous identity. The fugue usually ends when the person suddenly ‘wakes up’ with no memory of the events that occurred during the fugue.…” “…Dissociative identity disorder, often referred to as multiple personality, is the most dramatic of the dissociative disorders. It is often associated with traumatic experiences in childhood. In this disorder, the person assumes alternate personalities that may or may not be aware of each other. Depersonalisation/Derealisation disorder involves a dreamlike state in which the person has a sense of being separated both from self and from reality. In depersonalisation, there is a change of self-perception, and the person’s sense of reality is temporarily lost or changed.” |