The dissociation of consciousness is a phenomenon that can be seen in both culturally sanctioned situations (such as in religious cults) and in medical settings. Diagnosis classification manuals, such as the DSM-IV and the ICD-10, seek to separate these situations into cultural phenomena and mental disorders, respectively. Despite this difference in diagnoses, patients who have had dissociative experiences often seek different meanings for the phenomena. Through an ethnography centered on the person, this article presents a description of different experiences of a female patient who has had dissociative experiences. The psychopathologic specificities of the construction of the narrative based on these experiences are also discussed.
Dissociation; etnography centered on the person; narrative; cultural psychiatry