The Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) is a
psychological
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betw ...
self-assessment questionnaire that measures
dissociative
Dissociatives, colloquially dissos, are a subclass of hallucinogens which distort perception of sight and sound and produce feelings of detachment – dissociation – from the environment and/or self. Although many kinds of drugs are capable of ...
symptoms.
Background
It contains twenty-eight questions and returns an overall score as well as four sub-scale results.
DES is intended to be a screening test, since only 17% of patients with scores over 30 will be diagnosed with having
dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states.
The d ...
. Patients with lower scores above normal may have other post-traumatic conditions.
The DES-II contains the same questions but with a different response scale.
References
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External links
A sample adolescent DES testfro
Southeast Institute Chapel Hill, NC
International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation
Psychological tests and scales
Dissociative disorders