Dissociative psychosis: an atypical presentation and response to cognitive-analytic therapy

Abstract

AbstractWe report on a patient with a rare type of dissociative disorder, dissociative psychosis (hysterical psychosis), in whom gustatory, olfactory, visual and auditory hallucinations occurred. Auditory and visual hallucinations have been described in previous cases of dissociative psychosis, and olfactory and gustatory hallucinations have been described associated with sexual assault but this case is unusual in that hallucinations occur in all modalities in one patient, as yet not described in the literature The basis of the dissociative disorder lay in a childhood sexual trauma and therefore the traditionally advocated treatment for such a case is the psychotherapeutic abreaction of these previous traumatising events. This approach caused worsening symptomatology and the patient experienced frequent lapses into dissociative psychosis. However, focused cognitive-analytic therapy concentrating on the patient's personal conflicts at the time of presentation resulted in a resolution of symptoms and a return to health.