The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
April 1, 1996
K Wenzel, D P Bernstein, L Handelsman et al.
Alcoholics reported higher levels of three types of dissociative experiences—amnesia, depersonalization/derealization, and absorption—than drug addicts. Among 138 detoxified male veterans, chronic (lifetime years) alcohol and cocaine use correlated with dissociation scores, and the amnestic effect of chronic cocaine use persisted after controlling for chronic alcohol use. No dissociative effects of recent (past 30 days) use of alcohol or drugs were found. These findings suggest dissociation may be a chronic residual effect of long-term substance abuse, including both alcohol and cocaine.
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
August 1, 1992
C Cipolli, R Bolzani, R Massetani et al.
Dream recall frequency in people with Parkinson's disease is comparable to that of other older adults, but the length and narrative coherence of their dreams vary with their cognitive and language abilities. Fifteen outpatients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease, all treated with L-dopa and without psychiatric symptoms, were awakened from REM sleep to report dreams. Thirteen provided at least one dream, yielding a 71.4% recall rate. Longer and more story-like dream reports were associated with higher cognitive functioning and, partly, better language comprehension, but not with age, illness duration, or L-dopa dose.
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
July 1, 1988
T E Oxman, S D Rosenberg, P P Schnurr et al.
Computerized content analysis of 66 autobiographical accounts of schizophrenia, hallucinogenic drug states, or mystical ecstasy and 28 control accounts of important personal experiences found distinct patterns of lexical choice among the four groups. Word frequencies differed significantly in 49 of 83 lexical categories. Using the 13 most statistically significant categories, 84% of the samples were correctly identified by their word frequencies. The findings suggest that the subjective experiences of schizophrenia, hallucinogenic drug-induced states, and mystical ecstasy are more different from one another than alike.
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
December 1, 1986
E M Bernstein, F W Putnam
The Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) is a 28-item self-report questionnaire that measures dissociation—the lack of normal integration of thoughts, feelings, and experiences into consciousness and memory. The scale was developed using clinical data, interviews, and expert consultation, then pilot tested. Subjects mark their responses on 100-mm lines, and the average of all item scores (0 to 100) yields the DES score. Administered to normal adults, college students, and people with alcoholism, agoraphobia, phobic-anxious disorders, PTSD, schizophrenia, or multiple personality disorder, the scale demonstrated good test-retest and split-half reliability, significant item-scale correlations, and evidence of criterion-referenced validity.
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
April 1, 1981
H J Irwin
People who report out-of-body experiences (OBEs) tend to be especially attentive to their own mental processes, according to a review of diverse literature and a survey of students. The study used Murray's system of manifest needs to test several hypotheses. Only one hypothesis was supported: OBE reporters are concerned with their inner mental life. Unexpectedly, these individuals also showed low levels of need for achievement and need for deference. The authors conclude that much more research into psychological, parapsychological, and neurophysiological correlates is needed to develop a sophisticated theory of the OBE.