ABSTRACT
Dissociation may lead to clinical phenomena covering a wide spectrum ranging from subtle “psychotic-like” symptoms to full psychotic syndromes. To develop a convergent approach, this chapter addresses the overlapping psychotic and dissociative phenomena on the basis of common experiences such as mental fragmentation, estrangement from oneself and from the environment, and impairment of the sense of self and agency. Beside “psychotic” symptoms and conditions, five related domains of clinical psychopathology are first reviewed in this chapter that will help elaborate the relationship between dissociation and psychosis. The possibility of comorbidity between the two forms of psychopathology is also discussed in the context of dimensional and categorical models.
