Dissociation as complex adaptation.

Abstract

In this article the general theory of complex adaptive systems, substantiated by non-linear dynamics, will be used to put the dissociative disorders into a theoretical framework and clarify their genesis and presentation. When a system is far out of equilibrium, dissipative structures may be formed ('order out of chaos', as Prigogine (1) has put it). These structures provide the starting point for further evolution and co-evolution of competing groups of functional schemata divided on a bifurcation surface. Complex adaptation is almost inevitable in a complicated system (such as the brain) driven by non-linear dynamics. Dissociation is thus regarded as a consequence of adaptation to a chaotic environment rich in contrasts. In a sufficiently complex environment a person with dissociative identity disorder is more adapted and thus more likely to occur than a 'normal' monopersonality individual.