title: The Concept of Peritraumatic Dissociation: A Qualitative Approach.
abstract: Peritraumatic dissociation has been considered an important feature for the development of post-traumatic stress disorders, but this concept remains widely unclear. To explore the peritraumatic experience, we interviewed eight victims of urban violence shortly after their traumatic events. The data collected were compared and analyzed according to the systematic set of procedures of Grounded Theory (GT). The alterations reported by participants were coded and categorized according to their perceptions of their inner and outer world, and the impressions of others involved, including the examiner's observations. The theoretical perspective for interpreting this study has parallels with Jaspers' psychopathology. Peritraumatic dissociation was conceived as a failure of synthesis among emerging stimuli from the internal and the external world, including the time-space flow structure, even when cognitive-perceptual tools remain intact. This synthesis qualifies the totality of the perceptual experience as coherent and meaningful to conscience, enabling possibilities for being/existing.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo - UNIFESP, São Paulo, Brazil mattos.patricia@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Patrícia Ferreira
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Mattos
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo - UNIFESP, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: João Alencar
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Pedrini
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo - UNIFESP, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Paulo
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Fiks
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo - UNIFESP, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo Feijó
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: de Mello
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D066296:Grounded Theory; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: acute stress disorder; brazilian urban violence; dissociation; dissociative experiences; peritraumatic dissociation; post-traumatic stress disorder; psychiatry; psychopathology; qualitative research; trauma