Source: Dissociative Experiences Scale

A Screening Test for Dissociative Identity Disorder

This 28-question self-test has been developed as a screening test for Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder.

Completing this Psychological Screening Test

This questionnaire consists of twenty-eight questions about experiences that you may have in your daily life and asks how often you have these experiences. It is important, however, that your answers show how often these experiences happen to you when you are not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

To answer the questions, please determine to what degree the experience described in the question applies to you and choose the button which corresponds to the percentage of the time you have the experience. The left of the scale, labelled ‘Never’, corresponds to 0% of the time, while the right of the scale, labelled ‘Always’, corresponds to 100% of the time; the range covers 0% to 100% in 10% increments.

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Please note: This test will only be scored correctly if you answer each one of the questions. Please also check our disclaimer on psychological testing and our psychological testing privacy guarantee.

1. Some people have the experience of driving or riding in a car or bus or subway and suddenly realizing that they don’t remember what has happened during all or part of the trip.

2. Some people find that sometimes they are listening to someone talk and they suddenly realize that they did not hear part or all of what was said.

3. Some people have the experience of finding themselves in a place and having no idea how they got there.

4. Some people have the experience of finding themselves dressed in clothes that they don’t remember putting on.

5. Some people have the experience of finding new things among their belongings that they do not remember buying.

6. Some people sometimes find that they are approached by people that they do not know who call them by another name or insist that they have met them before.

7. Some people sometimes have the experience of feeling as though they are standing next to themselves or watching themselves do something and they actually see themselves as if they were looking at another person.

8. Some people are told that they sometimes do not recognize friends or family members.

9. Some people find that they have no memory for some important events in their lives (for example, a wedding or graduation).

10. Some people have the experience of being accused of lying when they do not think that they have lied.

11. Some people have the experience of looking in a mirror and not recognizing themselves.

12. Some people have the experience of feeling that other people, objects, and the world around them are not real.

13. Some people have the experience of feeling that their body does not seem to belong to them.

14. Some people have the experience of sometimes remembering a past event so vividly that they feel as if they were reliving that event.

15. Some people have the experience of not being sure whether things that they remember happening really did happen or whether they just dreamed them.

16. Some people have the experience of being in a familiar place but finding it strange and unfamiliar.

17. Some people find that when they are watching television or a movie they become so absorbed in the story that they are unaware of other events happening around them.

18. Some people find that they become so involved in a fantasy or daydream that it feels as though it were really happening to them.

19. Some people find that they sometimes are able to ignore pain.

20. Some people find that that they sometimes sit staring off into space, thinking of nothing, and are not aware of the passage of time.

21. Some people sometimes find that when they are alone they talk out loud to themselves.

22. Some people find that in one situation they may act so differently compared with another situation that they feel almost as if they were two different people.

23. Some people sometimes find that in certain situations they are able to do things with amazing ease and spontaneity that would usually be difficult for them (for example, sports, work, social situations, etc.).

24. Some people sometimes find that they cannot remember whether they have done something or have just thought about doing it (for example, not knowing whether they have just mailed a letter or have just thought about mailing it).

25. Some people find evidence that they have done things that they do not remember doing.

26. Some people sometimes find writings, drawings, or notes among their belongings that they must have done but cannot remember doing.

27. Some people sometimes find that they hear voices inside their head that tell them to do things or comment on things that they are doing.

28. Some people sometimes feel as if they are looking at the world through a fog so that people and objects appear far away or unclear.

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About Scoring this Psychological Questionnaire

When your quiz is scored, one of two different information pages will appear to describe the results for scores in your range, along with further details of how your score was computed. Roughly speaking, the higher the score, the more likely a diagnosis of a dissociative disorder.

This screening test for Dissociative Identity Disorder is scored by totalling the percentage answered for each question (from 0% to 100%) and then dividing by 28: this yields a score in the range of 0 to 100.

Generally speaking, the higher the DES score, the more likely it is that the person has DID. In a sample of 1,051 clinical subjects, however, only 17% of those scoring above 30 on the DES actually had DID.

The DES is not a diagnostic instrument. It is a screening instrument. High scores on the DES do not prove that a person has a dissociative disorder; they only suggest that clinical assessment for dissociation is warranted. People experiencing DID do sometimes have low scores, so a low score does not rule out DID. In fact, given that in most studies the average DES score for a DID person is in the 40s, with a standard deviation of about 20, roughly 15% of clinically diagnosed DID patients score below 20 on the DES.

The figure shown below plots DES scores (horizontal scale) versus the number of subjects (vertical scale) from a sample of 1055 people. For further information about the DES, its validity and scoring, please visit the Ross Institute.