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This self-assessment Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II) , was originally developed by Eve Bernstein Carlson and Frank W. Putnam . TraitProfiler provides an interactive digital version for educational, informational, and self-exploration purposes only.

Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II)

Background

About the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II)

The Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II) is one of the most widely used self-report instruments designed to measure dissociative experiences, disruptions in awareness, altered states of consciousness, depersonalization, derealization, identity confusion, and memory disturbances.
The DES was originally developed by Eve Bernstein Carlson and Frank W. Putnam during the 1980s as a screening instrument for dissociative experiences in clinical and non-clinical populations.
The questionnaire evaluates a broad range of dissociative phenomena including absorption, spacing out, memory lapses, altered identity experiences, depersonalization, derealization, and disruptions in conscious awareness.
Research studies have demonstrated strong reliability and validity for the DES-II across trauma research, dissociation studies, clinical psychology, psychiatry, personality research, and consciousness research.

Psychological Domains Measured

Absorption and Imaginative Involvement
Measures deep mental absorption, fantasy immersion, spacing out, and altered attentional focus.
Depersonalization
Measures feelings of detachment from oneself, observing oneself externally, and altered self-experience.
Derealization
Measures feelings that surroundings, people, or reality seem unreal, distant, foggy, or unfamiliar.
Memory Disturbance
Measures memory gaps, amnesia-like experiences, forgetting actions, and disruptions in autobiographical memory.
Identity Confusion
Measures altered identity experiences, feeling unlike oneself, or experiencing different behavioral states.
Dissociative Awareness Disruption
Measures disruptions in attention, awareness, perception, consciousness, and continuity of experience.
The DES-II is commonly used in trauma research, dissociation studies, clinical psychology, psychiatry, and consciousness research. The questionnaire is intended as a screening instrument and should not be used as a standalone diagnostic tool.

Procedure

This questionnaire is designed to evaluate dissociative experiences, disruptions in awareness, altered states of consciousness, memory disturbances, and depersonalization-related experiences.

Participants select the percentage that best represents how often each experience occurs in everyday life when not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The assessment focuses on experiences involving altered awareness, memory disruption, derealization, depersonalization, absorption, identity confusion, and dissociative experiences.

Participation

This assessment is designed for adolescents and adults interested in understanding emotional, behavioral, personality, cognitive, or psychological experiences related to the areas measured by this questionnaire.

This assessment is intended for educational, screening, and research purposes only.

Results should not be considered a clinical diagnosis or substitute for professional psychological or psychiatric evaluation.

Some dissociative experiences may occur occasionally in the general population, particularly during stress, fatigue, trauma, emotional overload, or highly immersive mental states.

Scoring & Interpretation

Each item is scored using percentage-based responses ranging from 0% to 100%, representing how often dissociative experiences occur in everyday life.

Scores are averaged across all items to calculate an overall dissociation score.

Higher scores generally indicate more frequent dissociative experiences, altered awareness, depersonalization, derealization, memory disturbances, or disruptions in conscious experience.

Domain scores are also calculated to measure specific dissociative dimensions including depersonalization, derealization, memory disturbance, identity confusion, and absorption.

Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II) Questionnaire

Instructions & Terms

Below is the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II), a digitally adapted 28- items self-assessment questionnaire. This assessment does not provide a clinical diagnosis, medical determination, or substitute for professional psychological evaluation. Anonymous responses may be included in research statistics and normative datasets.This questionnaire asks about experiences that may occur in daily life.

For each question, select the percentage that best reflects how often the experience happens to you when you are NOT under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

0% means Never.
100% means Always.

Answer honestly based on your typical experiences.



Psychometric Norms

5
Participants
52%
Community Mean
25%
Sample SD
99%
Highest Observed Score
33%
Lowest Observed Score
2026–2026
Collection Period

All response data are collected anonymously through [DES-II] Dissociative Experiences Scale - Interactive Version and are intended exclusively for educational, psychometric, and non-commercial research purposes. Privacy Policy | Research Statistics

Sources
  1. Carlson, E. B., & Putnam, F. W. An update on the Dissociative Experiences Scale. Dissociation 6(1): 16-27 (1993).