This study was published in The American Journal of Psychiatry 2004 Nov;161(11):2121-3
Study title and authors:
Serum lipid levels in patients with dissociative disorder.
Agargun MY, Ozer OA, Kara H, Sekeroglu R, Selvi , Eryonucu B.
Department of Psychiatry, Yüzüncü Yil University School of Medicine, Van 65200, Turkey.
myagargun@kure.com.tr
This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15514416
Someone with a dissociative disorder escapes reality in ways that are involuntary and unhealthy. The person with a dissociative disorder experiences a disconnection and lack of continuity between thoughts, memories, surroundings, actions and identity. Signs and symptoms of dissociative disorders include:
Memory loss (amnesia) of certain time periods, events and people
Mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts and attempts
A sense of being detached from yourself
A perception of the people and things around you as distorted and unreal
A blurred sense of identity
Significant stress or problems in your relationships, work or other important areas of your life.
This study investigated the association between low cholesterol levels and dissociative disorders. The study included 16 patients with dissociative disorder and 16 normal comparison subjects.
The study found:
(a) Patients with dissociative disorders had 15% lower cholesterol levels than normal comparison subjects.
(b) Patients with dissociative disorders had 27% lower levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol than normal comparison subjects.
(c) Patients with dissociative disorders had 33% lower levels of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol than normal comparison subjects.
(d) Patients with dissociative disorders had 32% lower triglyceride levels than normal comparison subjects.
Agargun concluded: "Low serum lipid concentrations may be related to a high incidence of self-injurious behaviors and borderline features in patients with dissociative disorders."
Links to other studies:
Both low cholesterol levels and declining cholesterol levels are associated with increased risk of death from suicide in men.
Low cholesterol levels associated with violence, antisocial behaviour and premature death
Low cholesterol increases suicide risk
