Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES)
Directions: This questionnaire consists of twenty-eight questions about experiences that you may have in your daily life. We are interested in 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 circle the number to show what percentage of the time you have the experience.
Example:
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
1. Some people have the experience of driving a car and suddenly realizing that they don’t remember what has happened during all or part of the trip.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
2. Some people find that sometimes they are listening to someone talk and they suddenly realize that they did not hear all or part of what was said.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
3. Some people have the experience of finding themselves in a place and having no idea how they got there.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
4. Some people have the experience of finding themselves dressed in clothes that they don’t remember putting on.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
5. Some people have the experience of finding new things among their belongings that they do not remember buying.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
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.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
7. Some people sometimes have the experience of feeling as though they are standing next to themselves or watching themselves do something as if they were looking at another person.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
8. Some people are told that they sometimes do not recognize friends or family members.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
9. Some people find that they have no memory for some important events in their lives (for example, a wedding or graduation).
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
10. Some people have the experience of being accused of lying when they do not think that they have lied.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
11. Some people have the experience of looking in a mirror and not recognizing themselves.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
12. Some people sometimes have the experience of feeling that other people, objects, and the world around them are not real.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
13. Some people sometimes have the experience of feeling that their body does not belong to them.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
14. Some people have the experience of sometimes remembering a past event so vividly that they feel as if they were reliving that event.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
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.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
16. Some people have the experience of being in a familiar place but finding it strange and unfamiliar.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
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.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
18. Some people sometimes find that they become so involved in a fantasy or daydream that it feels as though it were really happening to them.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
19. Some people find that they are sometimes able to ignore pain.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
20. Some people find that they sometimes sit staring off into space, thinking of nothing, and are not aware of the passage of time.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
21. Some people sometimes find that when they are alone they talk out loud to themselves.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
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 different people.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
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.).
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
24. Some people sometimes find that they cannot remember whether they have done something or have just thought about doing that thing (for example, not knowing whether they have just mailed a letter or have just thought about mailing it).
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
25. Some people find evidence that they have done things that they do not remember doing.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
26. Some people sometimes find writings, drawings, or notes among their belongings that they must have done but cannot remember doing.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
27. Some people find that they sometimes hear voices inside their head that tell them to do things or comment on things that they are doing.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
28. Some people sometimes feels as if they are looking at the world through a fog so that people or objects appear far away or unclear.
Circle a number to show what percentage of the time this happens to you.
(never) 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% (always)
.
.
http://www.energyhealing.net/pdf_files/desii.pdf
.
Online Dissociative Experiences Scale:
http://counsellingresource.com/quizzes/des/index.html
How Dissociative Are You? « Discussing Dissociation said,
June 10, 2009 at 9:32 pm
[...] http://discussingdissociation.wordpress.com/dissociative-experiences-scale-des/ [...]
multipixie9 said,
June 11, 2009 at 9:17 am
I could not seriously take the questionaire. I’ve been in recovery for 14 years and I believe that I have read so much and been in therapy and so it feels hard to be objective in my answers. Plus, things have changed as I’ve gotten healthier. I have just a few answers that are high percentages and much of it I do not do any longer.
This is a very helpful questionaire, but I guess by now I am convinced I am DID and just focus on wanting to get healing inside. Thanks for offering this to us.
Multipixie
thevaguecollective said,
June 11, 2009 at 11:45 am
we scored 70.
multipixie9 said,
July 5, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Good Grief, I just proved I dissociated. I saw something on the DES and thought, Hmm, I oughta take that survey and see where I fit in this scale.
Then I get to the survey and go through the questions and after run into my own comments right below.
Needless to say, I didn’t remember doing this survey or “not doing it” on June 11. today is July 6. This is one form of dissociation that does happen to me all the time. So much of my stuff is still “in my head”. I lose time, I lose memory of things I’ve done with my family, I can get lost in a book or movie and lose all sense of time and place.
Well, I never get bored…
Multipixie
Kathy Broady said,
July 6, 2009 at 12:16 am
lol, well, thanks Multipixie, for coming back again
And I suppose, since things can feel new over and over again, there would be no getting boredl
But yes, forgetting stuff like this on a frequent basis can certainly be a kind of dissociation. Do you remember writing the first comment now that you have seen it? Or was reading your comment a totally surprise as well?
ah… the joys of dissociation….
Thanks for being such a good sport about it.
Kathy
Mona said,
August 28, 2009 at 11:22 pm
“Some people sometimes find that when they are alone they talk out loud to themselves.” Is this really so unusual?
I don’t have DID but I have been diagnosed with PTSD and (my current doctor and therapist think wrongly diagnosed with) Bi Polar II.
As I learn more about dissociation I find I fit the DDNOS criteria. But back to the question. I talk aloud to myself a lot…I mean a lot! And I am aware of different opinions in my talking, maybe even different “ages” or maturity levels, but not different “parts” in a totally separate sense. But doesn’t everybody have internal voices? By the time we are adults we have within us the child, adolescent and parent “voices.” I think it was the theory of transactional analysis that first provided me with this explanation. So what is the difference between these “normal” ego states and dissociated states?
Or maybe I am just confusing apples and giraffes (as opposed to oranges) …as it were.
Kathy Broady said,
August 29, 2009 at 1:20 am
Hi Mona,
That is a hard question to answer without knowing you personally. I’ll see if I can come up with some ways to distinguish dissociative from non-dissociative.
I think most people talk to themselves sometimes, but I don’t know that everyone talks to themselves “A LOT!”. So… the difference is more in terms of how much… Also, it depends on what kinds of things you are saying. Are you having an actual conversation with yourself? Meaning, does the young side of you talk an older part of you – and do you hear yourself talking in actual conversations from the different ages that you feel you can be?
I don’t know that everyone has the kind of internal voices that you are speaking of. I’m aware of the TA stuff you are referring to, but applying TA to a dissociative person vs. a non-dissociative person is still going to look quite different.
One of the key differences for the dissociative vs non-dissociative person is in the amount. It’s all a continuum, so for example, a non-DID may do something 5 or 12% of the time, but a dissociative person does that 45 or 67% of the time. It’s not that the “thing” is so odd — it’s more about how much, how often, how intensely, how consuming it becomes, etc.
When you are not talking out loud, can you hear the same different-aged opinions being voiced in your head? Do you hear actual conversations in your head?
And when you hear a younger voice – a younger maturity level – do you feel smaller? or shorter? or does your body feel too big or too tall for you at that point in time?
I can probably think of more questions… but how about starting there?
Kathy
Mona said,
August 30, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Kathy, thank you so much for the very timely reply. I have definitely felt in a younger body at times — for example when driving and had a rush of anxiety and felt like I had forgotten how to drive. I looked at my hands and arms and they looked smaller, a child’s size. That’s happened a few times; not many. I have also experienced what I think is called derealization(?) when driving in the form of a sort of tunnel vision where the distance stretches out and seems to keep getting further away. Very disconcerting.
But when I talk to myself I don’t hear completely different voices like different people but definitely different viewpoints, even different tones and moods. One voice can be angry and one scared. But when I am not talking out loud I don’t hear ongoing conversations. I have to consciously initiate a dialogue. I can do it in writing fairly easily by changing to my non-dominant hand. That all being said, I do find occasionally that I can’t stand the noise in my head. And I can go a whole day without TV or radio on and still feel like it wasn’t quiet. But again, we all have a voice in our head all day don’t we? I really hate to feel I am misrepresenting what may just be normal. Minimizing?
I completely get the continuum idea. I suppose I don’t know if I have enough dissociation to be part of this community of discussion.
Mona
sallysmith86 said,
August 25, 2010 at 10:27 pm
LOL I got a score of 74.3 …?? – that was fun though LOL hmmm… I like answering questions
— though I never know whether or not to trust questionaires lol I do love answering them 
LOLOL
Sally
Kathy Broady said,
August 26, 2010 at 10:09 am
Hi Sally
hmmmm….. 74.3. Well, I think that you can probably trust that you have a lot of dissociative experiences!!!
And having that many dissociative experiences in your day-to-day life, that supports the idea that you are probably DID. I’m glad you enjoyed taking this questionnaire. Were you surprised to see your score? It can be good therapy material — be sure to tell your therapist! 
Thanks for your comment –
Kathy
kristinelil said,
October 11, 2010 at 12:32 pm
For all of my life, I believed I was crazy. I do remember abusive treatment as a child by my stepfather and tacidly by my mother. Told constantly I was a bad person and needed to be “punished” I have internalized what I was told. Most of my young adult years are missing as is most of what acutally went on from age 4 onward til 29 years old. At 30 I enlisted in the Navy, loved the discipline and structure until a certain event happened. Everything went south from that day forward. After 6 years of service and honorably discharged I had a major breakdown, the system stopped working, suicide attempts, hospitalizations, and sporadic and inaffective therapy. Finally, I was diagnosed with D.I.D. when I was 41 by Dr. Fine. At the time it was still referred to as MPD. Dr. Fine identified at least 29 different “others”, alters. I’ve taken the DES many times, scoring anywhere from 75 to 83. Additional diagnoses of PTSD and Major Recurrent Depression, and Dysthymia have been piled on…I have suffered poor therapy from “non-believers” psychologists and psychiatrists. Presently I receive all medical care and mental health care from the local VA. For 3 years the VA has just tried to “manage” my therapy, and for 3 years, new disturbing abusive, torturous memories have come to light, more suicide attempts and VA hospitializations as well. I feel I am at the end here, the VA can not and will not offer the type of therapy or invest in the time I need. Band-aids only. All I have is my blog (that’s how I found your blog) where I journal. My altars also have taken up journal blogging…on my blog! It is disturbing, comforting, confusing, and at times frustrating to read what others say that I don’t have knowledge of or remember. Since the VA has cut back on appointments, I find I am isolating at home more trying to manage what life is now, day by day. Maybe I can help myself more by reading the blogs on your blogsite. Thank you for being out there.
roseroars said,
October 11, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Hi. I found the online questionnaire quite by accident about 9 months ago and thought it would be fun. When I got an 84% I confronted and nearly yelled at my therapist, “What the hell does this mean?! What’s wrong with me?! Do I have this DID thing?!”. She was (still is) very sweet and just smiled and nodded.
That’s when the real fun began. I’m glad I took it, though. My therapy is more focused and I’m getting a lot out of it after 26 years of therapist shopping.
Thanks!
Lisa
Kathy Broady said,
October 12, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Hi Lisa,
Yes, finding the right diagnosis makes a LOT of difference when trying to organize effective therapy. After 26 years of therapist looking, it must be such a relief to find a therapist that recognizes your dissociative issues. Good for you, and yes…. with a score of 84%, the chances of you being DID are very very high! But that’s ok – now you know what you’re working with, and you’ll be able to make lots of progress.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the comment –
Kathy
Kathy Broady said,
October 12, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Hi kristinelil,
Welcome to Discussing Dissociation and thank you for your comment.
Wow. You’ve really been through it! I think it is so very sad that is took so many years of huge struggles and ineffective therapy for you to finally find a therapist that could recognize and understand your dissociative issues. I’m glad you are on your way now, but how very frustrating it must be for you.
The good news, when there are limits to what you can actually get in your regular therapy, is that nowadays there are so many helpful resources online. Yes, please do keep reading through the various articles here at Discussing Dissociation. There are lots of dissociative survivor blogs, and there are online support groups — such as SurvivorForum.com that can be helpful as well. You can create a community around you that can understand and support you with some of those difficult issues by participating with survivor groups who really do understand your struggles.
It sounds like your insiders are really wanting to communicate to you, and even if they are using the blog to do it, that is good that they are talking with you about what is going on for them. Welcome that communication from them as the more you can understand them and connect with them, the better.
Keep reading, and you don’t have to be alone. There are ways to be with others that really do understand what you are dealing with.
I wish you the best in your healing journey –
Kathy
lesleytonifreeman said,
January 31, 2011 at 3:53 pm
i took the:
Dissociative Experiences Scale Test
And Got:
Total score of: 57 (30 or Above, Higher Association With DID)
would anyone be able to advise me as to what this might mean? and / or what to do from here. thank you for your time and help.
Lesley
popzed said,
March 28, 2011 at 12:54 am
Hi
I scored 44 on the test. Thing is, like mona above, I’m not sure if I’ve got ‘voices’ commenting on stuff, or if it’s just me! It is a constant babble and sometimes arguing, but am I just arguing with myself? It’s very confusing. When I’m talking out loud to myself, I have a back and forward conversation about whatever I’m talking about or doing. I disagree with myself a lot as well!! Lately I’ve been having the feeling of not being in my body, and not being myself. It’s quite unnerving, but I guess it can be got used to.
Thanks for all this good info.
poppy
xx
Amal said,
February 20, 2012 at 1:22 pm
layla
I was wondering and would like to know whether dissociation comes from being unable to cope with stress due to a traumatic event in the case of Dissociative Fugue? I am trying to know more about how the state of fugue occurs and why?
Thank You
Jess said,
March 19, 2012 at 2:02 am
I took the quiz with my therapist several months ago and came out super squeaky clean. But it turns out I have alters, etc…which makes me DDNOS?
It is really confusing for me, because my alters take executive control, but I watch all of it. Is this an advantage to me?
jayplus5 said,
November 4, 2012 at 11:20 pm
After experiencing “black outs” most of my life and being in therapy for the last ten year I was dx with did 2 years ago. After all this time I still don’t have contact with my insiders. The closet thing to any contact is a strange internal pressure before I black out. I guess that is better than no warning at all. I just feel like I am stuck because I still can’t remember. Any suggestions?
brokenbeyondrepair10 said,
December 21, 2012 at 3:09 am
jayplus5, just want you to know how familiar your post is to me.
brokenbeyondrepair10 said,
December 22, 2012 at 8:26 am
I just filled it in, again and scored 65. I`ve filled them in before (online and in therapy alongside SDQ20) and that`s at the lower end of my average score.
I`m not dx with D.I.D, but with Complex PTSD. My T cannot diagnose and there is no way of me being able to see someone who can (financial reasons, and others). In a way, a dx would help since it would give me some validation. Just can`t access a Psychiatrist to assess and diagnose.
SEObonbon (@seo_bonbon) said,
February 2, 2013 at 11:41 pm
These questions sadden me. It places so much influence on amnesia. I am frequently confused and have a faulty memory but my alters slipped in with me unawares in a co-conscious state. When they slip in it creates confusion briefly but I remember everything with only a rare occasion of “foggy memory”. Only until therapy and “acceptance” did the depersonalization occur with the alters farthest from my daily life.
It wasn’t until I sat before a very well versed DiD therapist and switching constantly a correct diagnosis was applied and I finally am getting some relief from constant switching. I thot it was PTSD and couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting relief. I had no idea I had this. The DiD therapist caught it within the first five minutes from severity of switching including voice changes. She says she saw six different people within five minutes. What in the world was wrong with all the other therapists? Needless to say, we are both struggling to keep up with the flood of changes and emotional movements. I hope it slows down for us both.
Just knowing I have DiD has been such a HUGE relief. Instead of blacking out entirely I do weird things. Like, give out my phone number containing portions of 3 different phone numbers I’ve owned because I was switching while having that conversation. Lately it has only taken minor irritations to trigger. Things like this are easily explained away by something other than DiD. I thought I hated using telephones. Turns out, I prefer to communicate via email and written communication lest I need to fill in a foggy memory with details. More importantly, if the subject matter triggers me I have adequate time to “deal” and get over any “reactions” before responding. (Gotta love the internet, huh?) By the time of the dx I was attempting at working online and at home. How clever!
Only after the therapist caught one of the stronger alters “taking over” while I was talking did progress begin. It was like she flipped a switch and turned me/her off by calling the alter on it. It was the first silence I’ve ever heard in my mind as all of us were in shock for a few minutes. She also could see the motivation of the alter and called her on it. She was mad for two days (lol). Instant depersonalization occurred as I realized I had not been the driver. It brought my self-actualization on the same page as the alters opening the flood gates as I became mentally and emotionally aware of the others’ presence. Many are eager to come out. My long-term depression was instantly eliminated but replaced by giddy alters eager to be a part of me. Note: this was only five days ago. It is absolutely terrifying to learn that someone has been running my life for years while I’m conscious but without me knowing. Amnesia would make this seem so much easier. Sometimes the emergence of an alter with comes with severe depersonalization while I’m watching and it is physically tormenting in an indescribable way – almost like ripping my soul out – while I’m mortified to watch what’s going on as if I’m seeing a ghost.
Therapist says I am highly intelligent leading to this unique co-conscious while remaining in denial about their presence. Absolutely incredible. Other symptoms are on target.
I have it very badly, but lack of amnesia helped thwart correct diagnosis for a very long time.
I’m beginning to see there is a bright side to my variance of DiD symptoms. I am very close to many of my alters who had a purpose in co-consciousness and daily living. Communication has been easily established. Once I meet them I recognize them/me easily. The others who had “internal” functions are foreign to me and frightening. I’m not certain but I think integration has already occurred with one of my alters. After so many years of introspection on my part I think the alter just needed me to get on the same page to relieve her of her duty. She was suffering BAD and tried to reach out to me on many occasions. I was so happy to finally know why she was tormented, sad to know she was carrying to much while grateful for it. I love her very much and she needs not carry all the rejection any more.
brokenbeyondrepair10 said,
February 5, 2013 at 8:18 am
…Well, things have moved a little for me. I have filled in the SDQ20 and DES for a Psych. And have been told that I probably have a Dissociative disorder, which can only be confirmed by doing a SCID-D(think that`s what it`s called?).
I also wonder if maybe I have always been co-conscious (is that possible?), rather than being chronically indesisive. I often, if not always think of two polar opposite options to how I feel/what I think which leads to me saying “I don`t know” when asked about how I feel or what I think. I genuinely don`t know.
I am more accepting of this being the answer to my time loss,confusion and frequent bouts of despair now. Thank you Kathy for this blog in being part of what is helping me stop being so much in denial over the possibility.
brokenbeyondrepair10 said,
February 13, 2013 at 11:38 am
….and things have continued to move on. I am booked for a SCID-D (structured clinical interview for DSMIV dissociative disorders). Where I live, dissociative disorders are not really recognised as anything more than factitious `americanised disorders` (no offence intended to the people of the U.S.A; those words are attributable to my ex Psychiatrist).
I am hoping this asessment will `officially` clarify whether my dissociative symptoms are `real`. I spend so, so much time wrapped up in denial of my reality.