Institute for the Study of the Neurologically Typical title, logo, quoteD

Diagnostic Criteria for 667.00 Pseudo-Simultaneous Awareness Disorder (pseudomultignosis)
(formerly Awareness Oscillation Disorder)

(Details)

A. Abnormal Awareness Oscillation (rapid switching between two or more modes of conscious awareness) manifested by at least one of the following:

(1) rapid switching between modes of sensory awareness or stimuli within one sense (e.g. smell, touch, sight, taste, hearing).
(2) rapid switching between modes of social awareness (e.g. awareness of self, awareness of others).

B. Illusion of Simultaneous Awareness, or the illusion that, during the course of Abnormal Awareness Oscillation, the person is simultaneously experiencing and processing more than one mode of awareness at the same time. This may or may not lead to a delusional system, and is manifested by the following

(1) subjective experience of processing multiple modes of awareness simultaneously, which may sometimes result in odd beliefs, delusions, or disorganised speech.
(2) experience of understanding or control during at least some episodes of this disturbance, as manifested by lack of sensory overload or confusion at the time and apparent ability to understand the surroundings.

C. The disturbance occurs with multiple inputs of some kind, so does not occur solely within the context of synaesthesia or other experience in which one input provokes multiple outputs.

D. The disturbance causes marked distress, or significantly interferes with the person's normal routine, occupational or academic functioning, or usual social activities or relationships.

E. The disturbance is not the result of a general medical condition (such as Epilepsy), a culturally prescribed ritual, or the direct physiological effects of a substance.

Specify type:

Sensory Type: if the predominant disturbance is sensory (Criterion A1).
Social Type: if the predominant disturbance is social (Criterion A2).
Combined Type: if there are both significant sensory and social disturbances (Criteria A1 and A2).
Unspecified Type: if the predominant disturbance does not meet Criteria A1 and A2, but all other criteria are satisfied for this disorder.

Specify if:

Sporadic Duration: if the disturbance occurs sporadically, with periods of normal awareness. Note: Periods of delusion or false belief may persist despite normal awareness.
Chronic Duration: if the disturbance occurs all of the time or most of the time, with few to no periods of normal awareness.

Specify if:

With Delusion: if symptoms are accompanied by the belief that the Illusion of Simultaneous Awareness (as defined in Criterion B) is a real experience, and not an illusion. This belief persists constantly despite the person being given logical and persuasive evidence to the contrary.
With Transient Delusion: if symptoms are accompanied by the belief that the Illusion of Simultaneous Awareness (as defined in Criterion B) is a real experience, and not an illusion. This belief may only occur during the duration of the disturbance, and alternates with periods of proper reality-testing. During times of delusion, this belief is not responsive to logical and persuasive evidence to the contrary.
With Treatment-Responsive False Belief: if symptoms are accompanied by the belief that the Illusion of Simultaneous Awareness (as defined in Criterion B) is a real experience, and not an illusion, but the belief disappears in response to logical and persuasive evidence to the contrary, and is not a true delusion.
With Self-Awareness: if symptoms may or may not have been originally accompanied by the delusion or false belief described above, but the person has somehow come to the conclusion that the experience is an illusion.

Note: Specifiers relating to delusion do not apply to children, unless self-awareness is present.

Details

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Copyright © 1998, 1999 ISNT@autistics.org. Last updated August 13, 1999.
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...subjective experience of processing multiple modes of awareness simultaneously, which may sometimes result in odd beliefs, delusions, or disorganised speech.