Dissociative disorders fall under the broad category of mental illness.
Dissociative disorder is a psychiatric disorder that occurs in patients with personality defects affected by psychosocial factors. The main manifestation is the partial or complete loss of normal integration of the patient’s past memories, sense of identity, immediate sensations and body movement control during an episode, i.e. the patient’s perception of his or her past experiences, the reality in which he or she is now living, the time, place and identity in which he or she is living is grossly out of phase with reality and dissociation occurs.
Dissociative disorders are closely related to psychiatric factors and are most often caused by suggestion or self-referral.