MCAT Behavioral Sciences Question 207: Answer and Explanation

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Question: 207

5. A high school girl goes missing, and when she is found in a town 100 miles away a week later, she has assumed a new personality and has no apparent recollection of her life at home. Which category of disorder is she most likely suffering from?

  • A. Somatoform disorder
  • B. Delusional disorder
  • C. Personality disorder
  • D. Dissociative disorder

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

The girl is most likely suffering from dissociative fugue (a type of dissociative disorder), which causes her to experience personal amnesia. Sufferers of dissociative fugue tend to wander or travel and often establish new identities based on who they believe they are, (choice D is correct). Somatoform disorders involve physical illness or injury (choice A is wrong). Delusional disorder is a psychotic illness that is characterized by non-bizarre delusions, with no accompanying hallucinations, mood disturbances, or flattening of affect; furthermore, amnesia is not a symptom of a delusional disorder (choice B is wrong). A personality disorder is characterized by a set of personality traits that deviates from cultural norms, impairs functioning, and causes distress; there are three major clusters of personality disorders, none of which accurately explain the girl described in the question stem (choice C is wrong). Although it is possible that the girl is faking it and seeking attention, a possible symptom of histrionic personality disorder, the question stem would need to provide concrete information to draw this conclusion, which it does not.

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