To separate all or part of one's consciousness from awareness of the physical environment; in DID, to split off part of one's soul into a separate identity or to switch from one identity to another. DISSOCIATION—A temporary or prolonged disruption in normal consciousness in which one's sense of identity, memory, and/or perception of the environment may be altered or separated. This phenomenon lies on a continuum ranging from normal day-dreaming and “highway hypnosis” on one end to the formation of alternate-identities (DID) at the other end.