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abspalten

English translation: to dissociate

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:abspalten
English translation:to dissociate
Entered by: casper (X)

18:10 Nov 1, 2007
German to English translations [PRO]
Medical - Psychology / Child abuse
German term or phrase: abspalten
Der Missbrauch führt aber nicht selten auch zu psychischen Auffälligkeiten und Störungen (z. B. Ängste, Depressionen, Abspalten von Gefühlen).
I have the feeling there must be a medical term for this "abspalten von Gefühlen" and therefore do not wish to translate it literally. Thanks for any help.
Susan Geiblinger
Austria
Local time: 09:15
to dissociate
Explanation:
Abspalten von Gefühlen = dissociation of feelings
Selected response from:

casper (X)
Grading comment
Sounds like the right one. Also understandable for lay-persons (the book is for parents). Thank you.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +6to dissociate
casper (X)
4feelings apart
J. Manuel Collazo
4split off
Craig Meulen
2secession
Jonathan MacKerron


  

Answers


32 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +6
to dissociate


Explanation:
Abspalten von Gefühlen = dissociation of feelings

casper (X)
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Sounds like the right one. Also understandable for lay-persons (the book is for parents). Thank you.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Michelle Hertrich: This is the medical term.
5 mins
  -> Thank you for confirming, Michelle
agree  Paul Cohen: Nice one, Chetan. "Many people deny the traumatic event or "intellectualize" it – they either ignore it entirely or talk about it but dissociate their feelings from it." http://psychology.suite101.com/article.cfm/signs_of_posttrau...
31 mins
  -> Thank you for the elucidative example sentence, Paul
neutral  Craig Meulen: dissociation = Dissoziation :: the asker needs to see if this reformulation is appropriate in her context
36 mins
  -> Thank you, Craig
agree  Textworks Translations: This is definitely the correct medical term!
38 mins
  -> Thank you for confirming, Anja Löbert & Dr. Timothy Wise
agree  Steffen Walter: Yes, the first term that sprang to mind here, too.
39 mins
  -> Thanks, Steffen :-)
agree  Mariamne Lohe: It is also the correct psychological term, especially in the context of child abuse!
4 hrs
  -> Thank you, Mariamne, for confirming
agree  Gauri Shringarpure: absolutely
6 hrs
  -> Thank you for confirming, Gauri
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47 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
abspalten von Gefühlen
feelings apart


Explanation:
Dissociation of Emotions

Example sentence(s):
  • Dissoziation
J. Manuel Collazo
Local time: 09:15
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
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21 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
split off


Explanation:
I'm sure it's pretty common to use the words you think are too literal "split off".

http://www.google.de/search?q=feelings "split off"

e.g.
>
The reports of the mothers in this study demonstrate the risk involved when aggressive feelings towards children are split-off, and instead of being experienced consciously and thought about, are acted out.
<
>
Thoughts and ideas are split off, so that they no longer appear as internal private experiences but are projected on to the outside world.
<


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Note added at 22 mins (2007-11-01 18:33:48 GMT)
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I'd reformulate for a translation:

(e.g. fear, depression, feelings being split off)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2007-11-01 19:25:01 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

With reference to Chetan's suggestion, here's a quote from Wikipedia if you need help deciding whether to reformulate:

Dissociation is a state of acute mental decompensation in which certain thoughts, emotions, sensations, and/or memories are compartmentalized because they are too overwhelming for the conscious mind to integrate. This subconscious strategy for managing powerful negative emotions is sometimes referred to as "splitting", as these thoughts, emotions, sensations, and/or memories are "split off" from the integrated ego. This use of the word "splitting" here should not be confused with references to splitting mentioned with regard to borderline personality disorder or family relations theory.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2007-11-01 19:30:18 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Results returned from Google are not dependent on the interface chosen (domain .de or domain .com), here's the search at google.com, it's exactly the same:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=feelings "split off"


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2007-11-01 19:34:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I was curious to see what the new Google Scholar service returns, and it only confirms my proposal for an answer:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=feelings "split off"



To clarify: I don't want to dispute that we are probably talking about disassociation here (context dependent). But since the author didn't use the technical term in German, why use it in English?

It may simply be a style question - maybe the author used the technical term two lines earlier and chose this time to use a more 'general' term, or maybe he chose to use it in order to be more comprehensible - these are all issues only visible to the translator who has the full context.

Craig Meulen
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:15
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Textworks Translations: Careful: a search in google.de will only produce other people's translations of "abspalten" and not necessarily the correct technical term used in English. I suggest a search in scholar.google.com
50 mins
  -> Actually, a search at google.de does not return a biased set of results - look at the domain endings and you'll see that the results are not from German-speaking domains. But I'll try your suggestion.
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
secession


Explanation:
is how the Standardwörterbuch für die Sozialwissenschaften translates "Abspaltung".
Webster for secession " withdrawal into privacy or solitude"

Jonathan MacKerron
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 47
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