Another distinctive feature of traumatic memories is that upon their reactivation, access to many other memories is more or less obstructed. Thus, when the EP is activated, the patient in that state tends to lose access to a range of memories that are readily available for the ANP. The lost memories typically involve episodic memories (personified memories of personal experiences), but may also include semantic memories (fac- Activitas Nervosa Superior 2010;52:1,1-23 

(Van der Hart & Nijenhuis, 2001). Myers (1940, p. 46) gives an example of the alteration between the EP, stuck in combat trauma, and the ANP in a World War I soldier (cf. Van der Hart, Van Dijke, Van Son, & Steele, 2000). After being subjected to heavy bom- bardment, during which a shell burst close to him, this man was brought into the Aid Post because he could not be restrained from rushing over the parapet with bombs in broad daylight. At the Aid Post he could not give his name or regiment, and was only induced to go down to the Field Ambulance by a ruse. In bed, he developed complete mutism and an extremely restless condition, from time to time turning his eyes and head as if follow- ing an imaginary object, after which he would withdraw his head beneath the bed clothes in abject horror. Later, when out of bed, he began to have dissociative convul- sions, during which he would undoubtedly have hurt himself unless restrained, and following which he evi- dently visualized his terrifying experiences in the trenches. He called out during these attacks, but after- wards, returned from the EP into the ANP, he had no recollection of his attacks and his mutism persisted. Between attacks he seemed otherwise normal. 

As illustrated in this example, the EP typically displays defensive motor behaviors, in particular in response to "triggers" i.e. classically conditioned, trauma-related stimuli. For example, in this condition, the patient may curl up in her chair, and remain largely immobile and silent. She may also hide behind a chair or in a corner. However, when feeling relatively safe, she may be more verbal and mobile. Thus in cases of childhood abuse, the EP with the identity of a child can occasionally dis- play behaviors such as childlike playfulness (e.g. Put- nam, 1997; Van der Hart & Nijenhuis, 1998). 

Research and clinical observations support the hypothe- sis that traumatic memories strongly involve sensorimo- tor features. For example, Van der Kolk and Fisler (1995) found that traumatic memories of subjects with PTSD were retrieved, at least initially, in the form of dissociated mental imprints of sensory and affective elements of the traumatic experience with little or no linguistic component. Sexually abused children also "remembered" their traumas in the form of sensory per- ceptions, and behavioral responses (Burgess, Hartman, & Baker, 1995), as did women reporting childhood sex- ual abuse (Nijenhuis, Van Engen et al., 2001) and trau- ma-reporting EPs of patients with DID (Nijenhuis, Quak et al., 1999). 

The field of consciousness of the EP tends to be highly restricted to the trauma as such and to trauma-related affairs. When EPs have evolved, as happens in DID, they may additionally be focused on matters of the current world that fit their experience and identity. In these cases, their procedural, semantic, and episodic memo- ries have been extended to some degree. However, while the EP has synthesized and personified (aspects of) the trauma into its limited range of memories, thus into the part of the personality it represents, it has failed to integrate current reality to a sufficient extent. This leaves the EP ultimately unable to adapt to present reality.