Dissociative Identity Disorder
This posttraumatic dissociative disorder was previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Test Revision (DSM-IV-TR). The DSM-V has renamed it Dissociative Identity Disorder abbreviated as DID. “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision portrays dissociative identity disorder (DID) by means of two dissociative phenomena: a) amnesia (criterion C), and b) the presences of alter personalities (criteria A and B)” (Dell, 2002, p.10). Dissociation of personality is the defining feature of the disorder. Dissociative Identity disorder is characterized by the “adoption of several new identities (as many as 100; average is 15)” (Terwilliger, 2014). Each identity displays voices, postures, and behaviors unique to itself. There are three important terms used when talking about the identities. These are the alters, host, and switch. “Alters – the different identities or personalities. Host – the identity that keeps the other identities together. Switch – quick transformation from one personality to another,” (Terwilliger, 2014). These identities were created as a natural defense mechanism that the body used to protect itself from a traumatic experience by repressing the memories of it.
History of Dissociative Identity Disorder
Dissociative Identity Disorder was first diagnosed as demonic possession. This diagnosis dates back to biblical times. “This article proposes a phenomenological model of therapeutic exorcism of demons for dissociative identity disorder by using the patient 's view of perceived demons and empowering them to use their own spirituality to expel them,” (Bull, 2001,...
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...mergency visits with DID patients include flashbacks, self-mutilation, suicide attempts and non-epileptic seizures. Some patients suffer from anxiety or panic disorders and other dissociative disorders.
Conclusion
Dissociative identity disorder is one of many dissociative disorders recognized by the DSM. It is differentiated by amnesia and the presence of alter personalities. There have been many different diagnoses for this disorder over the years. The first case dates back to biblical times. Over the years, the name of the disorder changed along with different beliefs on the causes and treatments. One of the most well-known cases is Sybil or Shirley Ardell Mason. This paper explored her case along with others to explain the disorder, the history, causes, symptoms, prognosis, diagnosis, misdiagnosis, treatment, and comorbidity of dissociative identity disorder.
Diagnosing an individual with DID can take several years. “Due to the variety of [Sophia’s] symptoms, accurate diagnosis puzzled not only her but also the practitioners from whom she sought help.” (Fox, et. al., 2013) It is estimated that people with dissociative disorders have spent more than seven years in the mental health system prior to receiving an accurate diagnosis. With this complex psychological disorder, misdiagnosis is common because the series of symptoms that cause an individual with a dissociative disorder to search for treatment is very comparable to those of multiple other psychiatric diagnoses. As a matter of fact, many people who are diagnosed with dissociative disorders also struggle with secondary diagnoses of depression, anxiety, or panic disorders. (Goldberg, 2014) For example, “dissociative symptoms commonly co-occur with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and the prevalence of DID among outpatients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) was 24% in two separate studies.” (Chelbowski & Gregory, 2012) Again referring to the case study Recovering Identity, Sophia describes her diagnosis, “I was diagnosed with everything. I was schizophrenic, schizoaffective, borderline, bi-polar, ADHD.” (Fox, et. al., 2013) Clinicians perceived her unwillingness to accept
Cognitive therapy, which involves changing dysfunctional thought patterns. Family therapy, which helps to educate the family about the disorder, recognize its presence as well as work through issues that have developed in the family because of dissociative identity disorder. And also Hypnotherapy which can be used in conjunction with psychotherapy and can help clients access repressed memories, control problematic behaviors, such as self-mutilation and eating disorders, and help fuse thier other personalities during the process. Some indications that therapy might be needed include sysmptoms like: memory loss, a sense of being detached from themselves and their emotions, distorted Perception, a blurred sense of identity, significant stress or problems in life, inability to cope well with emotional or professional stress, and mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. DID requires a medical diagnosis, and treatment should always be conducted by professionals that specialize in dissociative identity disorder as it is a rare and challenging condition to treat. There are also contraindications onvolving the treatment of DID. Caution needs to be taken while treating people with DID with medications because any effects they may experience, good or bad, may
For my research paper, I chose to utilize a disorder known as “Dissociative Identity Disorder” (DID). This disorder is also coined as Multiple Personality Disorder. When defining the actual meaning of this disorder, it is defined as “a severe condition in which two or more distinct identities, or personality states, are present in—and alternately take control of—an individual” (1). Specifically, “DID is a disorder characterized by identity fragmentation rather than a proliferation of separate personalities. In addition, the disturbance is not due to the direct psychological effects of a substance or of a general medical condition” (1). Based off of this knowledge, I chose to look at two individuals who have obtained this disorder
People often think that D.I.D. (Dissociative Identity Disorder) is something made up, something that a person is just inventing in order to get attention; that statement couldn’t be more Incorrect. Dissociative Identity Disorder, formally known at Multiple Personality Disorder, is a dissociative disorder, not a personality disorder or a psychosis. D.I.D. is a severe form of dissociation, a mental process which produces a lack of connection in a person’s thoughts, memories, emotion, behavior, or sense of identity. D.I.D. is thought to stem from trauma experienced by the person with the disorder. The dissociative aspect is thought to be a coping mechanism; the person literally dissociates himself or herself from a situation or experience that is too violent, traumatic, or painful to assimilate with his or her conscious self.
Dissociative identity disorder, a condition that has plagued and altered the minds of those who were diagnosed for many years, represents the condition in which an individual displays multiple personalities that overpower his or her behavior around others and even alone. Such personalities or identities can have staggering differences between them even being characterized by a disparate gender, race, or age. One of the sides of them can even be animal-like and display feral qualities. Also, the disorder severs the connection between the victim’s sense of identity, emotions, actions, and even memories from their own consciousness. The cause for this is known to be a very traumatic experience that the person had gone through previously and fails to cope with it, thus they dissociate themselves from the memory in order to keep their mental state in one piece. All these results from the disorder do not begin to tell of the rest of the horrors that gnaw away at the affected human.
There are no proven causes for DID, yet it is thought to most likely occur as a reaction to traumatic events such as childhood upset. This process would firstly see the child initially traumatised by a caretaker and then later in life having reoccurring memories of these events that come in the form of different personalities. It is even thought that DID is like a shortcut to remembering and facing terrible...
However, there are two major theories that give an understanding in the cause of DID. The Post-Traumatic model of DID suggests that it originates from severe trauma during childhood or adolescence. This trauma can be disorganized attachment, chronic neglect, and abuse (Vissia 2016). These experiences cause the formation of alters within the person as a defense mechanism. The second theory is known as the sociocognitive model, also known as the fantasy model (1). This model suggests that people who are diagnosed with DID are the product of their environment. Meaning, they are influenced by social and cultural factors that create or maintain the disorder. In this model, the person does not know, or think, that they have alters until it is suggested by a professional or another person in the patient’s life. It is at that point, they begin to believe that the do have alters which leads to diagnosis of DID. Unfortunately, the long-term prognosis for DID is not great, regardless of treatment method. However, there are treatment methods that can improve the symptoms. Ultimately, it is possible for alters to fuse, in others words they merge into their host personality. Yet they very rarely become unified
In conclusion, there are several disorders in the Dissociative Disorders category and they are characterized by a disruption in previously integrated cognitive functioning. DID is the overarching diagnosis which encompasses several of the other diagnoses’ diagnostic criteria. Hence, if a person is diagnosed with DID, then he will not receive a comorbid diagnosis of another Dissociative Disorder.
Despite the fact that DID is not a new medical development there is still ongoing controversy about its existence. The debate began during 1980s, it is believed that the sex abuse panic and the satanic abuse caused DID or MPD. Stories of people claiming to have DID became bizarre and the number of people claiming to have DID rose significantly. Some would argue that DID is a real disorder with real victims, while others would report it as being a second Salem witch hunt. Those who believe it is real argue that those who suffer it have suffered childhood trauma which is now affecting them. Others argue that if it is fictitious then the victims are displaying histrionic personality disorder, or the need for attention or approval.
Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID, is defined as: “The result of a marvelously creative defense mechanism that a young child uses to cope with extremely overwhelming trauma” (Hawkins, 2003, p. 3). Ross describes DID in this way: “In its childhood onset forms, the disorder is an effective strategy for coping with a traumatic environment: It becomes dysfunctional because environmental circumstances have changed by adulthood” (1997, p, 62). What types of traumatic environments are we talking about here? Often children who form DID are involved in some sort of abuse. These types of abuses can be physical, sexual and even ritual. Such abuses are not meant for children to have to endure, however, the mind is able to deal in effective ways to allow the child to bear such intolerable environments. As one examines this subject, one finds that there are varied opinions on DID, however, it is important to understand the nature of DID, types of DID as well as DID symptoms and healing in adults.
Living a normal life seems to be everyone’s ultimate lifestyle, but there are some people that cannot control what happens in their lives because it can be a social, behavioral, or environmental effect that can troublesome their daily tasks of life. There are so many disorders that can cause issues for an individual’s well-being, and one disorder is the dissociative identity disorder (DID). According to Zimbarodo (2009), “Dissociative identity disorder is a complicated, long-lasting posttraumatic disorder, which was previously called multiple personality disorder” (p. 550). In some cultures, DID is explain by the presence of demon or spirit possessions, but in the Western society, this disorder has been vindicated to seek serious attention and is now included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (Kluft, 2005, p. 635).
What is Dissociative Identity Disorder? A proper explanation of DID necessitates a dissection of the name itself. Dissociation is “a mental process, which produces a lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity.”1 In other words, there is a disruption in the way in which these usually integrated functions communicate. Daydreaming, highway hypnosis, or “getting lost” in a book or movie are all examples of very mild dissociation.
According to Barlow, Durand & Stewart (2012), Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is one of several dissociative disorders in which a person experiences involve detachment or depersonalization. They go on to explain that people with DID ha...
Dissociative Identity Disorder or “DID”, a condition wherein a person's identity is fragmented into two or more distinct personalities. DID is a form of dissociation, which is a mental process. Dissociation according to Webster is, “the separation of something from something else or the state of being disconnected.” So dissociation begins from the person’s thoughts, their memories, actions, sense of identity, and their feelings. Most people subjected to this disorder where victims of severe abuse or trauma. In this moment of abuse or trauma, dissociation kicks in as a coping mechanism to protect them. In this the person creates a new person to help cope the pain.
Grohol, J. M. (n.d.). Psych Central: Dissociative Identity Disorder Treatment. Psych Central - Trusted mental health, depression, bipolar, ADHD and psychology information. Retrieved May 24, 2011, from http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx18t.htm