Evidence of Dissociative Identity Disorder in Fight Club

In the movie Fight Club we are introduced to an average, white-collared, middle aged man who is seemingly normal at first glance. However, it is clear that the narrator suffers from insomnia, anxiety, and depression very early in the film. The narrator attempts to combat these symptoms in a number of ways, however, the only way that he has found to be effective is by attending support groups on a nightly basis.

The narrator soon creates an alter ego (though we do not know he is his alter ego until the end of the film) named Tyler Durden. Durden is more attractive, has a better physique, and is overall more confident than the narrator and Durden regularly takes control of the narrator without the narrator’s knowledge to carry out tasks that the narrator does not believe he has the power to accomplish. This use of dissociation is a defense mechanism used by the narrator to remove himself from situations that may produce anxiety. The narrator has many instances in which he is not able to recollect things that happened that day or in previous days, such as having sexual relations with Marla (the narrator envisions Tyler having sexual relations with Marla, while it is him having sexual relations with Marla). However, it is difficult to reason through whether or not he is having these memory lapses due to a true dissociative identity disorder (DID) or perhaps due to physical trauma that was sustained through his fighting. Although the narrator is seen consuming an alcoholic beverage on the first day he “met” Tyler Durden, it is not evident throughout the film that these blackouts/memory lapses are due to alcohol or other substances.

As the film progresses the narrator continues to have issues related to anxiety and he a...

... middle of paper ...

...rrator’s lack of respect for life, however, the general lack of respect for life possibly indicated that the narrator wanted to take his own life, or that the narrator felt indestructible and did not feel that his risky behaviors would cause an untimely death. It is also unclear at the end of the film whether or not the narrator actually shot himself in the head or if this was an intrusive symptom produced by dissociations.

References

Brand, B., & Loewenstein, R. J. (2010). Dissociative disorders: An overview of assessment, phenomenology, and treatment. Psychiatric Times, 27(10), 62-69.

Sadock, B.J., & Sadock, V.A. (2007). Kaplan and Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences, Clinical Psychiatry (10th ed.) Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Stahl, S. M., (2011). The Prescriber’s Guide. (4th ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.