Dissociating the World: Dissociative Identity Disorder

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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.
There are four more different types of dissociative disorders: the first one is Dissociative Amnesia which is when someone blocks out certain information, normally being from a stressful or traumatic event. Second on the list is Dissociative Fugue; fugue is the Latin word for “flight” and those with dissociative fugue temporarily lose their sense of personal identity and can impulsively wander or travel from where they are currently located. Depersonalization disorder is the next one on the list. When depersonalization disorder happens, the person persistently or repeatedly has a sense that things around them are not real; they get the feeling that they are observing themselves from outside of their bodies. Next is dissociative disorder, which happens normally when you get lost in a good book or a movie. But in this case someone with dissociative disorder can escape reality in many different ways that are invol...

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