Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), also known as multiple personality disorder or split personality disorder, is characterized by someone having two or more distinct personality states. The subject may experience ongoing gaps in their memory about everyday events or even personal information. These identities are unwanted and are involuntary, causing great deals of distress. DID was first recognized in 1968 when it was diagnosed as hysterical neurosis and was defined as an alteration to identity and consciousness. The term “dissociative” was first introduced in 1980. This disorder may not be well known, but it is certainly important because of its causes, symptoms, treatment, and the life complications that follow. The causes of DID can
…show more content…
These symptoms vary with everyone. The most common signs of DID are having two or more personalities, dissociative amnesia which is having gaps in the recall of important personal information and everyday events. Some may also refer to themselves as “we” or show signs of hostility and anger. “People with dissociative disorders tend to hide or rationalize symptoms, and may avoid disclosing intrusive thoughts, impulses or actions, inner voices, 'lost time', feeling unreal, and flashbacks (eg visual/auditory hallucinations) due to shame or fear of being thought of as 'crazy'” (Slack). That being the case, it makes it more difficult to diagnose than other disorders. Anxiety, schizophrenia, and depression are so close in symptoms causing some patients to spend nearly seven years in the mental health system before getting diagnosed. To get diagnosed, one must visit with a psychiatrist or psychologist, preferably one with experience with dissociative disorders. The first step starts with a physical health and psychological history. Medical tests may be ordered but there is no specific test for DID. This will help with ruling out other dissociative disorders. Once the ruling out process is done, they can begin the designed interview and personality assessment tools to evaluate for …show more content…
People living with the disorder often experience amnesia and “waking up” in one personality and realizing that another personality did something he or she normally would not do. Coping with these situations can require a great amount of treatment and are very difficult to understand. For example, imagine going to work and when you wake up the next day a coworker informs you that you walked out of work early with no explanation or reason. You do not remember it happening, but everyone else does. This also goes back to why it is difficult to keep a job. “Dissociative amnesia usually follows a stressful event and cannot be attributable to explicit brain damage. It is thought to reflect a reversible deficit in memory retrieval, probably due to memory repression” (Hirokazu et al.). Dissociative amnesia is linked with having childhood trauma, and experiences with emotional abuse and neglect. Most people may only have limited awareness or may not be aware of their memory loss at all. They will also minimize the importance of memory loss about a certain event or
These symptoms vary with everyone. The most common signs of DID are having two or more personalities, dissociative amnesia which is having gaps in the recall of important personal information and everyday events. Some may also refer to themselves as “we” or show signs of hostility and anger. “People with dissociative disorders tend to hide or rationalize symptoms, and may avoid disclosing intrusive thoughts, impulses or actions, inner voices, 'lost time', feeling unreal, and flashbacks (eg visual/auditory hallucinations) due to shame or fear of being thought of as 'crazy'” (Slack). That being the case, it makes it more difficult to diagnose than other disorders. Anxiety, schizophrenia, and depression are so close in symptoms causing some patients to spend nearly seven years in the mental health system before getting diagnosed. To get diagnosed, one must visit with a psychiatrist or psychologist, preferably one with experience with dissociative disorders. The first step starts with a physical health and psychological history. Medical tests may be ordered but there is no specific test for DID. This will help with ruling out other dissociative disorders. Once the ruling out process is done, they can begin the designed interview and personality assessment tools to evaluate for …show more content…
People living with the disorder often experience amnesia and “waking up” in one personality and realizing that another personality did something he or she normally would not do. Coping with these situations can require a great amount of treatment and are very difficult to understand. For example, imagine going to work and when you wake up the next day a coworker informs you that you walked out of work early with no explanation or reason. You do not remember it happening, but everyone else does. This also goes back to why it is difficult to keep a job. “Dissociative amnesia usually follows a stressful event and cannot be attributable to explicit brain damage. It is thought to reflect a reversible deficit in memory retrieval, probably due to memory repression” (Hirokazu et al.). Dissociative amnesia is linked with having childhood trauma, and experiences with emotional abuse and neglect. Most people may only have limited awareness or may not be aware of their memory loss at all. They will also minimize the importance of memory loss about a certain event or