DID/MPD Research Paper

DID/MPD is a mental disease that is debated about between mental physicians whether or not it is a real disease. It was discovered in the late 1800s by Dr. Jean- Martin Charcot as hystero- epilepsy (“Multiple Personality Disorder/ Dissociative Identity Disorder”). Some people argue that MPD is a fake disease because therapists can make a patient think they have MPD by telling them they have many personalities. The therapists will try to make the personalities reveal themselves but there is no personality to reveal, so the patient makes one up (Cherry). Others say DID/MPD can also be mistaken as Borderline Personality Disorder (emotional instability, mood swings, a feeling of worthlessness etc) (Cherry). Therefore, some think that DID/MPD is a fake illness. Some professionals ask whether there is a difference between MPD and DID. The name was changed in the 1990s from Multiple Personality Disorder to Dissociative Identity Disorder because it was more professionally accepted (Cherry). Cherry argues that MPD and DID are in fact different diseases because everyone experiences some form of dissociation (daydreaming, forgetting some memories) while not everyone experiences multiple personalities (Cherry). Many therapists and professionals split on whether they are the same disease or not. …show more content…
This does not mean that everybody have DID, it is just that they are experiencing minor cases or dissociation. Dissociate means “to sever the association of one thing from another” (Braun 7). Another definition is “disconnection or lack of integrations between the normally integrated functions of memory” (Krakauer 2). DID is the most extreme case of dissociation that you can get. It causes people to forget what they do for hours at a time (Haddock 2). So in other words, dissociation is when your brain is not fully processing what you are seeing i.e.-daydreaming, going on autopilot while driving