Kevin's Dissociative Identity In The Movie, Split

When persons hear about Dissociative Identity Disorder, formally known as split personality, they generally tend to think of an individual having two or more personalities. This definition is simplistic in its form and captures the essence of the disorder, however, for a true diagnosis there are some other criterions that should first be met. In the movie Split (2016), the main character Kevin is faced with the plague of this disorder. Diagnosed by his doctor, it was discovered that he had twenty-three distinct personalities, but, there is a suppressed twenty-forth personality and “The Beast” caused havoc when he surfaced. An analysis will be conducted of the symptoms and criterions of DID, in addition, to other aspects of the disorder that correlate with the DSM-5. Kevin displayed many symptoms throughout the movie that highlighted his true DID nature. He appeared to have meet all of the DSM-V (2013) criterion for this disorder. Criterion A, disruption of identity characterized by two or more personality states (pp. 292), is one of the key indicators of Kevin’s diagnosis. Him possessing twenty-four completely different personalities that encompassed various mannerisms, speech and body compositions illustrated his suffering of the …show more content…
Fletcher, he even held his job at the Zoo for ten years. Long-term supportive treatment may increase their ability to manage symptoms and live under less restrictive care (DSM-V 2013, pp 296). If comorbidity is present, then their physician must also treat the symptoms of the other disorder for a better prognosis. To illustrate, DID is usually accompanied by posttraumatic disorder, that is seen because DID is usually the result of a major trauma in one’s life. In Kevin’s case, he displayed symptoms of PTSD due to his father abandoning him and his mother’s abuse due to her OCD, however, this was not confirmed because PTSD consist of dissociative