Dissociative Identity Disorder
Dissociative Identity Disorder
The mystery of a person’s personality has always intrigued me, so it was only natural that I was drawn to the topic of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). DID formerly known as multiple personality disorder is a condition in which a person has two or more personalities or identities. Out of all of the dissociative disorders DID is the most severe (1). 86 percent of patients who have DID reported that they had been sexual abused (1). It is important to get an early diagnosis, because this condition may affect life greatly depending on the complexity of the alternate personality. A patient who has DID is also more likely to have other mental disorders, thus making it even more important that they seek medical help as soon as possible. DID is a coping mechanism to deal with traumatic events through the dissociation of his/her identity. Dissociation is the consequence of which a person develops a secondary personality in their subconscious that has separated itself from the primary or host personality (2). Often this disorder is shown to be a child’s attempt to escape devastatingly negative events in their life such as abuse or trauma. Through ongoing abuse a child will often compartmentalize trauma instead of having it blend in with his other memories, thus detaching himself from the experience of being abused. When this experience comes to be too much for the child, the child “goes to sleep” and a new person (personality) will take over (2). This new person will more capable in handling the situation. (2) According to Pierre Janet, a person will store emotional and visual memories of a traumatic event in a whole different identity to be able to cope with them, forgetting the memories entirely (3). People who have DID are often able live healthy lives because of the disconnection of their traumatic memories, as some believe that they do not suffer from DID, but survive because of it. (2) If DID continues when the environment is
The mystery of a person’s personality has always intrigued me, so it was only natural that I was drawn to the topic of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). DID formerly known as multiple personality disorder is a condition in which a person has two or more personalities or identities. Out of all of the dissociative disorders DID is the most severe (1). 86 percent of patients who have DID reported that they had been sexual abused (1). It is important to get an early diagnosis, because this condition may affect life greatly depending on the complexity of the alternate personality. A patient who has DID is also more likely to have other mental disorders, thus making it even more important that they seek medical help as soon as possible. DID is a coping mechanism to deal with traumatic events through the dissociation of his/her identity. Dissociation is the consequence of which a person develops a secondary personality in their subconscious that has separated itself from the primary or host personality (2). Often this disorder is shown to be a child’s attempt to escape devastatingly negative events in their life such as abuse or trauma. Through ongoing abuse a child will often compartmentalize trauma instead of having it blend in with his other memories, thus detaching himself from the experience of being abused. When this experience comes to be too much for the child, the child “goes to sleep” and a new person (personality) will take over (2). This new person will more capable in handling the situation. (2) According to Pierre Janet, a person will store emotional and visual memories of a traumatic event in a whole different identity to be able to cope with them, forgetting the memories entirely (3). People who have DID are often able live healthy lives because of the disconnection of their traumatic memories, as some believe that they do not suffer from DID, but survive because of it. (2) If DID continues when the environment is