Abnormal Psychology: Dissociative Identity Disorder

Ana-Leah Alonzo-Herrera
Case #2
Abnormal Psychology
Nov. 17, 2016
Case study #2
M.K is a woman who has been experiencing a gap in memory and being unable to recall what she does during in these gaps. There is no reported drug use or alcohol abuse, she undergone extensive medical evaluations and there was nothing found. She has been having social and occupational distress, she is described as having “erratic” and “unexpected” behavior at work or in social situations but cannot recall the behavior. There was a history of sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather as a child.
A diagnosis for M.K was provided as Dissociative Identity Disorder. M.K showed many links to the diagnosis criteria for Dissociative Identity Disorder. According

Environmental aspects still do seem to play a factor in the vulnerability of the disorder like many other disorders. There does seem like there is some evidence of smaller hippocampal and amygdala volume in patients with DID compared to normal healthy individuals. Individuals that have neurological disorders for example, seizure disorders can experience dissociative like symptoms. For example, with individuals who have temporal lobe epilepsy about 50% of patients have displayed some dissociative symptoms including alternate identities or fragments of identity. But, those who have had head injuries/ brain damage it is a clearer result of how DID can occur. However, it has yet to be fully understood what contributes to DID when no medical anomalies

In the severe cases of dissociative identity disorder medication such as benzodiazepines and antidepressants or hypnosis can work but should still be combined with psychotherapy. Benzodiazepines can be combined with psychotherapy, however, it there is very little research that proves that it helps. Antidepressants can be sometimes necessary depending on the individual. Hypnosis as a treatment option has not been proven necessary but it can be useful in helping bring out repressed memories and bring awareness to the different personalities (alters) but the therapist has to be aware that bringing forward these repressed and sometimes awful memories that it can cause the patient to become more dissociative. Psychotherapy seems to be more helpful, it is a long term treatment. In psychotherapy the individual will learn about triggers, or cues that cause them to remember the traumatic events and they will then learn how to neutralize those thoughts. They could also eventually learn to see the traumatic event as just a horrible memory rather than a recurrent scenario that is still fresh in their minds. It is helpful and beneficial for the patient to be able to learn to become in control of those memories. Psychotherapy is definitely a long term treatment; it is important for the patient to gain trust in their therapist. The therapist can also try and reintegrate