My topic of choice for this research paper is Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID. This appellation is rather new; therefore, most are more familiar with the disorder's older, less technical name: Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD. When first presented with the task of selecting a topic on which to center this paper, I immediately dismissed Dissociative Identity Disorder (which for the sake of brevity will be referred to as DID for the remainder of this paper) as a viable topic due to the sheer scope of the disorder. However after an exhaustive examination of other prospective topics, I found myself back at my original choice. There are several reasons why I chose DID. The foremost of which is the widespread fascination of this disorder by many different types of people; most of whom otherwise have no interest in psychology or its associated fields. One would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t been captivated at one time or another by the extraordinary, all too well known symptoms of this disorder. This fascination… dare I say ‘allure’ to this disorder is exemplified by the myriad of motion pictures that have been produced based on cases, real or fictitious, of DID. Another reason for my choice is what I feel is the insufficiency of effective treatments for DID. Despite what is known about this disorder, (which is relatively a lot) there are only two chief treatments for DID; the first and most prevalent is psychotherapy; also known as ”talk therapy”, the second is medication. The third and final reason for my choice is my own enchantment with DID. I must admit that ever since I read about Sue Tinker, a woman who was diagnosed with over 200 different personalities. In writing this paper I hope to discover more about this disorder and perhaps be able to identify a few areas that I feel might require more research on the part of psychologists specializing in DID.
What is Dissociative Identity Disorder? A proper explanation of DID necessitates a dissection of the name itself. Dissociation is “a mental process, which produces a lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity.”1 In other words, there is a disruption in the way in which these usually integrated functions communicate. Daydreaming, highway hypnosis, or “getting lost” in a book or movie are all examples of very mild dissociation.
Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) Diagnostic criteria dictates that the presence of two or more distinct identities (each with its’ own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self), as well as at least two of these identities recurrently taking control of the person’s behavior coupled with the inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. The disturbance must also be proved to not be due to direct physiological effects of a substance e.g alcohol or due to a general medical condition e.g complex partial seizures. I will take it upon myself to argue that persons with MPD/Dissociative Identity Disorder should be held responsible for bad actions committed when in an alter state because these alters are not independent selves, but rather parts of a single person. And a person should be held responsible for what a part of them did.
Diagnosing an individual with DID can take several years. “Due to the variety of [Sophia’s] symptoms, accurate diagnosis puzzled not only her but also the practitioners from whom she sought help.” (Fox, et. al., 2013) It is estimated that people with dissociative disorders have spent more than seven years in the mental health system prior to receiving an accurate diagnosis. With this complex psychological disorder, misdiagnosis is common because the series of symptoms that cause an individual with a dissociative disorder to search for treatment is very comparable to those of multiple other psychiatric diagnoses. As a matter of fact, many people who are diagnosed with dissociative disorders also struggle with secondary diagnoses of depression, anxiety, or panic disorders. (Goldberg, 2014) For example, “dissociative symptoms commonly co-occur with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and the prevalence of DID among outpatients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) was 24% in two separate studies.” (Chelbowski & Gregory, 2012) Again referring to the case study Recovering Identity, Sophia describes her diagnosis, “I was diagnosed with everything. I was schizophrenic, schizoaffective, borderline, bi-polar, ADHD.” (Fox, et. al., 2013) Clinicians perceived her unwillingness to accept
Dissociative Identity Disorder, also known as Multiple Personality Disorder is a psychological disorder that can be caused by many things, but the most common cause is severe childhood trauma which is usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. A lot of people experience mild dissociation which includes daydreaming or getting momentarilly distracted while completing everyday tasks. Dissociative identity disorder is a severe form of dissociation. Seveer Dissociation causes a lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity. Dissociative identity disorder is thought to stem from a combination of factors that may include trauma experienced by the person with the disorder. When a
Dissociative Identity, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, is a condition in which, an individual has a host personality along with at least two or more personalities with each identity having his/her own ideas, memories, thoughts and way of doing things (www.mental-health-matters.com). These identities alternate back and forth assuming control over the other identities behavior. The inability to remember pertinent personal information, such as: childhood history is also a clear indication of this disorder. The needs and behavior that the primary identity lacks is usually freely displayed by one or more of the altering identities (Butcher, Mineka, Hooley, 299).
People often think that D.I.D. (Dissociative Identity Disorder) is something made up, something that a person is just inventing in order to get attention; that statement couldn’t be more Incorrect. Dissociative Identity Disorder, formally known at Multiple Personality Disorder, is a dissociative disorder, not a personality disorder or a psychosis. D.I.D. is a severe form of dissociation, a mental process which produces a lack of connection in a person’s thoughts, memories, emotion, behavior, or sense of identity. D.I.D. is thought to stem from trauma experienced by the person with the disorder. The dissociative aspect is thought to be a coping mechanism; the person literally dissociates himself or herself from a situation or experience that is too violent, traumatic, or painful to assimilate with his or her conscious self.
Dissociative identity disorder, a condition that has plagued and altered the minds of those who were diagnosed for many years, represents the condition in which an individual displays multiple personalities that overpower his or her behavior around others and even alone. Such personalities or identities can have staggering differences between them even being characterized by a disparate gender, race, or age. One of the sides of them can even be animal-like and display feral qualities. Also, the disorder severs the connection between the victim’s sense of identity, emotions, actions, and even memories from their own consciousness. The cause for this is known to be a very traumatic experience that the person had gone through previously and fails to cope with it, thus they dissociate themselves from the memory in order to keep their mental state in one piece. All these results from the disorder do not begin to tell of the rest of the horrors that gnaw away at the affected human.
Dissociative disorders can affect someone’s memory and make someone forget some of the important things in his or her life suck as their own identity. “When a dissociative identity disorder comes in to a person life it normally can make that person seem very distant and never aware of the other people in their lives.” (Diseases; 1) Which means that this person has absolutely no socials life. This person, when having a traumatic childhood, he or she can establish two or more different sets of personality. As an adult, this person may see an object that triggers the other personalities to come out; meanwhile, attempt to take control over the body.1a. SV; conj. adv, SV.) This other personality can be a different gender and he or she will most likely go by a different name. When this personality is in play the person’s original personality will have no memory of what the other being inside of him or her may have done.
Out of all the classes that I have taken here at Westfield State College, I can honestly say that Abnormal Psychology has been by far the most interesting. Since this course has had such a major influence on me this semester, I am strongly considering continuing my education in this field of psychology. Throughout the semester, we studied a number of intriguing disorders. The disorder that really seemed to catch my attention was the Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). I took it upon myself to use this opportunity to learn more about the disorder that seemed to be the most fascinating. This is the main reason why I chose to read The Minds of Billy Milligan, by Daniel Keyes. This true story shows us how a young man (Billy Milligan), who suffers from DID, is charged with crimes that one of his alternate personalities is responsible for. Daniel Keyes is the writer who offered to reveal Billy's story to the world. After Billy was fused, he was able to explore the depths of his mind and the minds of his other 24 personalities for Keyes. Keyes published The Minds of Billy Milligan in 1981, but most of the story takes place before then. The book starts out in 1977, where Billy is being sought out for rape crimes.
Multiple Personality Disorder is a mental illness which most commonly has been referred to as Dissociative disorder or DID in recent years[1]. The illness commonly disassociated with schizophrenia finds a person experiencing two or more clearly differing personalities which will in habit assume control at some stage. Changing from one personality to another in a matter of seconds, the person will actually believe that they have more than one personality. DID can co-occur with other illnesses which include a range of anxiety disorders. The causes of DID are still not proven but it is thought to have occurred in response to a traumatic childhood experience[1]. The diagnosis is not constructed as a set test and so the mental health professional is required to test a patient using a mental status exam. The various symptoms of the illness can be treated through a range of treatments ranging from talk therapy to medications, but this does not always smooth out the outcomes resulting in a chaotic, imbalanced life. A great amount of controversy surrounds DID and is disputed by mental health professionals, some even believing that it does not exist[1]. Whatever the case, DID is displayed powerfully throughout the miniseries ‘Sybil’ in which a young emergency teacher finds herself with DID in response to horrific childhood memories[4].
The Dissociative Disorders category of the DSM-IV-TR, is characterized by a disruption in the functions of perception, identity, consciousness, or memory. The disorders in the Dissociative Disorders category include Dissociative Amnesia, Dissociative Fugue, Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), Depersonalization Disorder and Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.
Mental disorders have baffled physicians, psychiatrists and the general public since the beginning of time. One particular disorder called Dissociative Identity Disorder, also known as Multiple Personality Disorder, has caused controversy between those who believe it is real and those who think it is purely part of an individual’s imagination. For those who believe strongly in its existence, it poses very real consequences and hardships. Dissociative Identity Disorder has many causes, symptoms, and treatments; unfortunately, those who don’t take it seriously use it as a scapegoat for others undiagnosed problems.
Do you ever feel like you just can’t take reality anymore? You just want to escape it and in order to do so, your conscious awareness becomes separated from all the painful things you can’t stand, including your painful memories. Then suddenly you’re a totally different person. Another identity takes your place in suffering all the painful things you want to escape. Today, I’m going to talk to you about dissociative identity disorder (DID). I will be talking about what DID is, what causes DID and how it affects the individual (host/core). I will also mention a famous case in psychology.
"Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder): Signs, Symptoms, Treatment." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. .
According to Barlow, Durand & Stewart (2012), Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is one of several dissociative disorders in which a person experiences involve detachment or depersonalization. They go on to explain that people with DID ha...
People tend to take the concept of freedom of speech in another way or to another level. According to Jeremy Waldron, in his famous book “The Harm in Hate Speech” he expresses his opinion about how the ‘harm’ in hate speech isn’t associated with what the speaker wants to say, instead it has everything to