The Maimed and the Sick

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Recommended: Results of traumatic childhood

The disorder consists of two or more recognizable identities which change personality and appearance. Though there are as many as one hundred separate personalities, there are five different generalized alters (Swartz, 2001). These consist of a depressed personality, a strong and angry protector, a scared and hurt child personality, a helping personality, and finally an internal persecutor personality. Each one of these derives from traumatic childhood memories and allows the victims to act now as they could not act in the time of the traumatic experience. The depressive personality causes one to repress the harmful memories and have mood swings similar to bipolar disorder. This is common as it expresses the sadness they felt at the time but could not show. The strong angry protector is a result of the victim not being able to protect themselves from the disturbing situations endured, it allows them to express their true anger they could not before. The scared, hurt child shows tendencies such as mistrust, anxiety attacks, and substance abuse. It is commonly the most emotionally agonizing as it provokes the authentic memories. It challenges the individual to return to the feelings they felt during the trauma. The helping personality acts as a therapist as it tries to work through the intense emotions in the given context. This personality tries to make sense of the past and present circumstances in order to bring an inner peace by providing answers as to why the trauma may have taken place. The last personality, the internal prosecutor, blames the other personalities for the history of abuse. This personality may only be obtained if the patient is aware they have other personalities. It is often named after the oppressor or offe... ... middle of paper ... ...happiness as a normal person would. As these ill individuals strive for superiority, the community should be established as a safe, supportive place. Society as a whole should be more considerate and be more mindful towards mental illnesses. Though DID is far from cognizance, funding should be provided to further research in order to help the sick. This disorder is harmful to everyone and should be no longer overlooked and neglected. If situation may be so painful an individual feels compelled to create multiple personalities to cope, it is evident there is a dispute in which the corrupt society must confront. Humanity relies on survival of the fittest; those who attain an inability to adapt will suffer the most. Patients with dissociative identity disorder are most befitting to accommodate change. Maybe it is not the sane who will survive, but the insane.

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