DID Essay

The party in government is made up of ___________ and has direct impact on governmental policy; it is largely independent of ___________________.

Multiple Personality Disorders (MPD), or what has been re-classified, Dissociative Idenitfy Disorder (DID), is a deliberating and frightening illness for the DID individual; as well as their friends and family. The meaning of DID (Dissoiative Idenity Disorder) usually means that a person has more than two self-states or identities, which often times appear like entirely different personalities. When one is under the control of one identity, the person usually is unable to remember some of the events, but is able to keep other personalities in control.

I would like to further my knowledge on the controversial mental illness identified as Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID. More commonly known as multiple personality disorder, it has been a mental illness which gained attention from being the main focus in a variety of Hollywood’s films, aside from what has been portrayed in films I have little insight to what this disorder is.

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a psychological condition in which a person will create one or more alternate identities. DID (formerly known as multiple personality disorder) is just one of three dissociative disorders. This disorder is set apart by the way the identities “switch” from one to another. Patients who suffer from dissociative identity disorder can often lead normal lives when diagnosed properly and treated accordingly; sometimes, they cannot. People suffering from dissociative identity disorder often have similar causes, symptoms, and treatments.

DID is not completely understood but within the psychological community it is well accepted that it often stems from extreme, recurring abuse during childhood developmental periods. Studies, such as “Prevalence of dissociative disorders in psychiatric outpatients” in the American Journal of Psychiatry, have shown that “About 71% of clients with DID have experienced childhood physical abuse and 74% sexual abuse” (qtd. in Jacobson et al. 308). Although this phenomenon isn’t responsible for all of the occurrences of DID in the human population the fact that it plays a part in a majority of cases offers much insight about the illness. This disorder is essentially a coping mechanism for the sufferer because the alter(s) allow the person to separate their thoughts, feelings, and memories relating to traumatic experiences from their normal conscious awareness. Through this information it can be determined that the alter(s) serve the purpose of filling an emptiness in a person.

Historically, and currently the African American culture tends to avoid consent. There is a plethora of reasons for the apprehensions of psychotherapy. There are many stigmatizing beliefs about mental illness and health that African Americans believe (Thompson,2004). There is a stigma, judgment, costs, as well as taboo regarding mental health. Often, it is assumed that their spirituality and family will carry them through their issues they are dealing with.

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a condition where there are two or more distinct identities that are and will become present in an individual. These personalities can and will eventually take control of the individual, many people consider having dissociative identity disorder an experience of being possessed. The individual can and most likely will experience memory loss that is more extensive than ordinary everyday forgetfulness (Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder). Around two percent of people will experience dissociative disorder, women are more likely than men are to be diagnosed with DID. "Almost half of adults in the United States experience at least one depersonalization/derealization episode in their lives, with only 2% meeting the full criteria for chronic episodes” (Dissociative Disorders).

Psychotherapy includes forms of cognitive therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and Alderian Therapy. These forms of psychotherapy are a big component of closely monitoring for individuals with the disorder (Haddock 2001). Psychotherapy allows for the patient to comfortably discuss their past, as well as, periods of their life in which they experienced amnesia. It is critical to understand that DID is not a curable disorder, but with therapy the individual can be taught to suppress the personalities that intermittently take over the host’s actions. There are also several medications used for the treatment of DID as well. These include antidepressants and anxiolytics (Fey et al.,

If a person describes a pathological trance or possession trance of external spirits or entities taking control over his body, then he would get a diagnosis of Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified instead of DID. DID resembles other disorders such as Schizophrenia, other Psychotic Disorders, Bipolar Disorder with Rapid Cycling, Anxiety Disorders, Somatization Disorders and Personality Disorders; however, DID can be distinguished from the aforementioned disorders by the presence of clear-cut dissociative symptomology. Additionally, DID is differentiated from Malingering when a person seeks forensic or financial gain. Lastly, DID is distinguished from Factitious Disorder which is when there may be a pattern of help-seeking behavior.

Studies have shown the most constructive form of treatment is psychotherapy. The different suggested types are cognitive behavior therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and eye movement desensitization(Dissociative). Psychotherapy for DID is in several stages; an initial phase for uncovering and “mapping” the patient’s alters; a phase of treating the traumatic memories and “fusing” the alters; and a final phase of consolidating their new integrated personality(Dissociative). Hypnosis is used during the stages of revealing and uncovering repressed memories and the combining process of making a person whole again. Finally if necessary, doctors prescribe tranquilizers or antidepressants to help with anxiety and mood disorders displayed in the split personalities. For prevention of MPD, you have to look for signs early and if you hear of abusive families, revert to the police for further

The opposing side of Dissociative Identity Disorder claims DID is not a real condition and should be taken out of DSM-V for reasons concerning patients faking their symptoms, patients misdiagnosed and the treatments used on them. The first evidence used to show DID is not a real condition says patients diagnosed are faking their symptoms. David H. Gleaves of Texas University, author of The Sociocognitive Model of Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Reexamination of the Evidence, claims, “Individuals who are diagnosed as having DID are generally attention seeking and it is obvious in the clinical presentation” (43). The opposition believes patients may want to fake their symptoms for a diagnosis to avoid being identified as insane by others around them. It has been said DID symptoms are easily recognized, but patients diagnosed may show symptoms that are difficult to follow. Inexperienced clinicians still diagnose these patients as having Dissociative Identity Disorder. Inexperienced clinicians may also not recognize that some of these symptoms are linked to other disorders that they may be less familiar with. “Dissociative symptoms have been found to discriminate patients with DID from those with a variety of other disorders, including schizophrenia, eating disorders, panic disorder, borderline personality disorder, partial complex seizures, and simple posttraumatic stress disorder” (Gleaves 44). Dissociative Identity Disorder is a disorder that doctors can diagnose patients with if they are unsure what else this could be. This can be unbeneficial to the patients who are misdiagnosed because they are not actually receiving the correct treatment they need for the condition. Gleaves also states the treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder can create or worsen the disorder by clinicians putting thoughts into the patient’s head.

Multiple types of human behaviors have been explored and researched. Psychologists have created several perspectives in order to explain human behaviors. These perspectives can be applied to human behavior to comprehend the motive as to why the behaviors arise. DID (Dissociative identity disorder) is a misunderstood disorder. It was once called Multiple Personality Disorder. These people have several identities as a way to defend themselves after a traumatic event. Psychologists before did not understand the disorder and were confused by DID. Countless amounts of people have been incorrectly diagnosed and others believed they had been possessed, but due to research and psychological perspectives, we are able to understand why this disorder exists and how to treat it. Psychological perspectives were created in order to explain all types of mental illnesses and various behaviors. They have helped psychologists diagnose patients in order to correctly treat them. Dissociative identity disorder has been studied continuously by psychologists in order to find the rationale behind the disorder, using the psychological perspectives psychodynamic and biological.

Since (DID) has become more mainstream in media and its easier for people to see and learn about. Someone who doesn’t have (DID) but are experiencing similar symptoms can say that they have (DID).Which can cause them to go out and seek treatment for (DID). Resulting in a misdiagnoses and a lack of treatment for a disorder they actually have. Unfortunately, in media it stigmatizes dissociative identity disorder and directly impact those living with (DID). Making the individuals with dissociative identity disorders feel stigmatize. Because of the potentially exacerbate symptoms in thousands of the individuals who are already suffering. The disorder its self is not understood by peers because of the vague portrayal that media displays this disorder

Psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, and non-verbal therapy seem to be the most effective treatment methods for DID (Kaplan par. 11-12). No immediate results are expected from these treatments. for the management of dissociative identity disorder is a long-term course of action. Psychotherapy is when the patient and psychiatrist talk through the patient’s thoughts and emotions without the. use of medicine. This method could go along with hypnotherapy, which is used to retrieve memories that may be in the subconscious of the patient or in the memory of the alters within the patient. Nonverbal therapy consists of art and play therapy, which is more of an indirect, nonetheless creative and helpful, way of expressing the patient’s feelings. The underlying purpose of each treatment method listed is to find out what traumatic event took place in the. patient’s childhood to spawn the alters. Needless to say that this part of therapy is the hardest. Once the patient comes to terms with what happened, one can no longer rely on the alters to protect him/her from the past nor the emotions accompanied by. those memories. What exactly happens to the alters once the patient’s therapy is complete? The different personalities do not go away, they are simply “integrated into the host personality” (Prerost par. 14). The host adopts certain characteristics from his/her alters and uses those traits to protect him/herself without dissociating. This way, the host becomes one with the alters without losing time or control of one’s body. According to Kaplan, “60% of patients who undergo treatment maintain stable integration” (Kaplan par.

The definite cause of DID is unknown, but one main cause of the disorder is believed to be severe and prolonged trauma experienced during childhood, including emotional, physical, or sexual abuse. Symptoms of DID can include: an inability to remember large parts of childhood, sudden return of memories, as in a flashback and/or flashback to traumatic events, episodes of feeling disconnected or detached from one's body and thoughts, hallucinations, changing levels of functioning, from highly effective to nearly disabled, depression, anxiety, alcohol and/or drug abuse, headaches, and eating disorders. DID is a serious mental illness that occurs across all ethnic groups and all income levels, but has been proven to affect women nine times more than men. Research has shown that the average age for the initial development of alters is 5.9 years old. Statistics show that DID occurs in 0.01 to 1 percent of the general population (Mayo, 2014).