Essay Dissociative Identity Disorder

Diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder (DID) accounts for an estimated 1% of the general population and up to 20% of inpatient and outpatient psychiatric populations (Brand & Loewenstein, 2010). DID can also be triggered and manifested in individuals which is why trauma is especially prevalent in individuals diagnosed with DID; about 71% have experienced childhood physical abuse and 74% sexual abuse (Foote, Smolin, Kaplan, Legatt, & Lipschitz, 2006). Due to trauma being so prevalent in DID many individuals with dissociative disorders suffer from a multitude of psychiatric issues that may include

In chapter 15 of Exploring Psychology, the author discuss the basics of psychological disorders. Within this assignment, the psychological disorder of my choosing is Dissociative Identity Disorder. The commonality of the disorder is rare. Although we’ve disassociated ourselves in some form or the other with our ability to daydream, Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is more severe and is usually linked to trauma. Formerly the disorder was known as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). Individuals who suffer from this disorder usually have more than one aspect of themselves or personalities, whom he or she is completely unaware of. Sufferers of the disorder have to deal with a variety of symptoms such as memory loss, depression, anxiety, hallucinations, black-outs, impulsiveness, and perception of being detached from the self. The severity of the trauma is usually extreme, repetitive, and long-term. The individual may have an extensive history of physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse.

Dissociative identity disorder is called a multiple personality disorder up until 1994 when they changed the name to give us a better understanding of the condition. Some people believe that patients with DID can become easily hypnotized and their symptoms are iatrogenic, "meaning they have arisen in response to therapists' suggestions. Brain imaging studies, however, have corroborated identity transitions in some patients." Usually a primary identity will carry the individual's name and is passive, dependent, guilty, and depressed. When an

Types of Dissociative Identity Sicknesses. Dissociation, this was the earliest to explain, example when the child is day dreaming, having an imaginary friend. The person will still need treatment to receive healing. The most extreme case of (DID) will happen during the treatment of child unfair treatment and is the moat treated. (Costello, 2015) The second form of (DID) Dissociative Identity problem, not otherwise specified, (Ross C. A., 1997) it come from the neglect pathway. (Ross C. A., 1997) In less violent and cruel cases the child may find that one parent cannot provide the attachments that's needed. (Iberra-Yruegas & Perales-Blum, 2016) All patients seemed to have the same beginning that mother was noted to be a person who can't stop

Dissociative identity disorder was formerly known as multiple personality disorder (MPD). DID was and is a very controversial disorder. Researchers argue whether or not the disorder is really validated because there are not fact stating tests revolving around the disorder. There are several similarities between dissociative identity disorder and borderline personality disorder, which is why some researchers had denied the existence of DID. (Gillig, 2009). Researches now realize that DID is on the same spectrum as borderline line personality disorder, but the symptoms are more severe. Symptoms of DID that coincide with borderline personality disorder include insomnia, sexual dysfunction, anger, thoughts of suicide, self-harm, drug and alcohol abuse, anxiety, paranoia, somatization, dissociation, mood altercations and changes in relationships and the loss of ties. (Gillig, 2009).

Dissociative identity disorder, or DID for short, is a controversial subject in the clinical medical world. It is often ruled out as a diagnosis because most physicians do not believe it exists. Gilig (2009) explained, that 80% of patients were forced to be discharged from a hospital even though the patient show extreme suicidal evidence. Another reason for this

The reason I chose to explore DID was the curiosity I have always had over the disorder, because I feel that I have a sister that has a mild form of it and it is something I always have struggled with understanding. My older sister I believe has a mild for of the disorder, was indeed severely traumatized and sexually abused for years as a child. After watching Sybil I do have a better understanding of what DID is and how childhood trauma can definitely attribute to this disorder. So when choosing my topic of whether the disorder even existed, I definitely wanted to explore why the disorder is still typically a debate of existing or not and what has been researched on the disorder.

The reasons for this are various and highly disputable. Many experts in the medical field are scared to treat DID patients or admit them to their hospital due to the reputation that this disorder holds. These, “emotional reactions to the diagnosis of DID stem(med) from anxiety evoked by the disorder’s “bizarre, unsettling clinical presentation,”1 similar to some clinicians’ emotional reactions to psychiatric emergency patients” (Gillig, P. M., 2009.). Furthermore, “Another reason for the heated controversy surrounding the diagnosis of DID is the dispute over the meaning of observed symptoms: Is DID a disorder with a unique and subtle set of core symptoms and behaviors that some clinicians do not see when it is before their eyes?3 Or is it willful malingering and/or iatrogenically caused symptoms created by the other clinicians who think something is there that is not? (Gillig, P. M., 2009.). In fact, “In 1993, Lauer, Black, and Keen(...)concluded that DID had ‘no unique clinical picture, no reliable laboratory tests, could not be successfully delimited from other disorders, had no unique natural history and no familial pattern.’ ”(Gillig, P. M., 2009.). Another dilemma centered around this disorder is that people abuse it in court. Getting themselves off of certain charges by pleading innocent by reason of insanity. These people are essentially getting off scot-free while

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.

As a sufferer of Dissociative Identity Disorder once said, "I keep so much pain inside myself. I grasp my anger and loneliness and hold it in my chest. It has changed me into something I never meant to be. It has transformed me into a person I do not recognize. But I don't know how to let it go" (Healthyplace). DID, commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder, is a serious condition in which two or more identities have the potential to take control of a person. People with DID experience forms of abuse as a child, undergo dissociative states and other symptoms, and receive treatments to contend with the severe disorder.

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

Adults with DID can come out with different name, age, gender, personality, and even their voices can change when another personality or identity is come out in their body. The identity changes and what that identity has done cannot be realized by the person who suffer from DID, but sometimes they can talk personally with another personality or identity inside their body. This identity changes can happen because of the past traumatic experiences which is one of the most common causes of DID in an adult. The traumatic experiences cause a lot of adults have eagerness to suicide and harm themselves (Patient,

DID is likely caused by many factors, including personal histories of recurring, severe, and often life threatening traumas such a physical or sexual

Multiple personality disorder was renamed in 1994 to Dissociative Identity Disorder. Dr. Charles Raison (2010), Psychiatrist, Mental Health Expert, and affiliate of Emory University Medical School, explains that those with DID often do not understand that they have this disorder due to the disorder itself. DID in nature is a disorder that causes amnesia type symptoms for which one cannot remember what he or she has done. An example Raison gives that almost everyone can relate to is that of driving your car, spacing out, and missing a turn that you didn 't even realize you missed. This too is a dissociative state for one is unable recall the last 2 miles

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).