Dissociative Identity Disorders In Everyday Life

The movie I chose for this paper is titled Frankie & Alice. The main character, played by Halle Berry, was named Frankie. Frankie had a history of traumatic events that took place as she was growing up which resulted in her being diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder. Frankie was unaware that she had any type of disorder until she was picked up by police and chose to receive treatment instead of going to jail. The paper includes a synopsis of the movie, along with an analysis of the symptoms Frankie’s character experienced to lead to her diagnosis. Also included are evidences about dissociative identity disorder and what may lead to its diagnoses in an individual. Prevalence of the diagnoses along with treatment selections for the diagnoses is also discussed.

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 a condition of mystery that is not clearly understood because of its way of presenting in a patient. In this research article there will be in depth analysis of the condition that is so publically recognized by Hollywood but at times ignored by medical professionals. There will analysis of demographics and who is affected more; male or female will also be looked at closely. There will also be a review of what factors predispose individuals to Dissociative Identity Disorder, and how it is diagnosed. There will also be information of how the disorder is treated via therapy and medication. The usual signs and symptoms will also be discussed and

Dissociative identity disorder can be diagnosed with, “the presence of two of more distinct identities or personalities states (each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self), b. at least two of these identities of personality states recurrently take control of the person’s behavior, c. inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness, d. the disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance or general medical condition”, (Levy & Swanson. 2008. Clinical Assessment of Dissociative Identity Disorder Among College Counseling Clients. p. 11). Physicians argue that the evidence that the patient presents is real, they are looking for something more, or rather dig deeper to diagnose each separately as its own issue. Psychiatrists also argue that criminals may “get off” due to the individual’s alters playing a role in the diagnoses’ everyday life.

To begin to understand what happens within a person with dissociative identity disorder, it is important to first explain what the disorder is exactly. As defined by a forensic psychiatry and forensic psychology book: “Dissociative identity disorder (DID or multiple personality disorder) represents a ‘disruption of identity’ in which ‘two or more distinct personality states’ (also referred to as ‘alters’) occur. Further characteristics include: ‘marked discontinuity in the sense of self and sense of agency, accompanied by related alterations in affect, behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and/or sensory-motor functioning.’ There may be gaps in recall of every day events, important personal information, and/or traumatic events inconsistent with ‘normal forgetting’”

Approximately 43 million Americans suffer from some kind of mental illness. Although this statistic suggests it’s a normal and accepted fact, the reality of the situation is that mental health does not get enough awareness as it should. This is because a lot of people believe that these ailments such as depression and bipolar disorder are “all in their heads.” Technically speaking, these people are not wrong since these things do occur in the brain, hence the name “mental” illness. One disorder that has grabbed my inner psychologist’s attention is dissociative identity disorder also known as DID. Dissociative identity disorder is a controversial disorder because psychologists are split on its existence and validity.

The arguable claim that I am using in this paper is whether or not Dissociative Identity Disorder is an actual disorder, or if it is an extreme bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. I will be using three main points to prove that this disorder is real. One being comparing people who are suffering from bipolar illness and people with dissociative identity disorder, and sharing their differences and ways to tell them apart. I will also be doing this with schizophrenia, which will be another main point. Finally, I will use the information many different scientists have gathered to prove the realness of this disorder.

Dissociative identity disorder is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states that recurrently take control of the individual’s behavior, accompanied by an inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness (Ringrose, 2011). It is a disorder characterized by identity fragmentation, rather than proliferation of separate personalities (Fraser, 2014). Many people equate colloquially dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia in a wrong way (Priya & Siva, 2013). While in the case of schizophrenia can both be identification with another person within the framework of a megalomaniac in the identity disorder dissociative exist two or more personalities in a person (Priya & Siva, 2013). A person with dissociative identity disorder does not react to the same medications used in the treatment of schizophrenia (Priya & Siva, 2013).

Dissociative identity disorder has always fascinated me. The rare disorder has fewer than 200,000 cases per year. Unfortunately, my fascination with the disorder started because of my great grandmother who suffered from it. The horror stories my grandmother and mom would tell me were unbelievable. I remember in her final years of her life she seemed very empty. No life left in her at all. I can only hope for most people it didn't end for them in any way similar. There is a very common misconception about the disorder. I hope to gain more knowledge from my research on the condition. I will be discussing causes, symptoms and treatments for this disorder.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D), also known as Multiple Personality Disorder, is a mental disease and illness portrayed by at least two distinct personalities usually caused to avoid the victim/host of this illness from reflecting to old traumatic events/memories (Thomson, 1990). There are at least 200,000 cases of Dissociative Identity Disorder each year with women nine times more likely to be recipients of this disorder. A study by Nissen (cited by Gillig, P. M., 2009) states biological abusive relationships are to take into major account for the development of D.I.D. Whenever a drastic event happens in a person’s life, during those times our brains release cortisol and norepinephrine which have an influence on the brain. They influence the part of the brain that controls all our memories and where they are stored. Also, studies show after taking a picture of someone’s brain during a memory of a traumatic event, there is a decrease in the Broca’s Area, which helps translate your experiences into words to speak, and increases the area of the right hemisphere of your brain, which controls the emotion and visual stimulus. The memories/events are stored into a different part of your brain where it manifests itself into its own identity. Thus, when your mind is visited by these horrific memories, your brain copes with this by creating its own identity and personality to fit or protect itself from the event that

result from lack of education among clinicians about dissociation, dissociative disorders, and the effects of

(Dissociative Identity Disorder) Dissociative Identity Disorder became a definite and established disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM) in 1980 (Dissociative Identity Disorder). In the DSM-III, it was named Multiple Personality Disorder, but later in the DSM-IV, the disorder was renamed to Dissociative Identity Disorder. In DSM-III, the definition of DID was “at least two of these identities or personalities recurrently take full control of the person’s behavior.” (Dissociative Identity Disorder) This is no longer the exact definition of the disorder because it says that another personality takes “full control” of the behavior, but scientists and doctors no longer think you will necessarily have full control in the different personalities that the person has. The first case was written by Samul Mitchel and he found Mary Reynolds in 1811. (Dissociative Identity Disorder) Her main symptom that was reported was that she would preach and write poetry and music in her sleep. Another early case of DID was Ansel Bourne, which was founded by Richard Hodgson in 1892. (Dissociative Identity Disorder) Bourne was 61 years old and went missing and was later found in Pennsylvania, and he had no memory of how he got there or what happened. (Dissociative Identity

I elected this article on dissociative identity disorder and the corresponding study because as a health care professional I am continually searching to learn new information. I have not encountered anyone with this particular disorder in my fifteen year nursing career as of yet. I find it paining to know that what lies behind this particular disorder is such traumatic events that one has to endure. That one suffered such events that they fragment those memories into two or more alter identities. I have come across many patients with psychological disorders each time striving to learn more about them as a person and patient as well as the diagnosed disorder they face. Thought-provoking information was revealed through the study performed on women with a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder. I will summarize the

Developmental trauma and Therapist-induced are the main ideas on how the disorder develops. Dissociative Identity Disorder occurs for an individual for has experienced extreme trauma during early and therefore, creates multiple personality disorder. It is a psychological response to interpersonal and environmental stresses. Usually during early childhood years when emotional abuse may have interfered with personality development. 99% of people who have developed this disorder have personal history of overpowering, recurring, life threatening disturbances before the age of 9. It can happen to an individual who have had emotional abuse or neglect even when there’s been ono physical or sexual abuse. Research shows that individuals whose upbringings were frightening and unpredictable may develop the disorder. Theories of the causes that researches Gleaves and May (2001), discovered were traumagenic and iatrogenic. Traumagenic believe this disorder is a result of childhood trauma. Iatrogenic believe that the disorder is a result of media influence and psychotherapeutic interference. These two theories are why I believe the disorder is so hard to diagnose because it is so hard to tell if the individual is faking or not. This disorder effect .01%-1% of the general

This research paper aims to explore the mental disease known as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), previously known as multiple personality disorder. I explore the meaning, symptoms, and effects of DID. My research describes those diagnosed with DID and the probable reasons of why they have the disorder. This study also explains the many different treatments and the effects those treatments might have on a person that has the disorder. I include a research study done on someone diagnosed with DID, the method used to help treat her, and the results of her treatment. Lastly, I state my opinion on DID and the methods I believe with help people prevent, treat, and cope with