Essay about The Many Faces of Dissociative Identity Disorder

a.Dissociative disorders are diagnosed based on a review of your personal symptoms and your personal history. Tests are performed to rule out physical conditions such as head and certain brain diseases, sleep deprivation, and intoxication.

Dissociative Identity Disorder, previously referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder, is a psychological illness that has raised a lot of controversy and led researchers to question its validity. This disorder has been recorded as early as the 1800’s, but has recently been given more attention to by clinical researchers because of its diagnosis rates. The brain is a very complex organ and certain traumas can lead to the occurrence of this illness. Dissociative identity disorder is an illness in which individuals develop two or more very different personality states. In this paper, I will explain the causes of dissociative identity disorder, outline the symptoms, and elaborate on the

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.

According to “Healthy Place”, 89% of people who suffer from Dissociative identity disorder (or Multiple Personality Disorder) are misdiagnosed (B.J.). Therefore, Dissociative identity disorder is labeled as “The Hidden Epidemic,” because it is never diagnosed as it really is, but hidden by other illnesses (Slack pg. 43). Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is often triggered with traumatic events like experiencing severe abuse. People with Dissociative identity disorder can come to a realization that they are diagnosed if they start having symptoms such as self harm, mood swings etc. Some people think it is some other disorder or disease, but majority do not know what DID is or of they are diagnosed with it. Although DID is incurable, there

The mental illness called dissociative identity disorder or DID brings up many controversies in the world of psychology. Many psychologists have their doubts as to whether it is a "real" diagnosis or not. In the article "Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Controversial Diagnosis" the author goes into detail, providing facts that have been collected from many sources and gives information as to why it is such a controversial topic. The article answers many questions regarding the topic, providing the reader with enough information to understand why there is such a controversy surrounding this topic.

In the article Dissociative Identity Disorder : A Controversial Diagnosis , stated that patients of dissociative are “ possess extreme sensitivity to interpersonal trust and rejection issues” (Gillig ,2009) . This creates a hard time for therapists to treat patients with multiple identity disorder because of trust and rejection issues.The treatment for consist of psychotherapy and hypnosis . Hypnosis is used for communicate with different personalities and to understand their role. There are different types of psychotherapy that decrease the symptoms of dissociative identity disorder .One of the following types of psychotherapy is cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps the patient to cope with negative thoughts and

According to the Mayo Clinic (Dissociation Disorders) or multiple personality disorders are categorized as instabilities or disconnection of reality, self-awareness, and character of an individual. According to the Mayo Clinic indicators of dissociation disorders could vary and depends on the type of disorders. Some of these symptoms that could identify the disorder are partial amnesia, lack of emotions, disconnection with reality, issues in maintaining relationships, inability to deal with life stressors factors or emotions, and sense of out of body experiences. Also, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (Dissociation Disorders) there are three main dissociation disorders recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. These disorders are classified as dissociation amnesia, depersonalization/deserialization, and dissociation identity disorder. The National

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).

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a mysterious condition that is misunderstood in its way of presentation in a patient. In this research article, there will be in depth analysis of the mental health condition that is so publicly recognized by Hollywood, but often ignored by medical professionals. There will also be an analysis of demographics, and who is affected more; males or females. There will also be a review of what factors predispose individuals to DID, and how it is diagnosed. There will also be information about how the disorder is treated, which includes therapy and medication. The usual signs and symptoms as well as medical and surgical interventions will be discussed. Lastly, this paper will review complications,

Dissociative Identity Disorder is a severe psychological disorder characterized by at least two or more distinct personalities or different identities. The different personality states are said to occur spontaneously and involuntarily and function more or less independently of each other. The person suffering from the disorder also experiences memory loss that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. Many people who experience this type of behavior are unaware that they have more than one personality because they can not remember anything that is happening while one of the mind alters are

All of the disorders in the Dissociative Disorders category need to be distinguished from conditions which are due to a General Medical Condition or the use of a Substance. Moreover, Dissociative Amnesia is within the diagnostic criteria for Dissociative Fugue, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Acute Stress Disorder and Somatization Disorder;

Although there are many scientific facts that come with Dissociative Identity Disorder; there are many other factors that come along with it. A person with Dissociative Identity Disorder may have different likes and dislikes with taste of foods; and a person who may be allergic to peanuts may not be allergic to them the next day. The reason for this is, their alternate personality is not allergic to them. A person will not know how to play the piano one day, but the next day they know how. The most supported physical evidence of Dissociative Identity Disorder is the dramatic upsurge of eye vision in an individual (Visual Function in Multiple Personality Disorder 1). A person with multiple personalities can have contrasting eye vision. Along with eye vision comes medical needs. A person may have asthma one day and the next day they don’t. Many of these factors come along with Dissociative Identity

According to the DSM-IV-TR, the person must meet certain criteria in order to be diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder. This includes two or more distinct identities or personality states being present, each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self, at least two of these identities or personality states recurrently taking control of the person’s behavior, the person having an inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness, and the disturbance not being due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (such as blackouts or chaotic behavior during alcohol intoxication) or a general medical condition (such as complex partial seizures).

For the people that have DID, the correct diagnosis take months and even years. Misdiagnoses are common ranging from schizophrenia to bipolar disorder with psychotic events. Medical history reveals there are unsuccessful psychiatric treatment, periods of amnesia, and disturbances in time perception. Standard tests that demonstrate presence of dissociation are: Diagnostic Drawing Series, Dissociative Experiences Scale, Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule, and SCID-D. Diagnosis also correlates with DSM-V.

In the DSM-IV-TR, the criteria for Dissociative Identity Disorder includes the following: “A. Two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self) are present. B. At least two of these identities or personality states recurrently take control of the person’s behavior. C. Inability to recall important personal information is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. D. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., blackouts or chaotic behavior during Alcohol Intoxication) or a general medical condition (e.g. complex partial seizures). Note: In children, the symptoms are not attributable to imaginary playmates or other fantasy play” (Lyons & Martin, 2011, p. 250). The individual may switch to another personality when experiencing stress. The switch can occur within a very brief amount of time. Some other symptoms may include conversion symptoms and headaches (Lyons & Martin, p. 249). It seems that when the main individual, or host, is transitioning into another personality, he/she is unaware of the change. The individual would then have difficulty remembering what he/she has done while behaving as any of the other personalities. This explains why people with DID experience black-outs or bouts of lost time. Part of the