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Dissociative Identity Disorder
(formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder)
See Also:
DID:
Introduction
DID:
Overview
DID:
Symptoms
DID: Causes
DID:
Diagnosis
DID:
Treatment
Dissociative Identity
Disorder Overview
Dissociative identity
disorder is a dissociative disorder characterized by the
disturbance of identity in which two or more distinct
identities or personality states recurrently take control
of the behavior at different times. The term dissociation
refers to the disruption that occurs in "the
usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory,
identity, and perception." It is an ongoing
process in which certain information such as feelings,
memories, physical sensations, etc. are kept away from
other information with which is should normally be
associated. (2) "The essence of dissociation is
that material not in awareness influences behavior, mood,
and thought. Thus, the behavioral disturbances
prominently manifested in dissociative disorders are
considered to be unconscious: that is, resulting from
forces beyond the patient's awareness, beyond voluntary
control." (3)
A person affected by DID
can have several identities (referred to as ego states,
alters, personalities states, or alternate identities) as
few as two and as many as 100. The average number is
around 10. The alternate identities are assumed
involuntarily, have different names, possess a unique
style of viewing and understanding the world, and display
characteristics that contrast with the primary identity.
They usually exhibit differences in speech, personal
history, self-image, attitudes (hostile, controlling,
self-destructive), thoughts, tone of voice, age,
nationality, general knowledge, predominant affect, and
even gender and sexual orientation. Alters can also
differ in physical traits such as allergies or different
reactions to medication, body posture, right or left
handedness, different heart rates, blood pressure, body
temperature, and pain tolerance, different blood glucose
reaction to insulin, or the need for eyeglass correction.
Some alters can possess remarkable capabilities and
qualities, such as the ability to reproduce and create
new alters, or to determine which identity is taking
control over the body at a particular time. However, the
alters are not necessarily humans, the psychiatric
literature reporting cases when patients displayed alters
such as real or stuffed animals, demons, or aliens from
out of space. The alters emerge in certain situations and
take control over the person's behavior (similar to the
situation when several people alternately share the same
body), "may deny knowledge of one another, be
critical of one another, or appear to be in open
conflict" (2) and even harbor aggressive
tendency towards those around the person or towards other
alters.
In general, the patient
displays a "host" personality that usually
tends to be quiet, dependent, depressed, dominated by
guilt, and several alters. The process of change from the
host to alters or between alters is called
"switching". The time required to switch
identities is usually a matter of seconds and it is
accompanied by clues such as rapid blinking, facial and
voice changes, or disruption in the individual's train of
thoughts. The transition between identities is usually
triggered by psychosocial stress.
Patients suffering from DID
have "substantial relational pathologies
including major problems with trust and enmeshment in
violent and abusive relationships." They see
themselves as shameful, damaged, and responsible for
their own traumatization and perceive the world as
dangerous and traumatizing. (9)
The prevalence of the
disorder among the general population is highly
controversial, while some studies suggest that
dissociative identity disorder is not a rare condition,
some researchers approach these results with skepticism
claiming that the prevalence percentage is somewhat
lower. Based on studies conducted on the general
population, it is estimated that the disorder affects
approximately 1 to 3 percent of the population. Clinical
studies conducted in North America, Europe, and Turkey
suggest that between one and 20 percent of the patients
from general inpatient psychiatric units, adolescent
inpatient units, or those treated for substance abuse,
eating disorders, and obsessive compulsive disorder meat
the diagnostic criteria for DID.
The condition is more
common among women, the DID female to male ratio is
approximately 9:1. Although, unclear why this gender
imbalance, some researchers believe one cause can be the
high rate of abuse among the young female population, but
they do not excluded the possibility of underreported
male cases of DID. Men with DID tend to act more violent
than women and they are usually imprisoned rather than
hospitalized and diagnosed. Also, women tend to develop
more personality states than men, averaging 15 compared
with 8 for men.
Some of the common problems
associated with DID are: depression, substance abuse,
eating disorders, suicide, and self-mutilation.
See Also:
DID:
Introduction
DID:
Overview
DID:
Symptoms
DID: Causes
DID:
Diagnosis
DID:
Treatment
Article by Alina Morrow,
MS Psychology
OmniMedicalSearch.com
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