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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 Symptoms
Individual with
dissociative identity disorder describe a wide variety of
symptoms, some of them resemble other mental disorders.
Approximately 70 percent of the patients diagnosed with
DID meet the DMS-IV diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD), both conditions being
conceptualized as trauma-related disorders. The
posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms exhibited by
patients with DID include: intrusive symptoms,
hyperarousal, and avoidance and numbing symptoms.
Approximately 40 to 60
percent of the DID patients meet the diagnostic criteria
of somatoform pain disorder or conversion disorder due to
the presences of multiple types of psychophysiological
and somatoform (bodily) symptoms. Some of the somatoform
symptoms present in patients with DID include:
seizure-like episodes, headaches, abdominal,
musculoskeletal, and pelvic pain, asthma and breathing
problems.
Patients with DID also meet
the criteria of mood disorders, especially depression.
Some of the symptoms that resemble mood disorders,
include: mood swings, depressed mood, dysphoria (mood
state characterized by sadness, anxiety, irritability, or
restlessness), anhedonia (inability to experience
pleasure), suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts,
self-mutilation, helpless, hopeless, and guilt feelings,
or sleeping problems. Some of the DID symptoms can
resemble traits of obsessive-compulsive personality
disorder (OCPD) or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
such as: obsessive counting, singing, arranging,
checking, or washing. (4)
The main four symptoms of
dissociative identity disorder are:
1. Amnesia. A very
common manifestation of the disorder is amnesia or loss
of time usually observed by those around the person.
Patients with DID experience frequent memory gaps in
personal history (as extreme as an overall loss of
biographical memory for extended periods of time during
childhood, adolescence, or adulthood years), past events
(they can forget what had happened during a certain
period of time such as 3 years in a row) or recent events
(they find items in their house that they do not remember
purchasing, written notes with a different handwriting
than their, or evidence of activities they don't remember
engaging in). Some experts hypothesis that amnesia might
be possible due to the fact that passive identities tend
to have more constricted memories, while the more
hostile, controlling, or protective identities have more
complete memories. "An identity that is not in
control may nonetheless gain access to
consciousness." (2)
Approximately, 98 percent
of patients with DID display amnesia (from mild to severe
forms) when an alternate personality surfaces. When the
host personality takes charge, the time spent under the
control of other alters is either completely lost to
memory, or only remembered as confusing bits and pieces.
2. Depersonalization
is a dissociation symptom characterized by an alteration
in the perception or experience of self, in which the
patient either feels that their body is unreal, changing
or dissolving, or detached from it, similar with an
outside observer of their own mental processes or body
while having no control over the situation.
3. Derealization
is also a dissociation symptom in which the external
world is perceive as strange or unreal.
4. Identity
disturbances is one of the most distinct symptoms of
dissociative identity disorder. Individuals with DID
usually have a main personality and several alters that
take charge in different situations. The alternate
identities "are intrapsychic entities that have
a sense of self, have an emotional repertoire, and can
process information." (9) Some of the alters
handle and act out emotions the patient cannot deal with
such as rage or terror, others (called internal self
helpers) watch what is going on and give advice, or act
as friends. Some alters can know, observe, and interact
with one another in an extremely elaborated inner world,
while others may not be aware of the existence of some
alters. When they interact with one another, the patient
can report hearing inner conversations which are usually
diagnosed as auditory hallucinations. However, DID
auditory hallucinations differ from schizophrenia
auditory hallucinations due to their distinct qualities.
In DID, the voices are perceived to be heard internally
in the brain, while in schizophrenia the voices are
perceived to come from outside the brain.
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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