Dissociative Identity Disorder Essay

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).

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.

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 (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 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

Dissociative Identity Disorder is a mental disorder where an individual experiences two or more distinct personalities. When an individual is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, one personality has dominant control of an individual. This personality controls how a person may act and how they live everyday life. A person diagnosed with this disease may or may not be aware of their alternate personalities. Each personality is contrasting of each other with distinctive likes and dislikes. They can differ in eyesight, prescriptions, language, and education levels. Many people who suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder have experienced severe childhood trauma. Many Psychologist and others argue

Dissociative Identity Disorder, commonly referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder, has been one of the more controversial diagnoses in psychology and psychiatry. On one side of the debate, many psychologists and psychiatrists believe the disorder to be an actual phenomenon that occurs in individuals that have suffered through some traumatic experience. On the other side of the debate, however, are the many psychologists and psychiatrists that believe the disorder is simply the result of a therapist’s suggestion and guidance. The present paper, therefore, aims to look into this debate. In particular, the paper discusses the criteria in which one is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, explores the history of the disorder, and presents both sides of the controversy of the disorder.

(Berzoff, 1995) At least two of the identities will try and control the people behavior, unable to remember personal information, two or more personality states. The disturbance is not related to body-structure-related effect, or general medical conditions.

Dissociative identity disorder is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personalities. Each may have a unique name, personal history, and characteristics. The behavioral aspects are: impulsivity, self-destructive behavior, or self-harm Mood: anxiety, feeling detached from self, or mood swings. The psychological aspects consist of: altered consciousness, depression, or flashbacks. Also common: amnesia or blackout. The only treatment is talk therapy. The therapies are: cognitive behavioral therapy, family therapy, psychotherapy. Dissociative Identity Disorder is often confused with Schizophrenia, but they are very different. Schizophrenia is a violent mental illness involving chronic psychosis, made distinctive mainly by hearing or seeing hallucinations and thinking

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’”

Dissociation is defined as “a mental process, which produces a lack of connection in a person 's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity” (Grohol, 2016). The Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is a severe condition in which two or more separate, distinct identities or personality states are present in an individual. In other words, a person has, what seems like, actual distinct and contrasting people in their head and these “alters” are able to take control of an individual’s mind and body at any time and act as a completely different individual. Each alter is capable of having its own set of likes, dislikes, talents, memories, and personal experiences. The alters’ usually have a specific name, age, gender and possibly race. According to Psychology Today (2014), the alters’ characteristics are typically very different from the primary identity, including their history, self-image, vocabulary, knowledge and predominant mood. The primary identity tends to be passive, dependent, guilty and depressed. A person with DID experiences extensive memory loss which is typically more extensive than what would be experienced by ordinary forgetfulness. For instance, if an alter were to take over, once the individual is back in control of his or her own body, they typically report not remembering anything that was done or said. Some individuals report feeling “familiar” with the conversations or experiences that were had by the alter, but as if they had only overheard

Psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, and non-verbal therapy seem to be the most effective treatment methods for DID (Kaplan par. 11-12). No immediate results are expected from these treatments. for the management of dissociative identity disorder is a long-term course of action. Psychotherapy is when the patient and psychiatrist talk through the patient’s thoughts and emotions without the. use of medicine. This method could go along with hypnotherapy, which is used to retrieve memories that may be in the subconscious of the patient or in the memory of the alters within the patient. Nonverbal therapy consists of art and play therapy, which is more of an indirect, nonetheless creative and helpful, way of expressing the patient’s feelings. The underlying purpose of each treatment method listed is to find out what traumatic event took place in the. patient’s childhood to spawn the alters. Needless to say that this part of therapy is the hardest. Once the patient comes to terms with what happened, one can no longer rely on the alters to protect him/her from the past nor the emotions accompanied by. those memories. What exactly happens to the alters once the patient’s therapy is complete? The different personalities do not go away, they are simply “integrated into the host personality” (Prerost par. 14). The host adopts certain characteristics from his/her alters and uses those traits to protect him/herself without dissociating. This way, the host becomes one with the alters without losing time or control of one’s body. According to Kaplan, “60% of patients who undergo treatment maintain stable integration” (Kaplan par.

Dissociative Identity Disorder, previously called multiple personality disorder, is a severe form of separation. It is the most dramatic, least common, and most controversial dissociative disorder (King, 2012, p.569). Individuals that suffer from this disorder have more than one distinct personality, or identity. One of the identities is dominant, each identity takes over at different times. One identity may or may not be aware of the other, if someone has more than two, the identities may be aware of only certain others or none at all. If a situation is thought to be too violent, traumatic, or painful to assimilate with their main personality, the person with dissociate themselves and switch to another identity.

Dissociative Identity Disorder, commonly referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder, exists as a bizarre mental disorder in which a person acquires two

First, doctors diagnose dissociative disorders based on a review of symptoms and personal history. The doctor may perform tests to rule out physical conditions that can cause symptoms like amnesia and a sense of unreality. If the