Dissociative identity disorder (DID), formally known as multiple personality disorder, is a disorder in which a person has two or more alternate personalities (Ciccarelli, 2017). The patient experiences dissociation from the traumatic experiences that has bestowed this disorder upon them (van der Hart, 2017). DID victims usually have an abusive past or childhood, including abusive parents, grandparents, siblings, or other family members that have caused them physical and/or emotional pain (Lewis, 1997). Studies have shown the most common symptoms of DID are trances, changes in voice or language, and auditory hallucinations (Lewis, 1997). Although there is no treatment for this rare disorder, there are therapies to help come to realization with present time and focus on not avoiding the memories, but to focus on them and face them (van der Hart, 2017).
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Dissociative disorders are disorders that cause a break in conscious awareness, memory, and in the sense of self, or some combination (Ciccarelli, 2017). Dissociative identity disorder, also known as multiple personality disorder, is a disorder in which a person seems to experience at least two or more personalities existing in their body (Ciccarelli, 2017). Throughout the 1980’s, psychologists began to diagnose dissociative identity disorder, or “multiple personality disorder” as it was known, at a rapid rate. It had become the “fad” disorder of the late twentieth century (Ciccarelli, 2017). DID was called multiple personality disorder until 1994, when the name was changed to gain a better understanding of the disorder. The name “multiple personality disorder” portrays that the condition is a fragmentation of identity rather than a growth of separate identities that “dissociative identity disorder” portrays (Thomas, 2017).
DID is a reflection of the inability to integrate different aspects of identity, memory, and consciousness into one single self. When an alter personality is in control, they may experience life as if they have their own history as well as their own identity. Someone with this rare condition has a main personality who has not a clue of the other personalities. The main or “core” personality is the one who experiences losses of memory and time (Ciccarelli, 2017). People who are diagnosed with this condition are often victims of severe abuse, in more extreme cases, torture. They often experience memory loss that is too vast to be seen as ordinary forgetfulness (Thomas 2017).
Psychodynamic Theory
There are many different ideas about what causes dissociative identity disorder, and one of them includes the psychodynamic theory, closely associated with Sigmund Freud and his theory of psychoanalysis, Freud’s term for the theory of personality and the therapy based on it. Psychodynamic theories all hold the same belief that childhood experiences shape your personality and who you become. This theory works as a defense mechanism against traumatic and stressful events and it reduces the emotional pain caused by those events (Ciccarelli, 2017).
Most Common Symptoms in those with Dissociative Identity Disorder
One of the many symptoms of people with this disorder is dissociation. Dissociation can come in many different ways; trances, blackouts, and even astral projection. Astral projection is described as a willful out of body experience, some describe it as the ability to remove themselves from situations. Some describe their trances in terms of spacing out, transporting themselves to imaginary places in their head, and some report being able to block out physical pain. Other symptoms include auditory hallucinations, hearing things that are not actually there, and changes in voice and demeanor. There could also be different handwritings found within old journals and letters, meaning that their alter personalities acquire different handwritings (Lewis, 1997).
Another symptom could be alternate personalities speaking in languages that the main personality is not familiar with. In 1930, and Italian psychiatrist Giovanni Enrico Morselli had a patient named Elena. Elena alternated her language between French and Italian. The Italian personality had no knowledge of the French counterparts and vice versa (Schimmenti 2017). A more recent case in 2016 states that a 20-year-old Korean man in the military injured another soldier and was sent to a specialized civilian psychiatric hospital. While there, 7 alters were observed, one found went by the name of John, only spoke English, which is not his native language. (Kim, (2017).
Childhood Abuse and Maltreatment in those with Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Usually, one with dissociative identity disorder goes through a traumatic event or some sort of physical or emotional abuse in their childhood. In a lot of cases children received beatings from parents, rape, and were even locked in attics and basements. In one case, a child was thrown into a wall at ages fourteen months and three years old causing an indentation of the skull and was tied up naked and beaten by the mother and set afire by siblings.
In another, the child was tied down by his step-mother, given enemas containing blood, and to stop the blood flow, she then inserted tampons, thus stimulating menstruation. That child was removed from one foster family because he had been caught molesting other children and was wearing girls’ underwear and pads (Lewis 1997). What these people have gone through contributes to the diagnosis of their disorder. The term “abuse” does not do these situations justice, a more appropriate word would definitely be “torture.”
Treatment for those with Dissociative Identity Disorder.
The diagnosis of DID is often not made until adulthood, long after the trauma of their childhood, often though of the cause of this condition, is over. The treatment of patients with this condition is a very gradual process. Patients often try to dismiss all memory from the traumatic past, or event that has happened to them. In treatment, the therapist works with the patient to gain stabilization and trust. Therapists have to have a set of techniques to care to their patients, and they focus on their needs and preferences.
After the relationship is gained, the patient goes through Guided Synthesis, which is a long, in depth exposure to traumatic memories meant to prevent the avoidance of those memories. The patients have to face their harsh and often hidden memories and they to be able to prevent the usual reaction of dissociation when they are faced with those memories. After going through Guided Synthesis, the patient should begin to come to the realization that what has happened to them is now over and the past is over and it is the present now. They should be able to face their memories and handle their emotions in a healthy way and go on with their daily routines (van der Hart, 2017