Do people suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder?

by Harshani A. Pinnawala

Do individuals actually suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)? The answer might vary from person to person since this disorder has not become common among the public though it is not that much of a rare mental disorder.

In general, this is also known as Multiple Personality Disorder yet, the term has been changed due to the misleading term which is 'multiple personalities'. DID is a disturbance of identity where two or more separate personality states (or identities) control an individual's behaviour at different times. In a simplified manner, it involves the breakdown of memory where in most of the cases, it can be considered that an individual is avoiding the truth and running away from reality.

In most of the cases where DID presents, one identity of an individual will not be able to remember or recall certain incidents occurring in other identities. And, these different identities have different personalities such as care-free, fun-loving, quiet, studious and serious.

Among these different identities, changes can be seen in speech, attitudes, thoughts, gender orientation and gestures.

An individual might be a fast speaker whereas in another identity; he/ she can be a slow speaker.

Combination of the above mentioned different identities are known as 'alters' and these are fragmentary yet, can be manifested in a single individual. Physical differences can be seen among these different identities such as allergies, right-or-left handedness and need for eyeglasses. The changes of these identities might occur during a few minutes and sometimes it might carry on for several years.

However, the most common time frame is the shorter time period which is only a few minutes.

Certain roles of DID are extremely common among most individuals. Many of these roles are from ordinary people such as the roles of child, protector, celebrity.

In some cases, the roles might go to such extremes showing the behaviour of sadists and murderers. Sometimes, these roles can be opposite sex among one alter. The individuals mostly identified have lesser than ten alters and this can be increased up to 4,500.

The current research has shown that the average number of alters have been identified as approximately 16. According to the recent research findings, more females are diagnosed with DID than males due to the exposure to childhood sexual abuse. However, once again this can be varied among different ethnic groups and income levels.

Causes

Though the causes of DID are controversial, most of the time it occurs due to the effect of severe trauma during the important episodes of early childhood.

This trauma mostly links with repetitive physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

In addition, the disorganized attachments, lack of support from the society and the types of relationships with the specific abusers can be causes of DID. There are also chances of linking this trauma with natural disasters and war where individuals are exposed to traumatised events for several decades. One of the best examples for this is the civil war which took place in Sri Lanka for three decades where a large number of people were exposed to traumatic events and now suffer from various forms of many psychological disorders including DID.

Symptoms

The symptoms of DID are somewhat similar to those of several other mental disorders which included substance abuse, seizure, schizophrenia and post-traumatic disorders.

Most of the individuals suffer from depression, headache, amnesia (memory loss), time loss, confusion, disorientation, personality change, trances, mood swings, anxiety, nervousness, panic attacks, phobias (flashbacks, reactions to triggers), unexplained changes in eating and sleeping patterns (night terrors, sleep walking and insomnia), auditory and visual hallucinations (experiences that are not real such as hearing voices and seeing objects), problems of sexual activities, depersonalisation (episodes of feeling detached from one's body and thoughts), repeated victimisation by others,alcohol and drug abuse. Some affected individuals show extreme behaviour such as self-injury and suicidal tendencies. However, these symptoms can vary from one individual to another.

Some might get confused with the usual fantasising or getting lost in day-to-day work. Yet, this is different from DID, since it doesn't produce a connection in an individual's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions or sense of identity.

Treatment

Is DID curable? This is another question that might occur since the disorder has started increasing among the public. First and foremost, it is very necessary to begin the treatment as soon as the individuals start showing symptoms.

The most common method of treatment includes various therapies such as cognitive behavioural, insight-oriented, dialectical behavioural, hypnotherapy, exposure (reliving traumatic memories) and eclectic. Some behaviour therapists initially consider behavioural treatments in one alter and consider a traditional therapy in other alters.

Irrespective of the manner of the therapies, in most of the cases, the therapists mainly focus on the symptoms and the relieving conditions ensuring their safety.

Improving healthy relationships among the closed relatives has been considered as part of the therapies. The next stage will be the focus of the traumatic memories and in the final stage the therapists focus on reconnecting the identities into a single functioning identity with all the memories and experiences.

This will be a guide to reduce the number of alters during the treatment which generally lasts for years.

However, under certain circumstances, specific alters might react negatively due to the fear of the eradication of other alters which shows more violent and illegal behaviour.

Owing to this, some therapists have introduced Art therapy and Music therapy which are part of Creative therapy as another best method in treating DID individuals. These therapies might help an individual to express his thoughts and feelings in a creative and secure manner.

In certain cases, medication can be useful. Sleep patterns have also been suggested yet, have not been tested. So far, the treatment methods identified can be helpful to control the disorder yet, none were able to cure the disorder entirely.

The support they receive from the family members plays an important role with the individuals who have reached extremes such as self-harm and suicide. However, the support from the society is also important without treating them as untouchables. Furthermore, while providing medical facilities, it is also necessary to listen to the individuals without any interruption.

This may not provide solutions yet will give them a satisfaction of discussing their issues. It is essential to understand that DID individuals are also human beings and are a part of the society where they need to be treated with tender loving care.