Dissociative Identity Disorder Essay Example

DID, or dissociative identity disorder, is a controversial diagnosis within psychology and the legal system. How does a person develop DID? How can we be sure it's a real disorder? Not a lot is known about the disorder, as it's still being explored. It's estimated that only 0.5-1% of the population has the disorder. Before DID was its own disorder, people who have it were just labeled “schizophrenic”.

“Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a mental health condition. People with DID have two or more separate identities. These personalities control their behavior at different times. Each identity has its own personal history, traits, likes and dislikes. DID can lead to gaps in memory and hallucinations. It is usually the result of sexual or physical abuse during childhood, but sometimes it develops in response to a natural disaster or other traumatic events like combat. The disorder is a way for someone to distance or detach themselves from trauma. A person with DID has two or more distinct identities. The “core” identity is the person’s usual personality. “Alters” are the person’s alternate personalities. Some people with DID have up to 100 alters. Alters tend to be very different from one another. The identities might have different genders, ethnicities, interests and ways of interacting with their environments.'' (source 1, page 1, Cleveland Clinic medical professional.) In short, DID is a disorder that can be caused by severe trauma that causes complex reactions with the genetic, neurobiological, and cognitive parts of the brain. This triggers the brain to create alters, each with their own personalities and identities. It's a form of dissociation. 

Alters are the different “people” living within one brain and body. Each alter has a role in the brain, in order to help (or hurt, but that will come later) the body they are in. trauma holders, hosts, food and self harm management, animals, baby / infants, caretaker, littles/child alters, and dead alters are some examples. Each system (person with DID) has their own alters, depending on the trauma they were developed from. The only one every system has in common would be the core. For example, a system could have a little alter, but no animal alter. Evil alters, or Persecutor alters, are alters that purposefully harm the system or ruin treatment. They can abuse and manipulate other alters, or send other alters into dormancy. (cause an altar to go silent for some time, until it's safe to come back out or they are needed.) Fictives are alters that are formed from a piece of media, to put it simply. Fictives are to fulfill a purpose, just like every other altar in a system. They don't usually act or look the same as their source, and sometimes they don't even know they have a source. Fictives are commonly formed if a person has a connection to a media, or a character in that media. 

DID is a very serious illness, and living with it isn't any easier. Symptoms of DID include, but are not limited to:  impulsivity, self-destructive behavior, self-harm, anxiety, feeling detached from self, mood swings, altered consciousness, depression, flashbacks, amnesia, blackouts, sleep disturbances, sexual dysfunction, and headaches. Hallucinations are also very common. DID can make living extremely difficult. In fact, over 70% of people who have DID have attempted suicide at least once. DID causes social problems, problems with relationships, etc. Bullying and abuse isn't uncommon for people with this disorder. 

“DID is a newer illness, it's just an evolved form of schizophrenia.” Both people who have DID and schizophrenia experience the same things. issues with memory, suicidal ideation, difficulties sleeping,, visual and auditory hallucinations,  delusions and dissociation. All it is is just someone hallucinating that they are more than one person. Schizophrenia does mean split in greek. Both of them cause depression, social isolation, and an inability to do school work. So they are the same thing. right?

No, it's not not. Although schizophrenia and DID have some things in common, they are completely different disorders. Like ADHD and autism. They have things in common, but they are completely different. People with schizophrenia dont have alternate personalities, and people with DID do. “Neither condition has one definitive cause, but DID is associated with trauma while schizophrenia is more often associated with having certain genes. Most people with DID have a history of severe childhood trauma. An estimated 90% of people with DID have a history of neglect or abuse. The condition can arise when a child dissociates as a defense mechanism to escape an intolerable reality. Experts believe several factors play a role in the development of schizophrenia. The main one is your genes. Your environment, brain development and chemicals, and pregnancy complications may also be involved.” (source 2, page 1, Alex Klein and Jamie Elmer.) DID also begins when a person is a child, around 5-11. While schizophrenia can begin in early teens to late thirties. “People with schizophrenia may experience auditory hallucinations, such as hearing voices. People with DID may hear voices too, with some differences. People with DID typically: begin hearing voices earlier in life, hear more voices, experience voices that “talk” to one another, hear a combination of adult and child voices, whereas people with schizophrenia most often only hear adult voices, or report they would miss the voices.” (source 2, page 1, Alex Klein and Jamie Elmer.) 

DID is a complicated disorder, and we still don't know a lot about it. Schizophrenia and DID may seem similar, but they are VERY different disorders. One stems from trauma, one stems from genes. They are both serious problems, and should be treated as such. 

Credits: 

Source 1: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9792-dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder#:~:text=from%20Cleveland%20Clinic-,Dissociative%20identity%20disorder%20(DID)%20is%20a%20mental%20health%20condition.,memory%20loss%2C%20delusions%20or%20depression

Source 2: https://psychcentral.com/schizophrenia/did-vs-schizophrenia#why-do-people-confuse-them

Source 3: Haroldverse system#8299 on discord (via. Interview and correction of incorrect facts.)