Dissociative Identity Disorder
Dissociative identity disorder, formerly referred to as multiple personality disorder, is characterized by a person's identity fragmenting into two or more distinct personality states. People with this condition are often victims of severe abuse.
Definition
Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a rare condition in which two or more distinct identities, or personality states, are present in—and alternately take control of—an individual. Some people describe this as an experience of possession. The person also experiences memory loss that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.
DID was called multiple personality disorder up until 1994, when the name was changed to reflect a better understanding of the condition—namely, that it is characterized by a fragmentation or splintering of identity, rather than by a proliferation or growth of separate personalities. The symptoms of DID cannot be explained away as the direct psychological effects of a substance or of a general medical condition.
DID reflects a failure to integrate various aspects of identity, memory, and consciousness into a single multidimensional self. Usually, a primary identity carries the individual's given name and is passive, dependent, guilty, and depressed. When in control, each personality state, or alter, may be experienced as if it has a distinct history, self-image and identity. The alters' characteristics—including name, reported age and gender, vocabulary, general knowledge, and predominant mood—contrast with those of the primary identity. Certain circumstances or stressors can cause a particular alter to emerge. The various identities may deny knowledge of one another, be critical of one another, or appear to be in open conflict.
Possession-like identities often manifest as behaviors that appear as if a spirit or other supernatural being has taken control of the person. Many possession states around the world are a normal part of a cultural or spiritual practice; these possession states become a disorder when they are unwanted, cause distress or impairment, and are not accepted as part of a cultural or religious practice.
Symptoms
The following criteria must be met for an individual to be diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder:
The individual experiences two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self). Some cultures describe this as an experience of possession.
The disruption in identity involves a change in sense of self, sense of agency, and changes in behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and motor function.
Frequent gaps are found in the individual’s memories of personal history, including people, places, and events, for both the distant and recent past. These recurrent gaps are not consistent with ordinary forgetting.
These symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
Particular identities may emerge in specific circumstances. Transitions from one identity to another are often triggered by psychosocial stress. In the possession-form cases of dissociative identity disorder, alternate identities are visibly obvious to people around the individual. In non-possession-form cases, most individuals do not overtly display their change in identity for long periods of time.
People with DID may describe feeling that they have suddenly become depersonalized observers of their own speech and actions. They might report hearing voices (e.g., a child's voice, the voice of a spiritual power), and in some cases, these voices accompany multiple streams of thought that the individual has no control over. The individual might also experience sudden impulses or strong emotions that they don't feel control or a sense of ownership over. People may also report that their bodies suddenly feel different (like a small child, or like someone huge and muscular), or that they experience a sudden change in attitudes or personal preferences before shifting back.
