Essay on Dissociative Identity Disorder - 800 Words

Dissociative Identity Disorder Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a severe condition in which two or more distinct identities or personality states are present in, and alternately take control of an individual. People who suffer from DID often have no recollection of what they have done or said while under the influence of the alternate personalities. Friends, family, and the person with the disorder often have a hard time dealing with DID, because of the sporadic nature of the personalities. DID is a serious disorder that affects a person’s long-term and short-term memory, their own identity, and their self-control. There are many different symptoms of DID, such as multiple personalities, frequent gaps in memory, and even some†¦show more content†¦The goal of the therapy is to deconstruct the alternate personalities and uniting them into one. The therapist tries to make contact with as many of the personalities as possible in order to gather an understanding of their roles and functions in t he person’s life. They try to make contact with the personalities that may be violent or self-destructive tendencies a priority. Another goal of the therapist is to set up communication between the personalities in order to retrieve traumatic memories from the past. Other treatments include cognitive and creative therapies. Treatment is generally as an outpatient, but inpatient treatment may be used to achieve specific goals. An individual diagnosed with DID usually goes through three to five years of treatment, though a complex case may require six or more years of therapy to be stabilized and unite their personalities (Stephens, L. 2007). There is still controversy over the legitimacy of patients diagnosed with DID. Many doctors feel as though there are not many true cases of DID that are not contaminated, and they say you can trace the sudden rise in DID diagnosis back to 1957 and the release of the book The Three Faces of Eve. The uncritical embracing of the DID diagnosis by a large number of mental health professionals is also another reason why some feel that there are not many straight cases of DID. They feel as though DID is a sociallyShow MoreRelatedDissociative Identity Disorder ( Dissociative Disorder )1040 Words   |  5 PagesDissociative Identity Disorder Dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder, is a mental illness that is greatly misunderstood, much like many other mental illnesses. Nicholas Spanos, Professor of Psychology, hypothesized Multiple Personality Disorder as a defense against childhood trauma that creates â€Å"dissociation† or a split mental state. The trauma sustained during childhood is so substantial, that the individual creates different identities to cope with itRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder ( Dissociative Disorder )1194 Words   |  5 PagesDissociative Identity Disorder is a disorder distinguished by the existence of two or more distinct personality states. It is also known as DID or Multiple Personality Disorder. It is very rare, with only 20,000 to 200,000 known US cases per year. Currently, there is no known cure, but treatment can sometimes help. Many believe that DID can be caused by a significant trauma and is used as a coping mechanism to help avoid bad memories. The disorders most often form in kids victim to long-term physicalRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder970 Words   |  4 Pages Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is a severe condition in which two or more dissimilar identities, or character states, are present and alternately take control of an individual. The person experiences memory loss that is vaguely extensive to be explained as common forgetfulness. These symptoms are not taken in consideration for by seizures, substance abuse or any other medical conditions. Description of DID: Symptoms: Read MoreDissociative Identity Disorder2780 Words   |  12 PagesDissociative Identity Disorder Imagine waking up in a new house, town, city, even state and not knowing how you got there. Now add onto that thought of forgetting almost a year of your life because someone else, or something, has taken over your body. That is just a look into dissociative disorders in general. Dissociative Disorders are ‘extreme distortions in perception and memory† (Terwilliger 2013). Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), or previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder, isRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder2296 Words   |  9 Pagesdefines dissociative identity disorder (DID) as the occurrence of a minimum of two different personalities and maybe more than two. It also clarifies that the switching between the distinct personalities can be observed by the individual who is suffering from dissociative identity disorder or witnessed by others. (Barlow, 2014, P. 1). This disorder used to be known as multiple personality disorder, which is more recognized and understood to peop le without a psychology background. This disorder can beRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder1221 Words   |  5 PagesThis research paper is about Dissociative identity disorder (DID) as known as multiple personality disorder. DID in which a person could have many different parts to their personality due to severe stress and an experience of a trauma. A person with DID when the have control over their one identity they cannot remember what they did when their other identities were in control. Most of the time people with DID have two personalities but they could have more than two which is referred as alters. ThenRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder : Dissociative Identification Disorder1485 Words   |  6 PagesDissociative Identity Disorder 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 withRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder2158 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å"Dissociative Identity Disorder† Through out the years there has been many disorders that continue to be diagnosed on people, many can be difficult to deal with. Some of these disorders can be uncontrollable and can make it harder on the patients who are trying to get better. Disorders are not sicknesses that can be cured and gone with a couple of doses of medicine, disorders are serious problems a person has to deal with usually if not for a large amount of time, it can be every day for the restRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder1030 Words   |  5 PagesDissociative Identity Disorder Defining what is abnormal is not necessarily easy. There are many different criteria to determine what exactly is normal and what is abnormal. According to Ciccarelli and White (2012) as early as 3000 B.C.E. there have been human skulls found with holes in them. Archaeologists suspect this was caused because of the treatments they had years ago such as â€Å"trepanning†. Trepanning is done nowadays as well to remove extra fluids from the brain, as for years ago doctors didRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder ( Dissociative Personality )1254 Words   |  6 PagesDissociative identity disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder) is thought to be a complex mental condition that is likely brought on by numerous variables, including serious injury amid early adolescence generally compelling, repetitive physical, sexual, or psychological mistreatment. The greater part of us have encountered mild dissociation, which resemble wandering off in fantasy land or losing all sense of direction at the time while taking a shot at an undertaking. In any