There are many mental illnesses in the world that can send chills down one’s spine merely by thinking about them. One of the such disorders is the dissociative identity disorder; in common parlance known as multiple personality disorders. This illness has been the subject of many novels and movies. ‘Tell me your dreams’ by the illustrious author Sydney Sheldon is a case in point. One of the most famous cases of multiple personality disorders is that of Sybil, which was fictionalized in the book ‘Sybil’ in 1973; it was later made into a movie. The movie embodies the spirit of what encompasses multiple personality disorder is a terrifying indication of what the patients of this disorder have to undergo.
Dissociative identity disorder is a condition in which more than one personality of an individual is created in the mind and these personalities alternatively take control of the individual (“Diagnosis Dictionary: Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)”). However, it is pertinent to mention here that the personalities that are created are fragments of the original personality of the individual and not growth of separate personalities. This is why the name was changed to dissociative identity disorder; it was called multiple personality disorder till 1994 until it was changed to enhance the understanding of the disease (“Diagnosis Dictionary: Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)”).
When we fall into a reverie while we are awake, we are mildly dissociated. On the other hand, dissociative identity disorder is a very severe and grave form of dissociation (Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)”). Usually, patients of this disorder end up creating split personalities in order to dissociate themselves from the trauma experienced during childhood. The patients find it as a way to cope with their trauma. In order to lose all connection with the traumatic incident, the patient assigns another personality to handle with its consequences, memories and identity. This is obviously not done deliberately, but this is their natural reaction to the situation.
The symptoms of multiple personality disorders need appropriate attention. As mentioned above, different personalities keep taking turns to control the person. As a result, memory losses occur that are inexplicable only on the basis of mere forgetfulness (“Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)”). The fragmented personalities, or the ‘alters’ as they are called, each has his or her own name, age, gender, interests, speaking styles and dressing sense. The ‘alters’ can be persons or sometimes, even animals (“Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)”). When another personality takes control, it is said ‘switching has taken place.' Switching is more evident under the influence of hypnosis. The personalities instantaneously react to the demands of the psychologist. Patients of this disorder are also most likely to suffer from suicidal thoughts, to eat and sleep disorders, hallucinations and delusions, excessive mood swings and panic attacks. The ‘trigger’, meaning any incident that reminds the individual of the traumatic incident that eventually led to this disorder, makes the person go wild with anxiety and panic (“Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)”).
The individual might also suffer from extremely painful headaches and “out of body experiences” (“Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)”). The individual is also expected to become self-destructive and extremely aggressive (“Diagnosis Dictionary: Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)”). If the patient is a child, he/she may find it impossible to concentrate and focus at school.
Most of the sufferers of this disorder are known to have been victims of sexual abuse during their childhood. Other traumatic events also have the ability to induce this disorder. However, the diagnosis has become very controversial. People moot the point that the patients of dissociative identity disorder are highly suggestible – in other words, they blame the psychologist for giving birth to this problem while the patient is under hypnosis. However, brain imaging techniques have been employed in order to refute this criticism. These techniques shore up the aspect of identity transitions (“Diagnosis Dictionary: Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)”).
Famous cases of multiple personality disorders are those of Eve White and Sybil. Eve, also known as Chris Sizemore, introduced this disorder to the doctors’ community because before her case, very little was known about it (Ramsland & Kuter). Once Eve realized that something was wrong with her because she tried to choke her own daughter to death and subsequently, did not remember the incident itself, she decided to consul the doctors. The doctors identified her as a case of multiple personality disorders and named her three personalities: Eve White was the wife and mother, Eve Black was the wild party girl and Jane was a mature woman. Doctors believed that they had cured her after a span of one year by integrating her personalities. However, she knew she was still not cured, and the number of personalities increased to 22. She even wrote her own book explaining the experience.
The only cure of dissociative identity disorder is long-term psychotherapy (“Diagnosis Dictionary: Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)”). The psychologist has to dedicate efforts into reuniting all the personalities by making them come to terms with each other. Some people are still skeptic about whether this disorder even actually exists. Many states in the world have not recognized this disorder due to fear that it might misuse in order to avoid criminal liability. However, research suggests the opposite and remains one of the most frightening disorders of all time.
Works Cited
“Diagnosis Dictionary: Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder).” Psychologytoday.com. Sussex Publishers, n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.
“Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder).” Webmd.com. WebMD, LLC, n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.
Ramsland, Katherine & Kuter, Rachel. “Multiple Personalities: Crime and Defense.” Crimelibrary.com. Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.
