Abstract
Research shows that childhood traumatic experiences and stressful life events can lead to manifestation of mental disorders like Dissociative Identity Disorder in young adulthood. Individuals with this mental disorder display varying personalities at different moments especially when the traumatic memory or experience is triggered. A patient with this disorder is diagnosed using the DSM-IV classification and psychiatric management is enforced with the aim of achieving non-dissociation and acquisition of a consolidated personality and identity.
Hypothesis statement
Mental disorders refer to any condition that manifests as deviation from social norms, thoughts, perceptions, behavior, and mood leading to an impaired social functioning. Causes of dissociative identity disorder are still unknown but its occurrence can be linked to the existence of some biological as well as environmental factors, which act in synergy to cause dissociation of personality and general behavior of the victim. One of them is traumatic experiences in the life course of an individual, especially during childhood. Traumatizing events affect heavily how the mind processes information and elicit certain behavior. This is because such events have a tendency of affecting certain parts of the brain that influence behavior. Presence of open psychological and personality conflicts are associated with the occurrence of dissociative identity disorder too (formerly known as multiple personality disorder) .
Correlation between trauma and dissociative identity disorder
Some psychiatrists and psychologists argue that the memory of a victim of a traumatic experience may dissociate as a way of escaping from the painful and horrific memories of trauma. Such dissociation in memory may lead to erasure or transposition of the person’s personal information and identity.
Another factor is the occurrence of continuous overwhelming dangerous events during young and early childhood. For example, when parents are abusive, scaring, and impulsive, they inflict emotional and psychological trauma on children can and this can translate into mental disorders like dissociative identity disorders. Children who have suffered neglect and emotional torture may also become dissociative.
DID has also been linked to some form of therapy that is used by proponents of the socio-cognitive model. These proponents believe that some parts of the unconscious mind can only be explored by use of hypnotic drugs that target specific parts of the brain and mind. These therapists induce dissociation in target individuals for the purposes of retrieving memory or alter their identities using hypnosis. reports that Dissociative disorders can be linked to reduction in size of the hippocampus (part of the brain involved in processing information and memory). This was supported by electroencephalogram images, which showed abnormal temporal and frontal lobes among children from abusive families. However, studies have not found any connection between dissociation identity disorder and genes.
use the neurocognitive theory to explain the occurrence of dissociative identity disorders. They elucidate that the hippocampus, which is found in the temporal lobe is a brain organ responsible for programming, storage, and recovery of episodic memory. This part of the brain may be interfered by traumatic events leading to distortion of activities and information leading to problems with memory, evident in DID. This theory also links occurrence of dissociative disorders with events of some biochemical substances like serotonin that stimulate the production of encephalin, a compound that alters affect associated with terrific incidents. Episodic memory is the form of memory that stores events related to consciousness. This compound may thus, impede the merging of traumatic memories into consciousness resulting in dissociative disorders like DID.
Traumatic events may be physical, emotional, and/or psychological. In the event of its occurrence, trauma affects mind, which regulates behavior and the brain, which controls cognition leading to manifestation of dissociative identity disorder (DID). DID exist for as long as the individual experiences feelings of two or more dissimilar identities or personalities. These feelings, thoughts, perceptions, and memories exists as single entities with disconnect in the affected individual. Feelings, thoughts, and memories take control of the victim’s behaviors at different times and affect the way the person thinks, relates with people, and remembers information.
The person loses self-control and even forgets some obvious personal information including one’s name(s). There is usually a primary identity and secondary or alternate identity/identities. Secondary identities carry unique names and traits that are different from those of the primary identity. These identities appear at different moments and may not take note of the other. However, a conflict may arise when the two identities acknowledge the presence of each other.
In many circumstances, it is often difficult to make an accurate diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder. DID begin early in childhood but signs and symptoms start manifesting in individuals when they reach age 20 and above. However, the DSM –IV classification of mental disorders provides a criterion that can be used to identify DID in the population. DSM 1V is the universal class under which a variety of mental illnesses like dissociative identity disorders fall.
One of the criteria is presence of two or more personalities or identities in the same individual, taking control of his/her behavior at different times. Another criterion is the inability of the person to remember vital and obvious information like personal details. This loss of memory cannot be explained by common absent-mindedness. The last criterion is being sure that the disturbance has not been caused by use of drugs and substances like alcohol or usual medication., asserts that individuals suffering from dissociative identity disorder also report feelings of depression, and agonizing headaches. They also display intense form of amnesia and to some extent anxiety and faintness.
Individuals suffering from DID are often diagnosed with other psychiatric illnesses like borderline personality, schizophrenia, bipolar depression, and epilepsy which affect important parts of the brain and mind.
Dissociative Identity Disorder is one of the contentious mental disorders. This is because not form of radiology and imaging can be used to identify the existence of Dissociative Identity Disorder. Research findings indicate that the prevalence of DID is 1% in the world while 7% are leaving with the disorder without knowing . Reports on dissociative identity disorder are common among all races and socio-economic sets .
Management
There is no standard management of DID but some of the widely used modalities include psychotherapy like cognitive behavioral therapy, insight-based therapy, eclectic, desensitization and reprocessing. These therapies aim at helping the individual courageously face the tragic, fearful, and painful experiences through remembrance. They target important parts of the brain and mind that control behavior, memory, and cognition.
In this way, lost memory, thoughts and perceptions can be rejoined, and the open conflict that is perceived to exist ends. Furthermore, therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy enhance the individual’s memory, and insight thus eliminating the disconnection that occurs in memory and thought. Encouraging sleep and management of the co-morbidities is also done accordingly.Sleep promotes synthesis and processing of memory while management of co-morbidities helps prevent complications. As a prevention measure, children living in abusive families or settings should be rescued since studies have found a strong link between childhood abuse and development of dissociative identity disorder.
, enumerate the stages one should follow when conducting an integrated psychotherapy of Dissociative Identity Disorder. It is suggested that it is essential for the therapist to first establish a rapport with the patient before making the diagnosis. After creating a rapport and building a good working relationship, the therapist should then attempt to see the behavior of the patient at different personality characteristics and try to identify the ‘common idea’ in both circumstances. Therapists should then help the patient develop cooperation and harmony of thoughts between the two stands. This should lead to a non-dissociative individual with a consolidated identity.
Conclusion
It is now clear that dissociative identity disorder is a mental illness that affects personality or rather, behavior of an individual who has a history of childhood traumatic experience, abuse, or stressful conditions. From the findings, it is apparent that life events like stress, trauma and any form of abuse especially during the prime age of child hood predisposes the victim to dissociative identity disorder which would consequently occur in the late 20s.
This mental disorder presents as lack of association or coherence in memory, thought and perceptions. Lastly, there is no standard management protocol for dissociative identity disorder but the above discussion has shown that psychotherapies like cognitive behavioral therapy and eclectic can prove to be efficient in consolidating, thoughts, and memories of the victim since they target important parts of brain and mind that control behavior and cognition.
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