Transcript Dissociative Identity Disorder

Psychological Disorders
Mrs. Marsh
A dissociative disorder, formerly called multiple
personality disorder, in which an individual develops
more than one self or personality.
 Host
 The core personality.
 The primary identity associated with their given name.
 Usually passive and dependent.
 Possibly also depressed or guilty.
 Alters
 The personalities.
 Each has its own pattern of perceiving, thinking, and
relating as well as its own style of behavior, personal
history, and self-image.
 Each may have different ages, races, levels of
intelligence, affective styles, genders.
 At different times, one of these identities or
personality states takes control of the person’s
behavior.
 The other alters may actively perceive what is
happening.
 An alter may have access to memories of other alters.
 The transition from one alter to another is triggered by
psychosocial stress or a personally significant
stimulus.
 After a couple famous novels and books as well as
broadening of the definition and inclusion in the
DSM, cases of the disorder increased.
 Between 1920-1970: A handful of cases were reported.
 Since 1970: Cases have increased into the thousands.
 Many wondered whether the increase in prevalence
was due to overdiagnosis or people faking symptoms.
 Many are still skeptical of the disorder.
Scale
Item
Amnesia
Have you ever felt as if there were large gaps in your memory?
Depersonalization
Have you ever felt that you were watching yourself from a point outside of
your body, as if you were seeing yourself from a distance (or watching a movie
of yourself)?
Have you ever felt as if a part of your body or your whole being was foreign to
you?
Have you ever felt as if you were two different people, one going through the
motions of life, and the other part observing quietly?
Derealization
Have you ever felt as if familiar surroundings or people you knew seemed
unfamiliar or unreal?
Have you ever felt puzzled as to what is real and what’s unreal in your
surroundings?
Have you ever felt as if your surroundings or other people were fading away?
Identity confusion
Have you ever felt as if there was a struggle going on inside of you?
Have you ever felt confused as to who you are?
Identity alteration
Have you ever acted as if you were a completely different person?
Have you ever been told by others that you seem like a different person?
Have you ever found things in your possession (for instance, shoes) that
belong to you, but you could not remember how you got them?
 The diagnosis is given to people who experience two or more
distinct identities or personality states, each with an enduring
pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the
environment and the self.
 At least two of the identities or personality states recurrently
take control of the person’s behavior.
 The person is unable to recall important personal information,
well beyond what could be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.
 The disturbance is not due to substance use or a medical
condition.
 May have failed to develop an integrated and continuous
sense of self because they were severely traumatized or
abused in their childhood.
 Alters develop as an escape from the horrors of their daily
reality.
 Most people with Dissociative Identity Disorder report
having been victims of abuse.
 However, most people who have been abused do not develop
the disorder.
 An unknown factor seems to predispose certain traumatized
children to develop different personalities in response.
 Abuse may also trigger alterations in brain functioning.
 Therapy
 Similar to those who suffer PTSD.
 Help to integrate the alters into a unified whole and
develop adequate strategies to deal with the painful
memories of the past and current stress.
 Hyponosis
 Cognitive-behavioral therapy
 To change the client’s dysfunctional attitudes and/or beliefs:
 that the different parts of the self are separate selves
 that the victim is responsible for the abuse
 that it is wrong to show defiance
 that the host cannot handle painful memories
 that one of the alters hates the parents
 that the host must be punished
 that neither the self nor others can be trusted.
 Some positive outcomes.
 Example:
 In a study of 135 individuals with the disorder, 54 were
and reassessed after a 2 year period and continued to
show significant improvement.