Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID

Formerly Called MPD - Multiple Personality Disorder

Sep 7, 2009 Neil Brick

Dissociative identity disorder is defined as the presence of two or more personality states that repeatedly take control of one's behavior.

Dissociative identity disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD) is defined in the DSM-IV-TR as the presence of two or more personality states or distinct identities that repeatedly take control of one’s behavior. The person has an inability to recall personal information. The extent of this lack of recall is too great to be explained by normal forgetfulness.

DID entails a failure to integrate certain aspects of memory, consciousness and identity. Patients experience frequent gaps in their memory for their personal history, past and present. Patients with DID report having severe physical and sexual abuse, especially during childhood. The reports of patients with DID are often validated by objective evidence.

DID is found in a variety of cultures around the world. It is diagnosed three to nine times more often in adult females than males. Females average 15 or more identities, males eight identities. The sharp rise in the reported cases of DID in the U.S. may be due the greater awareness of DID’s diagnosis, which has caused an increased identification of those that were previously undiagnosed.

The average time period from DID’s first presentation of symptoms to its diagnosis is six to seven years. DID may become less manifest as patients reach past their late 40’s, but it can reemerge during stress, trauma or substance abuse.

Causes of DID

Prolonged child abuse is frequently a factor in the development of DID, with a very high percentage of patients reporting documented abuse often confirmed by objective evidence. The DSM notes that the abusers in those situations may be inclined to "deny or distort” these acts. A study of 12 murderers established the connection between early severe abuse and DID.

History of DID

By the late 19th century there was a general realization that emotionally traumatic experiences could cause long-term disorders which may manifest with a variety of symptoms. Between 1880 and 1920, many great international medical conferences devoted a lot of time to sessions on dissociation.

Starting in about 1927, there was a large increase in the number of reported cases of schizophrenia, which was matched by an equally large decrease in the number of multiple personality reports. Bleuler also included multiple personality in his category of schizophrenia.

It was found in the 1980s that MPD patients are often misdiagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia. Multiple personality disorder began to emerge as a separate disorder in the 1970s when an initially small number of clinicians worked to re-establish MPD as a legitimate diagnosis.

Physiological Evidence for the Existence of DID

Physiological evidence has provided additional evidence to back the existence of DID. The literature has found physiologic and ocular differences across different alter personalities. Brain mapping has also found physiological differences in alter personalities.

References

Dissociative Identity Disorder Information

American Psychiatric Association (2000-06).Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV TR (Text Revision). Arlington, VA, USA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.. DOI:10.1176/appi.books.9780890423349. ISBN 978-0890420249.

Ross CA, Miller SD, Bjornson L, Reagor P, Fraser GA, Anderson G (March 1991). "Abuse histories in 102 cases of multiple personality disorder". Can J Psychiatry 36 (2): 97–101. PMID 2044042.

Boon S, Draijer N (March 1993). Multiple personality disorder in The Netherlands: a clinical investigation of 71 patients. Am J Psychiatry 150 (3): 489–94. PMID 8434668.

Lewis, D., Yeager, C., Swica, Y., Pincus, J. and Lewis, M. (1997). Objective documentation of child abuse and dissociation in 12 murderers with dissociative identity disorder. Am J Psychiatry, 154(12):1703-10.

Gleaves, D.H.; May MC, Cardeña E (2001) An examination of the diagnostic validity of dissociative identity disorder. Clinical Psychology Review 21(4) 577-608

Ross, C.; Norton, G. & Fraser, G. (1989). Evidence against the iatrogenesis of multiple personality disorder (PDF). Dissociation 2 : 61–65.

Putnam, Frank W. (1989). Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder. New York: The Guilford Press, 351. ISBN 0-89862-177-1.

The copyright of the article Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID in Abuse is owned by Neil Brick. Permission to republish Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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