There are many disorders in the world, but one of the less common ones is dissociative identity disorder or also formerly known as multiple personalities. Dissociative Identity Disorder is a failure to integrate various aspects of a person’s identity, which can cause a person to put their different personalities into two or more identities. There are many factors that contribute to dissociative identity disorder such as the causes, symptoms, diagnosing the disorder, and treating it as well.
There are many issues that can cause one to develop DID (dissociative identity disorder) over time. Patients that have Dissociative Identity Disorder often report that they have had extreme physical or sexual abuse as a child. …show more content…
Patients with this disorder can also self-mutilate or have suicidal and aggressive behavior. Many people with this disorder that were abused as children might have a repetitive pattern of relationships involving physical and sexual abuse.
There are many minor and major symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder. The first major symptom experienced by patients is Amnesia. “Amnesia in patients with DID is marked by gaps in their memory for long periods of their past, and, in some cases, their entire childhood.”(“Dissociative Identity Disorder”). Patients with DID have what psychiatrist refer to as “lose time,” when other personalities are out for an amount of time. Many times patients report having no memory of certain activities or finding objects in their house that they have no recollection of. The second major symptom is depersonalization. This symptom is when patients report, “they feel like their bodies are unreal, are changing, or are dissolving.” (“Dissociative Identity Disorder”). When patients experience depersonalization they say it’s as …show more content…
With the treatment process the main solution is Psychotherapy with a therapist that specializes in this field. The psychiatrist has many steps in their program the first being, the “initial stage” in order to discover the patients alters. The second step consists of treating the patients past “traumatic experiences” and “fusing” the alters. The last step is to “consolidate the patient’s newly integrated personality.” (“Dissociative Identity Disorder”). Family and group treatment can greatly help the patient, as well as another form of treatment for DID which is hypnosis or hypnotherapy. Hypnosis isn’t always necessary but it can help the patients uncover lost or repressed ideas and memories. Psychiatrist can use this method to help any of the other alters that show signs of, self-harming or an eating disorder. Psychiatrist also use this to help “fuse” the alters which is a part of the third step to combine their personalities into one. Lastly, some doctors will prescribe medications for their patients such as tranquilizers or anti-depressants for their alters that may have an “anxiety” or “mood disorder.” However most psychiatrist want to keep the medications to a limit because the patient can become dependent or one of their personalities abuses drugs or alcohol. (“Dissociative Identity