DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Alexey Mazon
California State University: Fresno
Psych 36: Biological Psychology
Dr. Isom
May 14, 2020
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1 in 25 U.S. adults experiences serious mental illness each year. One of the more serious

mental illnesses is Dissociative Identity Disorder. Dissociative Identity Disorder, previously

known as Multiple Personality Disorder, is a vastly complex mental illness that is frequently

misunderstood.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly known as multiple personality disorder

(MPD), is a complex, chronic, posttraumatic dissociative psychopathology characterized by

disturbances of memory and identity. “Two or more distinct identities, or personality states, are

present in—and alternately take control of—an individual.” (Unknown, 2019) “Some cultures

describe this as an experience of possession.” (Unknown, 2019) “The person also experiences

memory loss that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.” (Unknown, 2019)

Several characteristics of identity, memory, and consciousness unsuccessfully mesh into a single

complex person. For the most part, the “main identity” holds the individual's given name and

tends to be passive, dependent, guilty, and depressed. People suffering from this disorder tend to

have smaller hippocampal and amygdalar volumes compared to healthy people. (Vermetten,

Schmahl, Lindner, Loewenstein, & Bremner, 2006) “DID patients also show larger white matter

tracts that are responsible for information communication between somatosensory association

areas, ​basal ganglia​, and the ​precuneus​. These neuroanatomical changes appear to be associated

with common DID symptoms such as host dissociation, neurotic defense mechanisms, and

overall brain activation/circuitry recruitment.” (Vermetten, Schmahl, Lindner, Loewenstein, &

Bremner, 2006)

“Numerous studies have shown an association between a dissociative identity disorder diagnosis

and an antecedent history of childhood trauma, usually multiple, sustained forms of maltreatment
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beginning in early childhood….” (Vermetten, Schmahl, Lindner, Loewenstein, & Bremner,

2006) “Research shows that diagnosis is typically made around age 30, but signs of the disorder

may begin in childhood as early as age 5. Multiple personalities, or alters, may surface at about

age 6. By the time a person has reached adulthood, they typically report 16 alternate

personalities. Adolescents with the disorder generally indicate about 24 alters.” (Unknown,

2020)

“Accordingly, the disorder has been conceptualized as a childhood-onset posttraumatic

developmental disorder. Dissociative identity disorder is frequently accompanied by dissociative

amnesia, characterized by an inability to recall important personal information that is too

extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.” (Vermetten, Schmahl, Lindner,

Loewenstein, & Bremner, 2006) “Glutamate release is found to be the cause of the dissociative

symptoms, if this is true, then probably the glutamate blockers is the future for managing such

patients.” (Rutkofsky, Khan, Sahito, Aqeel, & Tohid, 2017)

Patients with dissociative identity disorder also commonly experience a range of other

symptoms, including depersonalization, derealization, spontaneous autohypnotic symptoms,

pseudo psychotic symptoms such as passive influence from and/or hearing the hallucinated

voices of alter identities, and multiple somatoform symptoms. In clinical studies, most patients

with dissociative identity disorder have also been found to have posttraumatic stress disorder

(PTSD). “When in control, each personality state, or alter, may be experienced as if it has a

distinct history, self-image, and identity. The alters' characteristics—including name, reported

age and gender, vocabulary, general knowledge, and predominant mood—contrast with those of

the primary identity. Certain circumstances or stressors can cause a particular alter to emerge.”
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(Unknown,2019) The various identities may deny knowledge of one another, be critical of one

another, or appear to be in conflict. Other symptoms include depression, mood swings, suicidal

tendencies, sleep disorders (insomnia, night terrors, and sleepwalking), anxiety attacks and

phobias, alcohol, and drug abuse, hallucinations, eating disorders, headaches, amnesia, etc.

How does this translate into their everyday life? Many people that suffer from this disorder don’t

live a normal life and don’t even realize there are other identities present. They can be impulsive,

self-destructive, and have mood swings associated with each personality. They may feel like they

have a blurred identity with more than two people talking in their head. With each personality

having a different “job” it can be hard for the main identity to focus on a simple task. Each alter

can also have their own physiological characteristics. For example, one alter can be right-handed

while the other is left-handed.

Billy Milligan suffered from Dissociative Identity Disorder and is the first person in the history

of the United States to have been found not guilty by reason of dissociative identity disorder.

While there isn’t a cure for dissociative identity disorder, psychiatrists use prescription drugs to

help alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety, and psychologists use psychotherapy to help

patients heal from trauma and learn healthy coping mechanisms.

Psychotherapy for DID is usually no shorter than half a decade and can remain the only constant

thing in a person suffering from DID’s life. The psychotherapy occurs in stages in order to

predict how all the personalities will react to bringing up traumatic experiences. The goal of

psychotherapy is to make life for the patient easier and as normal as possible. Prescription drugs

and psychotherapy combined have been the only thing thus far that has helped patients

tremendously.
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Dissociative Identity Disorder is a complex mental illness in which two or more distinct

identities, or personality states, are present in—and alternately take control of—an individual. It

is important for us, as allies of mental health and mental disease, to show our support by the only

means possible, through raising awareness.

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References

Vermetten, E., Schmahl, C., Lindner, S., Loewenstein, R. J., & Bremner, J. D. (2006, April).
Hippocampal and amygdalar volumes in dissociative identity disorder. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3233754/

Blihar, D., Delgado, E., Buryak, M., Gonzalez, M., & Waechter, R. (2020, February 12). A
systematic review of the neuroanatomy of dissociative identity disorder. Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S246874992030017X

MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER / DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER. (n.d.).

Retrieved from ​https://www.amenclinics.com/conditions/multiple-personality-disorder/

Rutkofsky, I. H., Khan, A. S., Sahito, S., Aqeel, N., & Tohid, H. (2017). The Neuropsychiatry of
Dissociative Identity Disorder: Why many DID Patients Switch Personalities and Forget about
the Previous Personality while under the Influence of one Personality? ​Journal of Cell Science &
Therapy,​ ​08​(02). doi: 10.4172/2157-7013.1000267

Bhandari, S. (2020, January 22). Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder):
Signs, Symptoms, Treatment. Retrieved from
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disor
der#2

Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder). (2019, February 22). Retrieved
from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personal
ity-disorder