Download Causes and Treatments of Dissociative Identity Disorder

Causes and Treatments
of Dissociative Identity
Disorder
By Antonella Cattaneo & Carlos Zegarra
What is did?
Dissociative Identity Disorder was previously known as
Multiple Personality Disorder, Dissociative Identity
Disorder (DID) is a condition in which a person has
more than one distinct identity or personality state. At
least two of these personalities repeatedly assert
themselves to control the affected person's behavior. Each
personality state has a distinct name, past, identity, and
self-image.
causes
The severe dissociation that characterizes patients with DID is
currently understood to result from a set of causes:
• an innate ability to dissociate easily
• repeated episodes of severe physical or sexual abuse in
childhood
• lack of a supportive or comforting person to counteract
abusive relative(s)
• influence of other relatives with dissociative symptoms or
disorders
Signs and symptoms
• lapses in memory (dissociation), particularly of significant life events, like
birthdays, weddings, or birth of a child;
• experiencing blackouts in time, resulting in finding oneself in places but
not recalling how one traveled there;
• being frequently accused of lying when they do not believe they are lying
(for example, being told of things they did but do not recall, unrelated to
the influence of any drug or medical condition);
• finding items in one's possession but not recalling how those things were
acquired;
• encountering people with whom one is unfamiliar but who seem to know
them sometimes as someone else;
• being called names that are completely unlike their own name or
nickname
Continued…
• finding items they have clearly written but are in handwriting
other than their own;
• hearing voices inside their head that are not their own;
• not recognizing themselves in the mirror;
• feeling unreal (derealization);
• feeling like they are watching themselves move through life rather
than living their own life;
• feeling like more than one person.
How is Did
Diagnosed?
There is no specific definitive test that can accurately assess that a person has dissociative
identity disorder. So, practitioners conduct a mental health interview that gathers
information, looking for the presence of the signs and symptoms that we talked about.
They look for:
•
The presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its
own relatively persistent pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about him
or herself and the world)
•
At least two of the identities or personality states repeatedly take control of the
person's behavior.
•
Inability to recall important personal information that is too severe to be explained
by ordinary forgetfulness
•
The illness is not the result of the direct physiological effects of a substance (for
example, blackouts or other abnormal behavior during alcohol or other drug
intoxication) or a general medical condition (for example, seizures). In children,
the symptoms are not caused by imaginary playmates or other fantasy play.
Treatments
• Psychotherapy
• Medications
• Hypnosis
Psychotherapy
• Psychotherapy for DID patients typically has several
stages: an initial phase for uncovering and "mapping"
the patient's alters; a phase of treating the traumatic
memories and "fusing" the alters; and a phase of
consolidating the patient's newly integrated personality.
Medications
• Some doctors will prescribe tranquilizers or
antidepressants for DID patients because their alter
personalities may have anxiety or mood disorders.
However, other therapists who treat DID patients
prefer to keep medications to a minimum because
these patients can easily become psychologically
dependent on drugs. Also, many DID patients have at
least one alter who abuses drugs or alcohol, substances
which are dangerous in combination with most
tranquilizers.
Hypnosis
• While not always necessary, hypnosis is a standard
method of treatment for DID patients. Hypnosis may
help patients recover repressed ideas and memories.
Further, hypnosis can also be used to control
problematic behaviors that many DID patients exhibit,
such as self-mutilation, or eating disorders like bulima
nervosa. In the later stages of treatment, the therapist
may use hypnosis to "fuse" the alters as part of the
patient's personality integration process.
Video clip
• http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Art-Therapy-andDissociative-Identity-Disorder-Video