Learning about DID
What is it???
DID is a defense mechanism in which a person creates alternate personalitiesto make an unbearable reality bearable. The "core person" or "first born" often times is a victim of repeated sexual and physicalabuse usually before the age of nine. The abuse usually lasts over an extendedperiod of time often with life threatening experiences. The core person is"creatively brilliant" often with artistic talents such as writing,music and drawing.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 3) (1980)defines multiple personality disorder as:
The essential feature is the existence within the individualof two (2) or more distinct personalities each of which is dominant ata particular time. each personality is a fully intergrated and complexunit with unique memories, behavioral patterns, and social relationshipsthat determine the individuals acts when that personality is dominant....Usually the host personality has no knowledge or awareness of th existenceof any other personalities. (DSM3 p. 257)
Fascination with
There is an intense facination with DID, including the affected, thetherapist, and society. Movies such as Raising Cain and Sybiland Never Talk to Strangers glamorize a much misunderstood disorder.Therapists are often wraped up in the drama of the dissociator's switchingof personalities that the therapist forgets the goal of helping the patient.
Advantages of
There are advantages to being a dissociator. Often the multiple doesnot experience the dehabilitation that is often associated with DID. Theycan accomplish a great deal in a short period of time, such as recievinga six year law degree from Harvard in three years time. They can experience the way things look thru the eyes of a child, and can have wisdom of someone much older.