Dissociative Identity Disorder: History, Symptoms, and Treatment Options

BY: TAHLOR EASTERLING AND ASHLEY PHILLIPS

BRIEF HISTORY OF D.I.D DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER OR AS IT S MORE COMMONLY KNOWN, MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER, IS A DISORDER CHARACTERIZED BY THE PRESENCE OF TWO OR MORE DISTINCT PERSONALITY STATES IT DID NOT BECOME AN OFFICIAL DISORDER IN THE DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS (DSM) UNTIL 1980. IT WAS INCORPORATED INTO THE DSM-III UNDER THE NAME MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER BUT WAS CHANGED TO DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER IN THE DSM-IV.

THE FIRST AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THEORIST WAS THE MAN BY THE NAME OF PIERRE JANET. JANET ARGUED THAT HYPNOSIS WAS ACTUALLY A DIFFERENT TYPE OF DIVIDED CONSCIOUS INSTEAD OF SOMEONE BEING UNCONSCIOUS UNDER HYPNOSIS. HE SAID THIS DIFFERENT STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS WAS ALWAYS THERE BUT WOULD SOMETIMES APPEAR TO BE "DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES THE SECOND IMPORTANT THEORIST IS MORTON PRINCE. PRINCE TRIED TO RELATE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECT OF MPD AND HYSTERIA. PRINCE WAS A FAN AND SUPPORTER OF JANET AND AIMED TO STRENGTHEN HIS THEORY. HIS THEORY DEALT WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS THOUGHT PROCESSES THAT HE BELIEVED PEOPLE HAD. PRINCE BELIEVED THAT HIS THEORY WAS PROMISING BECAUSE IT EXPLAINED WHY INFORMATION COULD BE RECORDED BUT NOT PERCEIVED IN THE CONSCIOUS STATE BUT CAN BE PERCEIVED IN THE OTHER SUBCONSCIOUS STATE. THE FINAL IMPORTANT THEORIST IN THE FIELD OF DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER IS BORIS SIDIS. THE MAIN THEORY THAT SIDIS PROVIDED WAS HIS PSYCHOLOGY OF SUGGESTION. HIS APPROACH TOOK A MORE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH AND LOOKED AT HOW NEURONS WORK INTO THE IDEA OF CONSCIOUSNESS

SYMPTOMS OF D.I.D. WITH DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER, THERE'S AN INABILITY TO RECALL KEY PERSONAL INFORMATION THAT IS TOO FAR-REACHING TO BE EXPLAINED AS MERE FORGETFULNESS. WITH DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER, THERE ARE ALSO HIGHLY DISTINCT MEMORY MODIFICATIONS, WHICH VARY WITH THE PERSON'S SPLIT PERSONALITY

DIFFERENT SYMPTOMS/SIGNS OF DID

TREATMENT OPTIONS PSYCHOTHERAPY IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED TO BE THE MAIN COMPONENT OF TREATMENT FOR DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER. IN TREATING INDIVIDUALS WITH DID, THERAPISTS USUALLY TRY TO HELP CLIENTS IMPROVE THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS AND TO EXPERIENCE FEELINGS THEY HAVE NOT FELT COMFORTABLE BEING IN TOUCH WITH OR OPENLY EXPRESSING IN THE PAST HYPNOSIS IS USED TO HELP INCREASE THE INFORMATION THAT THE PERSON WITH DID HAS ABOUT THEIR SYMPTOMS/IDENTITY STATES, THEREBY INCREASING THE CONTROL THEY HAVE OVER THOSE STATES WHEN THEY CHANGE FROM ONE PERSONALITY STATE TO ANOTHER. THAT IS SAID TO OCCUR BY ENHANCING THE COMMUNICATION THAT EACH ASPECT OF THE PERSON'S IDENTITY HAS WITH THE OTHERS. EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING (EMDR), IS A TREATMENT METHOD THAT INTEGRATES TRAUMATIC MEMORIES WITH THE PATIENT'S OWN RESOURCES, IS BEING INCREASINGLY USED IN THE TREATMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER. IT HAS BEEN FOUND TO RESULT IN ENHANCED INFORMATION PROCESSING AND HEALING. MEDICATIONS ARE OFTEN USED TO ADDRESS THE MANY OTHER MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS THAT INDIVIDUALS WITH DID TEND TO HAVE, LIKE DEPRESSION, SEVERE ANXIETY, ANGER, AND IMPULSE-CONTROL PROBLEMS.

AGE AND/OR FACTORS FOR ONSET CLINICAL POPULATIONS, ESTIMATED THAT THE PREVALENCE OF DID RANGES FROM 0.5 TO 1.0 IN THE GENERAL POPULATION FEMALES ARE MORE LIKELY TO RECEIVE A DIAGNOSIS OF DID, AT A RATIO OF 9:1. THE DISPROPORTIONATELY HIGH NUMBER OF FEMALES DIAGNOSED WITH DID DISPELS THE NOTION THAT INCESTRIAL ABUSE IS LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF DID. HIGH PERCENTAGES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DID HAVE COMORBID DIAGNOSES OF POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER OR BORDERLINE PERSONALITY IN ADDITION, INDIVIDUALS DIAGNOSED WITH DID COMMONLY HAVE A PREVIOUS DIAGNOSIS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA.

D.I.D IN THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM SEVERAL PROMISING STUDIES HAVE BEEN PERFORMED THAT IMAGED THE DID BRAIN. VERMETTEN A PSYCHOLOGIST USED MRI SCANS TO COMPARE THE BRAIN STRUCTURE OF FEMALE PATIENTS WITH DID TO HEALTHY SUBJECTS AND FOUND THAT THE HIPPOCAMPUS AND AMYGDALA OF THE DID PATIENTS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY SMALLER (19.2% AND 31.6%, RESPECTIVELY) SUCH A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN BRAIN STRUCTURE WOULD IMPLY THAT THE HIPPOCAMPUS AND AMYGDALA ARE KEY IN UNDERSTANDING DID, WHICH SEEMS TO MAKE GOOD SENSE GIVEN THE HIPPOCAMPUS S ROLE IN FORMING LONG-TERM MEMORIES AND THE AMYGDALA S IN REGULATING EMOTION. IRREGULARITIES IN THESE BRAIN AREAS WOULD, THUS, HELP ACCOUNT FOR THE VARIANCE OF MEMORY AND EMOTIONS AMONG THE DIFFERENT ALTERS PRESENT IN DID. ANOTHER STUDY PROVED THAT ALL OF THE PATIENTS WITH DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER ALSO MET THE CRITERIA FOR PTSD, WHICH MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO ESTABLISH THAT THE FINDINGS ARE NOT RELATED TO THE COMORBID PTSD DIAGNOSIS. IN CONCLUSION RESEARCH HAS FOUND THAT PATIENTS WITH TRUE DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER WITHOUT PTSD ESSENTIALLY DO NOT EXIST

THE COMPARISON OF A NORMAL SIZED HIPPOCAMPUS AND AMYGDALA TO A D.I.D PATIENT

PTSD AND D.I.D IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND BRAIN THOSE NEURONS HAVE TO BE WELL TUNED BEFORE THEY CAN TALK PROPERLY. DRUGS, DISEASE, MOODS, GENETICS ALL CAN AFFECT THE PROPER SIGNALING OF NEURONS. WHEN A NEURAL BUNDLE IN THE BRAIN TALKS TO ANOTHER NEURAL BUNDLE, IT USES NEUROTRANSMITTERS TO HELP THE COMMUNICATION IT IS A MULTI-STEP PROCESS. 1. NEURON MAKES AND STORES UP NT S. 2. NEURON RELEASES NT FROM A NERVE TERMINAL. 3. NT S WANDERS THE GAP AND INTERACTS WITH A RECEPTOR 4. TERMINATE THAT INTERACTION WITH THE RECEPTOR. 5. DESTROY THE NT OR RE-ABSORB IT BACK INTO THE ORIGINAL TERMINAL.

TWO IMPORTANT NTS ARE SEROTONIN AND DOPAMINE. DOPAMINE HAS MANY FUNCTIONS IN THE BRAIN. MOST IMPORTANTLY, DOPAMINE IS CENTRAL TO THE REWARD SYSTEM. LOW LEVELS OF DOPAMINE MAY LEAD TO DEPRESSION. SEROTONIN IS SORT OF A MIDWIFE TO THE WHOLE PROCESS, BACK TO THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM THAT KEEPS THE BASICS GOING SO YOU DON T HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THEM. THE HYPOTHALAMUS IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HORMONE PRODUCTION AS WELL AS TELLING YOU WHAT TO DO. IT CHECKS THE STATUS OF YOUR BODY AND SIGNALS CHANGES TO KEEP THINGS STABLE. EX: SO YOU SHIVER WHEN YOU ARE COLD, YOU SWEAT WHEN YOU ARE HOT, AND YOU SALIVATE WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY.

AREAS IN THE BRAIN AFFECTED BY D.I.D

THE BRAIN OF A PATIENT WITH D.I.D

THESE SIGNALS PLAY A ROLE IN YOUR EMOTIONS. THEY ACTIVATE THAT FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT REACTION, FOR EXAMPLE. THIS ALSO INCLUDES SIGNALS TO ADJUST THE HORMONE LEVELS. CORTISOL IS A STEROID HORMONE THAT REGULATES BLOOD PRESSURE AND CARDIOVASCULAR FUNCTION AS WELL AS THE BODY S USE OF PROTEINS, CARBOHYDRATES, AND FATS FOR ENERGY. A BODY UNDER STRESS (ILLNESS, TRAUMA, EVEN TEMPERATURE EXTREMES) INCREASES CORTISOL PRODUCTION. MORE CORTISOL MEANS STORING EXTRA SUGAR FOR FUEL, PUMPING UP BLOOD PRESSURE, INCREASING HEART RATE, ETC. ALL THESE ARE RESPONSES TO STRESS. HIGH LEVELS OF CORTISOL IMPAIR VERBAL MEMORY PERFORMANCE. WHEN AN INTERRUPTION OCCURS, THE NEUROTRANSMITTERS FALTER, LEADING TO A FAILED TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION FROM ONE POINT TO ANOTHER IN THE BRAIN. IN SOME CASES THIS LOSS MAY BE INCONSEQUENTIAL. YOU NEVER NOTICE. IN OTHER CASES IT MAY CAUSE A MASSIVE FAILURE OF THE SYSTEM: LOSS OF MEMORY, MISPERCEPTION OF REALITY OR INABILITY TO PERCEIVE REALITY, OR INAPPROPRIATE REACTION. WHEN THE BODY RELEASES A LOT OF CORTISOL IN RESPONSE TO STRESS, A PERSON S MEMORY PERFORMANCE DEGRADES. TRAUMA BREAKS THE NORMAL PROCESSING. TRAUMA IS DANGER. THE AMYGDALA, BUSY WITH ITS CONTINUAL QUESTIONING, DETERMINES THAT DANGER EXISTS. THE BRAIN TRIGGERS THE INTRICATE FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT CHEMICAL DANCE TO PROTECT ITSELF. IN THE CASE OF DID THE BRAIN PROTECTS ITSELF BY CREATING A NEW IDENTITY TO PROTECT ITSELF FROM THE PAINFUL MEMORIES OF TRAUMA OR ABUSE.

CHRIS COSTNER SIZEMORE BORN APRIL 4, 1927 IN EDGEFIELD, SOUTH CAROLINA WAS DIAGNOSED WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER IN THE 1950 S SIZEMORE HAD DEVELOPED MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES AS A RESULT OF HER WITNESSING TWO DEATHS AND A HORRIFYING ACCIDENT WITHIN THREE MONTHS AS A SMALL CHILD. THE FILM THE THREE FACES OF EVE (1957) WAS BASED OFF OF COSTNER S LIFE WITH D.I.D. CHRIS SIZEMORE DISPLAYING HER THREE DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES DURING A THERAPIST SESSION

CITE DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER: A MYSTERIOUS AND CHALLENGING CONDITION DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER - DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER, DISSOCIATION AND TRAUMA DISORDERS DIFFERENTIAL AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM ACTIVITY IN MULTIPLE PERSONAL... - PUBMED NCBI DIFFERENTIAL AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM ACTIVITY IN MULTIPLE PERSONAL... - PUBMED NCBI DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER: OVERVIEW AND CURRENT RESEARCH - STUDENT PULSE