Dissociative Disorders and Disorder Essay

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Sybil & DID

This fairly brief report takes on the dual focus of a movie and a mental disorder. The two are actually related in that the disorder is depicted in the movie. The disorder in question is known as dissociative identity disorder, or DID for short. In the past, DID has commonly been referred to as multiple personality disorder. This report shall cover the major facts and facets of this disorder. There will also be a correlation between the disorder and how it was depicted in the movie Sybil. Feelings and analysis of that movie will be included in the summary. While movies and reality often diverge in multiple ways, it is important to know the basics, facts and implications about DID and disorders like it.

Analysis

Just like post-traumatic stress disorder has evolved a great deal when it comes to how it is handled and what it has been called, much the same thing is true when it comes to DID. Beyond that, the dissociation that is experienced very harshly by DID patients is experienced by all of us at one time or another. Indeed, we have all had those moments where we "daydream" or otherwise get lost in a moment. However, people with DID experience such events to a much more obvious and extreme degree. Even with the evolution and changes that have come about when it comes to the disorder, there is still active debate as to whether the disorder is even real to begin with. Much like fibromyalgia and a few other disorders, there are many that are skeptical that it is anything more than the workings of a calculating and lucid mind. Others still believe that DID is simply just an offshoot of borderline personality disorder, not unlike prior associations between hoarding and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Disorders that are related, yet different from, DID would include other dissociative disorders such as dissociative amnesia (Webmd, 2016; Tartakovsky, 2016).

With those prefaces and precautions out of the, it is important to discuss what is widely known and accepted when it comes to DID. Basically, the original and now often discarded name for DID, that being multiple personality disorder, is a pretty good description of what goes on. More or less, someone with DID has multiple personalities that they switch back and forth between. The switch can be fairly immediate or it can be over a period of minutes or days. It has been found that hypnosis is fruitful when it comes to fettering out the personalities and such that exist. Each personality will have its own age, sex, race and the like. There will also tend to be postures, gestures and talking patterns that are unique to each method.

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The inability to remember what has happened in the past, especially under the control of other identities, is fairly common and it absolutely goes beyond simple forgetfulness (Webmd, 2016; NAMI, 2016).

Beyond the above, some common signs and symptoms that come about include depression, mood swings, suicidal tendencies, sleep disorders (e.g. insomnia, high terrors, etc.), anxiety issues (e.g. flashbacks, panic attacks, etc.), compulsion/rituals, alcohol and/or illicit drug abuse and eating disorders. Other common symptoms include headache (as mentioned before), time loss, trances and out of body experiences. DID should not be confused with schizophrenia. This often happens but they are quite different. Whereas DID is typified by a person "becoming" different personalities, schizophrenia is more about a singular personality being "spoken to" by voices other than their own. One thing that DID and schizophrenia do share is that suicide attempts are much more likely with both as compared to people that have no known mental disorder or even most other mental disorder patients (Webmd, 2016).

One of the main factors in DID that wreaks havoc in the life of a DID patient are the main psychological effects and broken psychological processes that are in play. Indeed, depersonalization, de-realization, amnesia and identity confusion are all commonplace when it comes to people with DID. The amount of personalities that emerge from a DID patient usually starts at two to four upon initial diagnosis but quite often exceeds a dozen once all of the proverbial layers of the personalities are dealt with. Indeed, finding thirteen to fifteen personalities in a DID patient is about the average. However, some people have had more than one hundred discovered. The overall causes of DID are not really known. Thus, figuring out precisely why someone gets (or does not get) the disorder is still very much in its nascent stages. One thing that is known is that abuse is a huge catalyst when it comes to DID. Indeed, if a parent (or more than one) and/or relative is frightening, abusive or unpredictable, this can be a huge trigger and aggravator of someone with mental illness and DID patients are no different (DID, 2016).

Diagnosis is not easy when it comes to DID and it can take some time. It is commonly accepted, and is in print in the DSM-5, that there are five main things that must be identified before one can be diagnosed with DID. There must be at least two tangible and real personalities in play, there must be the presence of amnesia, the person….....

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