Dissociative Identity Disorder

(Multiple Personality Disorder)

 

 

“Does Dissociative Identity Disorder actually exist?

 

          This website is devoted to developing a better understanding of Dissociative Identity Disorder.  DID is often misunderstood by society, the media, and psychologists themselves.  Although recognized by psychologists, the true cause of DID and the answer to the question of whether or not it is a “real” disorder have yet to be discovered.  Whether or not DID actually exists, it is important to realize that the past “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” stereotype of DID is not realistic.   

 

Dissociative Identity Disorder:

 

Previously called Multiple Personality Disorder, DID involves the “inability of the patient to form a consistent identity”.  In DID, two or more separate identities are apparent.  Each identity has a distinctive way of thinking, feeling, and relating to the environment and self.  The disorder has been linked to another dissociative disorder, dissociative amnesia, and to previous or current events which may cause anxiety.  

 

 

 

 

Although the DSM IV recognizes DID, and patients continue to be diagnosed, there is controversy over the existence of the disorder.  Evidence points to the possibility of therapist reinforcement of the symptoms (Baron).  Many people find DID suspicious, and as one psychologist notices, “this formerly rare and disputed diagnosis became popular after the appearance of several best-selling books and movies (McHugh.)”  

 

Many mental health professionals continue to agree that DID may very well exist, just not to the exaggerated extent that it has been viewed to exist in the past.

 

 

Sources:

 

Baron, Robert A., Essentials of Psychology, Allyn & Bacon, Needham, MA, 2002.

 

Carroll, Robert Todd, “Multiple Personality Disorder (Dissociative Identity Disorder)”, The Skeptics Dictionary, http://www.skepdic.com/mpd.html  (18 November 2002).

 

DSM IV, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C., 1994.

 

McHugh, Paul R., “Multiple Personality Disorder (Dissociative Identity Disorder)”, http://www.psycom.net/mchugh.html  (19 November 2002).

 

Piper, August Jr., Multiple Personality Disorder: Witchcraft Survives in the Twentieth Century, Jason Aronson Inc, 1997, http://www.csicop.org/si/9805/witch.html  (19 November 2002).