Dissociative Identity Disorder/Multiple Personality Disorder

Encyclopedia of Childhood and Adolescence, Apr 06, 2001

The average age of onset of DID is in early childhood, generally by the age of four. The disorder is far more common among females than males (estimates range as high as 9 to 1). Once established, the disorder will last a lifetime if not treated; even with treatment, the prospects of complete cure are unlikely. According to available statistics, individuals with DID have an average of 15 identities. New identities can accumulate over time as the person faces new types of situations. Switching, the process of changing from one alter to another, may be triggered by outside stimuli such as an event, or by internal stimuli, such as feelings or memories. Switching is usually observable by others, with characteristic changes in posture or facial expression, voice tone or speech patterns, and mood or behavior.

An example of a trigger might be the first experience with sexuality in adolescence. An identity may emerge to deal with this new experience. People with DID tend to have other disorders as well, such as depression,substance abuse, borderline personality disorder and eating disorders. Many individuals with DID also have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); in fact, researchers sometimes describe DID as complex and/or chronic PTSD. (In PSTD by definition, the individual has experienced a traumatic event that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others, and the person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror.) In nearly every case of DID, horrific instances of physical or sexual child abuse was present. It is believed that young children, faced with abuse and neglect, create a fantasy world in order to escape.

Treatment of dissociative identity disorder is a long and difficult process, and the successful integration of all identities into one is unlikely. A 1990 study of 20 DID clients revealed that only five were successfully treated. Some therapists use a technique of "talking through" to one or more personality states that are not in control. For example, a therapist may address the client's personality states as if they were a group: "I want everyone inside to listen." Treatment also involves having DID clients recall the memories of their childhood, sometimes under hypnosis. This procedure requires skill and caution, however, since the recovered memories may be so traumatic that they cause further harm. The recovery of suppressed memories, a crucial component in DID, is controversial. Many psychologists and psychiatrists with expertise in memory believe that it is unlikely that memories can be recovered for events that occurred before the age of three.

Another cause for the skepticism is the dramatic increase in reports of the disorder since 1980. Eugene Levitt, a psychologist at the Indiana University School of Medicine, noted in an article published in Insight on the News (1993) that "in 1980, the disorder [then known as multiple personality disorder] got its official listing in the DSM, and suddenly thousands of cases are springing up everywhere."