Multiple Personality Disorder, also known as Dissociative Identity Disorder refers to a lack of connection in a person’s thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, and sense of identity. A severe form of dissociation is known to be daydreaming. There are usually two or more personalities that are developed in the course of this mental disorder, each unique with development of its own age, sex, race, postures, gestures, and way of talking. It can be imaginary people or even an animal. These personalities act as a coping mechanism in a violent, traumatic or painful situation that triggers prior traumatic experiences. Through the process of “switching” a personality takes over another. It can take from seconds to days for “switching” to occur. The environmental triggers or requests of therapists under hypnosis can stimulate this process. When a personality is revealed, the behaviour and thought are completely controlled by that particular personality.
Symptoms
The symptoms of multiple personality disorder are following:
• Amnesia
• Depersonalisation – feeling that one’s body is unreal, changing or dissolving.
• Derealization – perceiving the external environment as unreal
• Identity disturbances – two or more distinct, split identities that continuously have power over the person’s behaviour
• Inability to recall key personal information that is too severe to be just “forgetfulness”.
• Highly distinct memory variations
• Other mild symptoms include: depression, mood swings, suicidal tendencies, sleep disorders, alcohol or drug abuse, compulsions and rituals, psychotic-like symptoms, eating disorder, headache, time loss, and “out of body experiences”.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder may consume a large amount of time and involve complex diagnosis as the symptoms overlap with many other diseases and disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, personality disorder, somatization disorder and panic disorder. Firstly the physical conditions are eliminated through testing for brain disease, side effects of medication and other substances, recent extreme physical fatigue, epilepsy and other seizure disorders. Then through psychotic tests and interviews, specific mental disorder can be identified. Below is a diagnostic criteria list for multiple personality disorder from an article on
Encyclopaedia of Mental Disorders:
• Traumatic stressor: The patient has been exposed to a catastrophic event involving actual or threatened death or injury, or a serious physical threat to him- or herself or others. During exposure to the trauma, the person's emotional response was marked by intense fear, feelings of helplessness, or horror. In general, stressors caused intentionally by human beings (genocide, rape, torture, abuse, etc.) are experienced as more traumatic than accidents, natural disasters, or "acts of God."
• The demonstration of two or more distinct identities or personality states in an individual. Each separate identity must have its own way of thinking about, perceiving, relating to and interacting with the environment and self.
• Two of the identities assume control of the patient's behaviour, one at a time and repeatedly.
• Extended periods of forgetfulness lasting too long to be considered ordinary forgetfulness.
• Determination that the above symptoms are not due to drugs, alcohol or other substances and that they can't be attributed to any other general medical condition. It is also necessary to rule out fantasy play or imaginary friends when considering a diagnosis of DID in a child.
(Encyclopaedia of Mental Disorders, 2009)
Causes
The causes are controversy as to whether it is due to nature or nurture influence. It is commonly believed that during early childhood, a routine of repetitive extreme torture, sexual and/or emotional abuse, or neglect result in a development of separate identities on a young child to cope with the traumatic situations. 98-99% DID patients have experienced recurring, intense and life threatening disturbances at sensitive developmental stage which before the age of nine.
Bibliography
‘Dissociative identity disorder’ (2009) Encyclopaedia of Mental Disorders, viewed 26 October 2009,
Who are vulnerable?
There is general conformity that the cause of Multiple Personalities is keeping the feeling of childhood sexual abuse inside or any very bad memories. Children who live under a shelter of unwelcome, no warmth or no love are likely to have Multiple Personalities because of the depress memories that they have experienced. These children are often kept in a situation of such extreme terrifying and confusing circumstances. Mostly children that have the terrifying experience they will create a boundary so that the horror doesn’t occurred to them again.
Treatment
To cure a patient with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is that make sure do not use drugs to treat patients. We should:
1. First we should ensure that the patient feel safe and stabilised, before experimenting or exploring their problematic identities.
2. Second some patients are more comfortable of hospitalize, it support and monitoring are supply as throbbing memories are addressed.
3. Third hypnosis may help to find out the identities hiding inside a person. Try to talk through them, make their emotions more stabilised.
Consequently DID can be cured by encouragement by negotiating, arranging the unification of the identities, facilitated with imager and hypnotic suggestion. However psychotherapy is still working on how to actually cure the really hurt patient. Some really light problematic patient can be cured fully as long they stay in a circumstances that they feel safe. Although the patients that have more bad alter inside them, yes they can be cured as well, they are still treatable but need to spend time.
Questions
1. What do you think is the main cause for dissociative identity disorder or multiple personality disorder?
2. How can this be prevented?
3. Do you think multiple personality disorder is the result of nature or nurture? Give reasons.
In the fist paragraph, the second sentence is incorrect. It is: A mild form of dissociation is known to be daydreaming.
ReplyDelete1. What do you think is the main cause for dissociative identity disorder or multiple personality disorder?
ReplyDeleteI think the main cause of dissociative identity disorder is a traumatic life event or situation that occurs during the sensitive concrete operational stage of life before the age of 11. I think that a child of that stage is likely to repress the terrifying feelings as separate personalities, hence creating their personalities.
2. How can this be prevented?
Dissociative identity disorder can be prevented by intervention, especially in abusive household situations, and treatment of symptoms as early as possible. This will help preventing the creation of further personalities as well as helping the child to recover.
3. Do you think multiple personality disorder is the result of nature or nurture? Give reasons.
I believe that multiple personality disorder is mainly a cause of nurture. A person experiencing a multiple personality disorder may pass on the gene to be afraid of whatever traumatic experience lead to the onset of the illness. For example, if a person was exposed to violent acts with a gun, they may continually fear the weapon and pass on that fear to their children. This is an act of nature from the onset of a natural experience.
MADDY M 10N
I believe the main cause of Multiple Personality Disorder is the environment a patient is exposed to. As the information states, if the patient is exposed to a stressful situation it is most likely to trigger the disorder. Therefore, if a person susceptible to Multiple Personality Disorder is exposed to a negative environment it will most likely trigger the symptoms.
ReplyDeleteThis can be avoided by surrounding the people susceptible to the disorder in a positive environment. This will reduce stress levels and other negative influences and as a result the chance of the illness being activated within the individual who is susceptible is reduced.
I think that the Multiple Personality Disorder is a result of nurture more than nature. Reasons for this are that the environment one is exposed to has a large impact on their future behavior and therefore, the environment that a patient who has the disorder is exposed to impacts the severity and likelihood of obtaining the Disorder. The way I believe nature plays a part in the Multiple Personality Disorder is that to have the disorder one must have the genetic make up to get it in the first place.
Maddie R 10P
I think that as mentioned, the main cause for this disorder is basically on extremely traumatic childhood memories. But more importantly, the silence that was associated with these events. It was mentioned that sufferers of the disorder often experience traumatic experiences such as abuse or neglect in younger years and subsequently the disorder arose from not discussing these horrible memories. Prevention seems quite simply really, basically ensuring that all these issues are confronted and dealt with preferably with professional help. It seems as though that the distinction between nature and nurture’s role in this disorder is pretty black and white. From the information provided, the role of nurture in this disorder can be recognised as dominant. it seems apparent that nature has no role in this disorder and that genetics have no effect on assuming dissociative identity disorder.
ReplyDeleteLily 10G
Dissociative Identity Disorder, you have said that it is the lack of a connection with a person’s thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, and sense of identity. I personally think that the main cause for it is Nurture, even though it can be very controversial, I strongly believe that it is the cause of this disease through things such as growing up with an abuse whether it is sexual or emotional. However it mostly occurs later in life because of these things happen in childhood.
ReplyDeleteAlso accidents such as a freak accidents with a family member dying, or being a in a car crash and loosing memory of who they are. Their personality can dramatically change however they can get a thing called flash bulb memories that may pop up at random points after the accident and slowly turn them back into the person they were. However this can also cause multiple personalities because of them not really knowing who they were.
So in conclusion I think that nurture is the cause to Multiple personalities.
Genevieve
I believe that the main cause for this disorder is due to traumatising events at a young age. As stated in the passage under the sub heading, causes it says that ‘98-99% of patients have experienced recurring, intense and life threatening disturbances at sensitive development stage before the age of nine.’ I believe that if a person goes through a traumatising event then the mind then wants to escape that memory so it creates another personality. Therefore, whenever a stimulus recovers the memory the new personality comes out.
ReplyDeleteThis disease could be prevented by stopping torture, sexual and/or emotional abuse, or neglect of children at a young age. Stopping these events may then result in stopping multiple personalities being created. Also, treating it early can stop effects of the disorder in the future
I think that this disorder is the result of nurture. This is because I believe that it is bought on from not being brought up properly as a child or witnessing a traumatic event which scares the mind. However, if someone had multiple personality disorder and the has a child I think it may be possible that the child can inherit the disorder from their parent
Amanda
1. What do you think is the main cause for dissociative identity disorder or multiple personality disorder?
ReplyDeleteAny form of Trauma, physical or emotional, can be directly linked to an onset of MPD/DID if said onset occurs. The trauma could only be delivered through external stimuli, making it Nurture over Nature. It is unlikely that MPD/DID would be inert in children, as it is not a survival trait. Rape/Abuse/Torture/etc would quite possibly be the only trauma causing agents strong enough to cause a separation in consciousness.
2. How can this be prevented?
Even someone who has been deprived of the necessary stimuli to create an alternate personality would be able to create something similar, so the only real way to prevent it is to shield the victim from Rape/Abuse/Torture/etc. As this is desirable but not necessarily achievable; a course of desensitisation and aversion therapy would be recommended to separate the Original personality from the other personalities in order to eliminate the need for it.
Multiple personality disorder can have many causes, however the most common is probably a traumatic experience, however not necessarily at a young age. If a person experiences a traumatic experience later in their life, are they not still succeptible to triggers of the disorder?? Many people see traumatic effects only happening early in life, and impacting later in life, when they can happen anytime and affect the person from then on.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of cures, it would seem that drug-free intervention would be the most appropriate type of treatment. However it would be important to treat symptom individually, rather than as one big unit. Nature or Nurture? Probably nature on this one, it's hard to see Multiple personality disorder as being inherant, more likely nurture because the main cause is one of traumatic occurances prior to the symptoms of Multiple personality disorder. So it's most likely nature.
fraser 10N
PS suicidal tendancies are HARDLY mild side- affects
Dissociative Identity Disorder, you have said that it is the lack of a connection with a person’s thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, and sense of identity. I personally think that the main cause for it is Nurture, even though it can be very controversial, I strongly believe that it is the cause of this disease through things such as growing up with an abuse whether it is sexual or emotional. However it mostly occurs later in life because of these things happen in childhood.
ReplyDeleteAlso accidents such as a freak accidents with a family member dying, or being a in a car crash and loosing memory of who they are. Their personality can dramatically change however they can get a thing called flash bulb memories that may pop up at random points after the accident and slowly turn them back into the person they were. However this can also cause multiple personalities because of them not really knowing who they were.
So in conclusion I think that nurture is the cause to Multiple personalities.
Genevieve