Split personality disorder refers to the dissociative identity disorder (DID), which is described as a mental condition where a person is said to have two or more separate personalities. These identities are completely different from one another and control a person’s behavior at different times due to which a person can experience gaps in their memories. This condition is very rare affecting only 1% of the population and can occur at any range.
DID or multiple personality disorder could be a result of many instances that have occurred in the past. Presence of sexual or physical abuse during a person’s childhood could force an individual to make up his own personality that is not aware of the childhood trauma and so makes I possible for a person to detach itself from the trauma and be able to live a normal life. Due to which DID acts as a coping mechanism for an individual.
Although not everyone faces DID the same way and besides having different personalities, for some it does not stop there. Some people might experience different personalities (“alters”) having their own race and gender as well. Sometimes the changes are different people, while sometimes they can be animals. Now these personalities are not present all together at the same time and instead they switch from one personality to another depending on the situation. The process of switching can take place in a matter of seconds, minutes or even days.
Someone with dissociative identity disorder maybe able to do certain things that they wouldn’t normally do such as stealing, fighting or doing anything that would put their life at stake. The person may feel helpless in these situation as even though they don’t support any of this and don’t want to do it, they feel that they are compelled to do it. The symptoms of DID include amnesia (not being able to recall several events), Derealization (the feeling of the world appearing unclear making it difficult to distinguish between the real and the unreal), identity confusion, delusions, depression, anxiety etc.
It should be kept in mind that dissociative identity disorder is very different from schizophrenia. Even though schizophrenia does mean “split-mind,” but the split here is not a split in the personality but rather a split from reality that a person experience during changes in thoughts, emotions or other functions. DID on the other hand causes a split in a person’s personality making it difficult for a person to understand his surroundings and a sense of themselves. Schizophrenic patients may see, feel or hear things that aren’t real and believe in things that can’t be real, but these wouldn’t result in them having different identities.
Currently there is no cure for dissociative identity disorder however with the help of psychotherapy the symptoms experienced can be brought under control in the long run enabling the individual to live a normal life and function better at work, at home or in a community. By opting for psychotherapy and other forms of treatment it will make it easier to identify the factors that triggers the shift in personalities and these triggers can then be focused on and brought under control. The triggers mostly include stress or substance abuse. Managing stress and avoiding alcohol can helping to lower the frequency of shifts in a person’s personalities thereby helping in controlling the overall behavior.
