The Science behind Dissociative Identify Disorder

The famously complex psychological condition, Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), is

characterized by alternating between two or more identities. This mental health condition is

categorized as a severe form of dissociation in which the person experiences a loss of

connection in their thoughts, memories, actions, and feelings of identity. It also comes with a

form of amnesia where the person is unable to remember things from when they were in their

dissociative state. It is unknown how many people suffer from this disease, but a small study

revealed that around 1.5% - 7% are affected yearly. This disease has been misunderstood as

the developing world often views it as a spiritual phenomenon. Still, it is authentic and an

established pathophysiological disorder according to the scientific community.

Everyone dissociates on occasion, whether it be daydreaming or zoning out when driving. The

dissociation with DID is constant and causes distress, as well as possibly impeding one or more

major life areas. There are two etiological approaches that have dominated the debate on DID

in the past 30 or so years. The first and most common is the posttraumatic model (PTM). With

PTM, most cases are experiencing an extreme stress response due to a major childhood

trauma. As the mind tries to find a way to cope with this trauma, it creates “compartments” in the

brain that try to help it heal in different ways. In simple terms, facing and accepting what

happened to a person is so painful, that their brain comes up with a way to protect them from

that trauma. The second is the sociocognitive model (SCM), which accepts that some people

act like they have multiple personalities without conscious intention. SCM is the product of a

cultural role, not trauma. What this means is through socialization and consuming popular

culture, one can develop DID. This is not talked about as much, as it is a lot less common, and

most treatments are focused on PTM. Studies on the brain have also been done that support

this dissociative disorder. These studies show alterations in the limbic system - the

hippocampus (which is in charge of long-term memory) and the amygdala (which controls

emotions) were remarkably smaller. Regional cerebral blood flow was also reduced in the

bilateral orbitofrontal cortex regions (as seen with attention deficit disorder).

Dissociative Identity Disorder is still the most controversial of the dissociative disorders and is

heavily debated among mental health professionals. It is also wildly disputed in regard to its

validity and use in the criminal justice system! Sensationalized media portrayals and a lack of

understanding have fueled many myths and misconceptions about the condition. Some

common myths include that DID is not real, that people fake the condition, that at least one

alternate personality is violent, that the condition cannot be easily diagnosed or treated, and that

someone with this disorder is very highly unstable. The stigma these myths generate makes it

challenging for people to reach out or ask for help. DID is very real, and although there is

definitely more research to be done, people should educate themselves before taking

misconceptions for a fact.

“Donna Ross” (3)