Dissociative Identity Disorder

Note: This post was updated by Eric Van Buskirk on January 15, 2023

Most definitions and explanations for multiple personality disorder use the dissociative identity disorder definition, which is what it’s currently known as.  Others make it seem more like a pop-psychology concept. While we can all understand people wanting to paint it in a more positive light, sometimes the definition and the characterization of dissociative identity disorder can minimize the issue and make things appear less problematic than they really are.

In fact, dissociative Identity disorder is a chronic, long-term disorder. Understand the neurobiology of personality disorders and you’ll see that the personality cannot be changed. It has to do with the way the brain developed; it’s genetic. Personality is something you cannot change. It’s pervasive, it’s chronic, it’s long-term. It’s not a mental illness. When you think of multiple personality disorder, think of it as a variety of different personalities in a single body. It’s something that you can’t medicate.

You can, however, medicate the symptoms of a mental illness like depression, anxiety, and maybe even the OCD that is sometimes associated with a dissociative identity disorder. You cannot medicate DID (dissociative identity disorder).

It’s really important to understand that there’s no cure for multiple personality disorder. In fact, the only goal in therapy is to help the individual see what has happened to them, provide education, treat any other mental illness that may accompany DID, and integrate those personalities. The therapist wants to help the person live as normally and comfortably as possible, with management of the symptoms over time.

Fewer than 200,000 people in the United States have DID. Research suggests that it’s rare. Unfortunately, it’s probably more underdiagnosed than it is rare.

It’s also important to understand that dissociative Identity disorder is not just a matter of knowingly switching personalities. It’s something that automatically happens when the individual is either under stress, feels trapped, overwhelmed, or feels the need to protect themselves. That’s when the “switch” happens when another personality takes over the main character. This main character that phases out is typically the character who has experienced abuse. This identity confusion can occur when they feel threatened.

Those with DID can have more than two personalities. If it’s one or two personalities, most likely, it’s not going to be diagnosed as DID. You really do need two or more personalities to be diagnosed. There’s no brain scan, there’s no medical test that can be done to diagnose DID. It really is a psychological and psychiatric journey for the therapist and the patient. A person’s backstory, history, and genetics must all line-up in order to be diagnosed with DID.

How many personalities are there typically? The average number of personalities is between 13 to 15. There have been some cases that involved over 100 different personalities; however, over 100 is very uncommon.

DID is basically extreme dissociation. It’s pulling away from reality, detaching from reality. It’s extreme dissociation to the point of the complete emergence of a different personality, a different mindset, a different character, different desires, needs, wants, interests, etc. The mannerisms of the person, from eye contact habits to voice, sometimes even facial expressions, change in such a way that you intuitively sense that it’s a different person.

Derealization is the idea that everything around you feels false or manufactured, it’s also a symptom of DID. Other symptoms include poor memory or amnesia. The individual may do something and have zero recollection minutes later. This could be caused by poor memory, a common symptom of DID. Or, the “other” personality was the one acting.

Understand this from a clinical perspective and push all the pop psychology out of the way because this is not entertainment material! We need to know the clinical data, we need to look at what’s really going on, and we need to treat this seriously.