138 Dissociative Identity Disorder (300.14)
This is a video of a man named Tony who has Dissociative Identity Disorder. It is believed that Tony has 53 or more distinct identities or personality states.
The video above is an interview with former NFL running back Herschel Walker. In the interview he briefly discusses his experience with Dissociative Identity Disorder.
DSM-IV-TR criteria
A. The presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self).
B. At least two of these identities or personality states recurrently take control of the person’s behavior.
C. Inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.
D. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., blackouts or chaotic behavior during Alcohol Intoxication) or a general medical condition (e.g., complex partial seizures). Note: In children, the symptoms are not attributable to imaginary playmates or other fantasy play.
Associated features
Several symptoms are characteristic:
- Fluctuating symptom pictures
- Fluctuating levels of function from highly effective to disabled
- Severe headaches or other pains
- Time distortions, time lapses, and amnesia
- Depersonalization and Derealization – Depersonalization occurs when a person feels unattached to him or herself. During this phenomenon, it is almost as if you can see yourself from another view point. Derealization is when you experience surroundings or people as if they are new, eccentric, or dreamlike when they are clearly not.
- Patients can lose time; they can end up in places and not know how they arrived there or why. They also may find objects that they do not identify or handwriting that they do not think they wrote.
- Individuals with Dissociative Identity Disorder frequently report having experienced severe physical and sexual abuse, especially during childhood. However, children’s minds can produce distorted images or memories, so it is hard to tell how accurate they are. Some past experiences can be cleared up through objective evidence. Some individuals may have post traumatic symptoms such as nightmares, flashbacks, and startle responses.
- Certain identities can control their pain levels or other physical symptoms, which some individuals will self-mutilate and have suicidal thoughts. They may also experience relationships that contain both sexual and physical abuse. The identities or personality states persistently take control over the person’s behavior. These alternate identities are frequently diverse from the individual’s personality. Also, it could be of a different name, age, gender, or even race.
- Comorbidity occurs with Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Child vs. adult presentation
There are no reliable figures on the diagnosis of children. However, it has increased during the 1990s. They