Becoming one person: living with dissociative identity disorder

Abstract

Dissociative identity disorder is a rare diagnosis, although people currently with a diagnosis of psychosis may in fact be experiencing what is associated with the disorder. This article is co-authored by a nurse and a person who has lived with alters (multiple personalities) for nearly all of her life. Because of the rarity of the diagnosis, there is much misunderstanding and ignorance among lay people and mental health professionals. This article therefore clarifies historical and contemporary issues surrounding this particular mental health problem both through examining the literature and through narrative of the person's experience. Special attention is given to the reality of coping with the difficulties that dissociative identity disorder create.

Lived Experiences of Men With Dissociative Identity Disorder

“…Dissociative disorders continue to be misunderstood in the counseling field (Stickley & Nickeas, ), with research on men with DID being particularly underrepresented in the literature (Gentile et al, ). Hearing the stories of survivors, however, it becomes apparent how mental health counselors might play a role in the healing of men living with DID.…”

“…Furthermore, the disorder continues to be controversial within the mental health community (Dorahy et al, ), with many people doubting its existence or believing it to be iatrogenic (Floris & McPherson, ). While dissociative disorders need to be better understood by the counseling field in general, DID is perhaps the most misunderstood dissociative disorder, as evidenced by mixed reviews on the very legitimacy of the disorder itself (Stickley & Nickeas, ).…”

The Horror of Stigma: Psychosis and Mental Health Care Environments in Twenty-First-Century Horror Film (Part II)

“…The person will experience an inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness” (American Psychiatric Association, , in Stickley & Nickeas, , p. 181). Some authors dismiss DID as a disorder (Piper & Merskey, ) but other authors (Stickley & Nickeas, ) believe it is a disorder of which mental health practitioners need to be very aware. Either way, it is insulting to people experiencing schizophrenia to confuse it in this manner (Repper & Perkins, ), and such confusions lead to erroneous beliefs, delayed treatment, and conflict (Baun, ).…”

Anger held inward, aggressive dream content in craniomandibular disorders and bruxers

“…Traumatic events occurring early in childhood may cause repressed anger, hate and resentment and could be split off from consciousness, but may later take control of the person and appear in bad dreams and nightmares as a second personality and/or as a more or less well developed characters 27 .…”