- It is Rare - Only about 1-3% of the population actually have full DID. This disorder has about the same commonality as Bipolar and Schizophrenia. We just don't know a lot about this disorder because we haven't put enough time and money into the research of it.
- It's Obvious When someone has DID - Because DID is portrayed in a more exaggerated way in Hollywood movies, we have a skewed perception of what DID actually is. It is much more subtle than we think, and people, on average, spend more than 7 years in a behavioral health system before actually being diagnosed with DID.
- People With DID Have Distinct Personalities - People with DID do not have distinct personalities, but different states of behavior. Dr. Bethany Brand describes it as having different ways of being themselves. We all have this in someway, but people with DID don't remember what they do in the different states.
- Treatment Makes DID Worse - This can only happen if therapists use outdated practices to try and treat a DID patient.
- Therapists Further Develop and “Reify” (regard them as real or concrete) the Self-states - Therapists actually try to create communication between the inner self-states. This teaches the person how to handle all the self-states when a threatening situation arises.
- Only People with DID Dissociate - Anyone can dissociate in response to trauma or bad memories. Anyone with an anxiety disorder can dissociate.
- Hypnosis Helps - Some therapists think that by using hypnosis they can dig up old memories that caused the DID in the first place.
These 7 myths show us that DID is not what society perceives it to be.
Interesting post, Sophie. DID is definitely the most cryptic disorder we've studied so far. As you pointed out, very little research has been done on this disorder to date. I guess the lack of hard facts is the reason why there are so many myths about it. Your post has shed some light on the issue, but there's still so much more that we don't know.
ReplyDeleteDID is definitely a strange disorder. One of the most peculiar aspects of the disorder is that when under the "direction" of one identity, a person is generally unable to recall some of the events that occurred while other personalities were in control. The different identities may affect speech, mannerisms, attitudes, thoughts and gender orientation in each setting. The alters can even exhibit physical differences, such as allergies, right-or-left handedness or the necessity for a eyeglasses prescriptions. As Sarah said, there really is much we are unaware of concerning DID, but this blog was very interesting and probed more into the issue.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I want to start off by saying that I am happy to say that I DID not know a lot of those facts you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I DID not believe in this before I read this, and now that I've read it, I still DON'T. Sorry.
Rachel is not impressed.
I still just don't think that this disorder can be real! How can one person be split into different personalities?!
ReplyDeleteYour post was really good though Sophie - very informative and interesting!