Dissociative identity disorder—a type of dissociative disorder—most often develops during early childhood in kids who are experiencing long-term trauma. This typically involves emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse; neglect; and highly unpredictable interactions with caregivers.
Dissociation can occur in response to traumatic events, and/or in response to prolonged exposure to trauma (for example, trauma that occurs in the context of people's relationships). Dissociation can affect memory, sense of identity, the way the world is perceived and the connection to the physical body 3.
Recent research evaluating the relationship between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and dissociation has suggested that there is a dissociative subtype of PTSD, defined primarily by symptoms of derealization (i.e., feeling as if the world is not real) and depersonalization (i.e., feeling as if oneself is not real) ...
Traumatic memories
Further research suggests that dissociative disorders most often occur in children who are the victims of long-term child abuse, sexual or emotional abuse or, less common, a home environment that is scary or unpredictable.
Causes. Dissociative disorders usually develop as a way of dealing with trauma. Dissociative disorders most often form in children exposed to long-term physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Natural disasters and combat can also cause dissociative disorders.
DID Can Result from Many Types of Trauma. Studies have shown that the majority, amounting to 90% of clients with DID, have experienced childhood abuse and/or neglect. The remaining 10% of clients with DID have experienced other types of trauma in childhood, most commonly medical trauma, natural disasters, or war.
It doesn't have to have been caused by a traumatic or stressful event. Many people think that this disorder might be more common than previously thought.
Sometimes the voices are talking directly to the core person, while other times the voices are just talking among themselves. The voices can be very different: young or old, male or female, high-pitched or low-pitched. Sometimes, the voices all sound the same.
Answer: Famous people with dissociative identity disorder include comedienne Roseanne Barr, Adam Duritz, and retired NFL star Herschel Walker. Walker wrote a book about his struggles with DID, along with his suicide attempts, explaining he had a feeling of disconnect from childhood to the professional leagues.
DID is usually the result of sexual or physical abuse during childhood. Sometimes it develops in response to a natural disaster or other traumatic events like combat. The disorder is a way for someone to distance or detach themselves from trauma.
When compared to the brains of normal controls, DID patients show smaller cortical and subcortical volumes in the hippocampus, amygdala, parietal structures involved in perception and personal awareness, and frontal structures involved in movement execution and fear learning.
Those who have suffered from long-term sexual, emotional or physical abuse during childhood often have the greatest risk of developing dissociative identity disorder and other dissociative disorders.
“You aren't born with DID, but you can have a genetic predisposition to dissociate, so we are also looking for genetic markers.” But Kaufman stressed that people with DID should not give up hope. “It's treatable.
The Case of Billy Milligan
Billy Milligan is one of the most famous cases of DID. He was the first person in the United States with this disorder who was found not guilty of his crimes by reason of insanity.
Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder, has an average age of onset between the ages of 5 and 6 years old. It can go unnoticed due to the assumption that a child is playing a game in which they are pretending to be someone else.
Many times, people who are dissociating are not even aware that it is happening, other people notice it. Just like other types of avoidance, dissociation can interfere with facing up and getting over a trauma or an unrealistic fear.
Feeling your identity shift and change
Speak in a different voice or voices. Use a different name or names. Feel as if you are losing control to 'someone else' Experience different parts of your identity at different times.
Eye contact is broken, the conversation comes to an abrupt halt, and clients can look frightened, “spacey,” or emotionally shut down. Clients often report feeling disconnected from the environment as well as their body sensations and can no longer accurately gauge the passage of time.
There are a variety of triggers that can cause switching between alters, or identities, in people with dissociative identity disorder. These can include stress, memories, strong emotions, senses, alcohol and substance use, special events, or specific situations.
People with dissociative identity disorder also experience intrusions of identities, voices, or memories into their everyday activities. For example, at work, an angry identity may suddenly yell at a coworker or boss.
Several authors have described alter personality types: Child, persecutor, helper, opposite gender, memory trace, and suicidal alter personalities are among them [6].
For those with co-conscious alters, communication is similar to talking with any other person, just without the presence of a separate physical body. It may be difficult, however, when you have alters or parts of you that you are not conscious of.