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 Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 2:59 pm
I have done extensive research, or as extensive as I have had the ability to, on Dissociative Identity Disorder. I've also delved deeply into the world of dissociative disorders and think it is deserving of a thread here.
So!
What is your opinion on DID? I know its existance in general is a rather controversial issue in the psychological world, but it's intruiging. Of course, I know many people believe it to exist but not to be a self-defense mechanism in Freudian terms.
I myself have had some dealings in the world of DID. That's probably what spurred me to do such intricate research regarding it. The sufferer in question, though, has had different symptoms than most with DID. Soo...
Has anyone else heard of the man that had around 139 different personalities? I watched a movie on it in class. I also did a research paper on an article regarding dissociative fugues. Does anyone know of the fugue rate for the tsunami victims, or hurricane victims? That'd be most awesome.
I've also talked to several therapists about DID and... not DID. Does anyone think it possible to create a DID-like existance within yourself without having DID?
One therapist said she had a sufferer who it turned out just expressed herself via different personalities.
I suppose that makes it a really rare disorder.
The Questions
What, in your eyes, does the term 'dissociative disorder' mean?
Do you believe them to be defense mechanisms or something else entirely?
Have you had any interesting experience regarding dissociative disorders?
Ooh, also, has anyone found any books besides "Sybil" or "The Three Face of Eve", or any movies besides "Nurse Betty"? Yeah. Cool.
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Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 7:07 am
I'm not very well read in the subject, but I do know that this is the revised term for "Multiple Personality Disorder." Not sure why they changed the designation. It has been argued that human beings are inherently multiple in personality (I forget where it was I read/heard this though). Aren't we all told as kids that that little "voice" in our heads that tells us what to do and not to do is our conscience? Plus, partitioning off diferent aspects of yourself into different "persons" can be a constructive framework for understanding the self. It can sometimes be a defense mechanism (speaking in not just Freudian terms, but as in a reflex to help accomodate for something disconforting in life).
Personal experience? You could say I have some in that I interact with a community that partakes in beelives in such things as spirit guides. Spirit guides and messengers could easily be taken by modern psychology to be a product of some dissociative disorder. To paint them in such a way, however, is to misunderstand their true purpose and function in that person's life. I think in some ways DID is a reflection of Western society's stigmatization of what in other cultures would be considered a mystical or spiritual experience. Too bad, I think.
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:41 pm
Dissociation can function as both a defense and as a disorder. People who work with defenses (me included) tend to believe that most people dissociate more than what we realize during day to day life.
When we're looking for dissociation, we're looking for moments in time where the person simply "cuts out"--you know, the lights are on, but nobody's home. Most people can remember doing that at some point in time--momentarily phasing out for a few seconds while your roommate is talking to you, or losing track of time during a lecture and finding that you've missed the past fifteen minutes.
Dissociation as a defense is that simple "cutting out" or "going away"--the physical body continues to function, but the mind has disconnected (daydreaming wouldn't be categorized as dissociation, because the mind is engaged in something, it's just not relevant to what the body is currently doing).
Dissociative Identity Disorder just takes dissociation one step further, and when the mind cuts out, an alternate/other personality steps in.
Personally, through looking at defenses I've been able to realize that there are certain situations where I check out for ten or fifteen seconds at a time (and a few rare occasions where I checked out for longer). Since I've recognized it, I've been able to deal with it better. Yaaaaay self-introspection.
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Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 5:43 pm
I've been assigned to do a research project on this topic for AP Psychology next month, so I should be able to discuss it after I finish that.
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 6:58 pm
I believe that DID is a defense mechanism, or could be.
How could sexual harassment victims, especially young ones, cope with it? In a way, another personality is a way for the victim to "run away" from what is being done to them. That's my reasoning, but I could be wrong.
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:34 pm
"Does anyone think it possible to create a DID-like existence within yourself without having DID?"
Based on my research, I am led to conclude "no”. You can't exactly "create" another personality, and although I am sure that other people may have multiple aspects of their own character, in order for you to have the actual disorder you must have episodes where... for example you're having a conversation with someone, and something happens but you can't remember what, and suddenly you're at home staring at glass shattered all over the kitchen floor.
I'm sure as a child everyone has created other little personalities (more commonly imaginary friends), but this is not disassociative disorder, because in order for it to be so, you actually have to "disassociate", and not just have multiple, identities. I'm sure there's some people that can have "DID-like" existences (during the day you're a regular, conservative mother of three, but at night you like to party all night and drink), and I'm sure something like that is far more common, but definitely not DID, because the person is conscious (when they aren't drunk) through the entire experience.
Okay, now for the questions:
… I think I already defined what “disassociative disorder” was earlier.
- Yes, I believe they are always defense mechanisms, but I also think that it might be possible that a disorder such as DID could be from biological or other causes.
- I have never really had an interesting experience with this disorder, as it is very rare. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I recall that less than 0.1% of the population has DID. Someone told me that there was a boy at their elementary school that used to have amnesia and run around the halls, pushing people over and pretending they were a dinosaur (I'm sure you know that DID "alters" can be anything from humans, to aliens, to faeries), though as to whether he actually had it or not I am uncertain.
- I don't really know any examples of books to read, but I suggest you read books about the actual disorder itself because it is such an interesting subject. Although I have not read any fictional books on the disorder, I did quite a bit of research and I did see the movie "Sybil". The movie did leave me with a very real interpretation of the disorder, but reading about the disorder will give you more of a background on what exactly it is.
Oh, by the way, I am new on here. biggrin
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