Hello again besties, and welcome to a new Mental Health week. I keep on studying and discovering more curious facts about the human body and mind, and today I'll be talking about Dissociative Identity Disorder. Have you ever heard of it? This was formally known as Multiple Personality Disorder, which gives us a clue of what it is about. This is a disorder characterized by the existence of two or more identities or mental states in a person. Those personalities can be very different from one another, and alternate their control on the person suffering from this condition. Because of this, the person's behavior can vary a lot from one minute to the next, and they can even seem like a different person depending on the personality that takes control in that particular moment.
Is it clear, besties?
Those changes can also result in the person not remembering important information depending on the personality. In other words, if personality A takes control in one moment, the person might not remember something once personality B takes control. Imagine that you have a sister and she suffers from this disorder.
She tells you that she feels bad for some reason, so you listen to her, and give her advice. You might even look for help together… however, her other personality then takes control, and she no longer remembers anything about feeling bad, or about what you did to help her. And even though it seems pretty clear when explained like this, this disorder is pretty difficult to diagnose. It is usually confused with schizophrenia, mood disorders, neurological disorders, and even anxiety and depression. Thus, it's very important to find and talk with a trustworthy specialist in order to receive the best treatment possible.
Now, before talking about possible solutions, let's talk about possible causes. This kind of disorder usually originates due to childhood trauma. Usually, when someone suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, the person's childhood was marked with disturbing and extremely traumatic events which overwhelmed them emotionally. This could happen due to abuse, exposure to violence and war, suffering from painful health issues, among other situations. Facing events so emotionally overwhelming, the child doesn't know how to act, and thus, their only way out is to divide themselves psychologically. That is a way to escape reality: To evade it through different personalities.
This is why this disorder receives its name: Because disassociation becomes a defense mechanism. And the most dangerous part is that over time, the person might end up facing all of life's problems like this. We also need to keep in mind that for this disorder to take place, many other factors also have to play a role. There are many people who have suffered traumatic experiences and don't have this disorder. However, in those cases, they probably had a supportive environment, and help, that other people didn't have. In many cases, that alternating change of identity and perception of reality can lead people who suffer from this disorder to also suffer from depression, anxiety, amnesia, and panic attacks. They can even experience physical pain because of it. With that said besties, we need to keep in mind that not all disassociation is a problem. We all experience normal changes in our mood and state of mind depending on what happens in our day-to-day life. This only becomes a problem if: - You become disconnected from fundamental aspects of your personality. - You start forgetting important information - Your movements and sensations are different. - Among similar things.
Around disassociation there are three important symptoms: - Amnesia, which is when a person forgets a traumatic part of their life in order to keep on living. - Derealization, which is when the person becomes incapable of perceiving reality as a whole, feeling as if they are in a completely different place. - And lastly, confusion and identity alteration.
These dissociative disorders do have treatments, but they involve pretty specific methods and procedures. Thus, we reiterate how important it is to find specialized professionals who are able to help the patient better integrate into society, work on their traumas, and try to connect all the pieces which constitute their personality. As I've said earlier besties, Mental health is extremely important! We need to pay attention to it and take good care of it (•ω•)
Do you know of anyone who suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder? If so, let me know in the comments! And remember to treat people with this condition with care and empathy. Thank you for reading this blog and don't forget to subscribe. It's simple. You just have to click on the "Subscription Form" given at the bottom of the webpage. Enter your Name, E-Mail Address, and Voila! Follow me! Instagram : @Teen.Speak , @_ShaheeraKhan_ Twitter : @_Teenspeak_ , @_ShaheeraKhan_ See you next week <3
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