Multiple Personality Disorder: Description
Multiple personality disorder is now referred to by professionals as dissociative identity disorder. This is because, strictly speaking, it is not a true personality disorder. The characteristic of the multiple personality disorder is that the different personality parts of a person appear separately from each other, without them having to be disturbed.
Often, the affected persons have developed a part of their personality that has stopped in its development during childhood. This part of the personality is then at the level of a child in terms of its mental and physical abilities. This can mean, for example, that the person in this state can neither write nor read.
Multiple personality disorder occurs in about 1.5 percent of the population. Women and men are affected almost equally often.
Multiple personality disorder: symptoms
According to the International Classification of Mental Disorders (ICD-10), the following symptoms must be present for a diagnosis of multiple personality disorder:
- Each personality has its own memories, preferences, abilities and behaviors.
- Each of them takes full control over the person’s behavior at a certain time (even repeatedly).
- The affected person is incapable of remembering important personal information if it concerns another personality that is not “present” at the time.
Multiple Personality Disorder: Causes and Risk Factors.
Multiple personality disorder is often the result of severe experiences of abuse. According to studies, more than 90 percent of those affected have suffered trauma in early childhood. For example, affected individuals report being sexually abused by multiple people as part of a ritual or being forced into child prostitution. Violence and torture can also trigger multiple personality disorder.
Children also have an increased ability to dissociate. Over time, they give the various personality parts their own name, age and gender.
Criticisms
Dissociative personality disorder is always the subject of controversy. Representatives of the so-called sociocognitive model deny that multiple personality disorder is a clinical picture. They assume that the therapist talks the patient into the idea of different personality parts or that patients act out the symptoms to get attention.
Multiple personality disorder: examinations and diagnosis
The first step is a detailed discussion between the doctor and the patient. Possible questions the doctor may ask include:
- Do you sometimes feel that there is a dispute inside you about who you really are?
- Do you have dialogues with yourself?
- Do other people tell you that you sometimes act like another person?
Clinical questionnaires help diagnose dissociative identity disorder.
The diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder is difficult. Misdiagnoses are not uncommon. This is because those affected usually suffer from other mental disorders (e.g., eating disorders, depression) that mask dissociative identity disorder. In addition, many patients with multiple personality disorder downplay their symptoms.
Multiple Personality Disorder: Treatment
Multiple Personality Disorder: Psychotherapy
In the first phase of therapy, the therapist stabilizes the patient. The patient should feel safe and build up trust. Only then can traumatic experiences be worked through together. Often, those affected have a distorted image of the traumatic events and believe, for example, that they themselves are to blame for the abuse. By working through the trauma, the patient can understand what really happened.
When the patient gets to know all the inner parts, he increasingly gains a sense of identity. The better the personality parts are integrated, the easier it is for the person concerned to cope with everyday life.
Multiple Personality Disorder: Medications
To date, there are no medications approved for the treatment of multiple personality disorder. However, in some cases, doctors use antipsychotic medications (e.g., risperidone) to treat concomitant sleep or anxiety disorders, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (e.g., fluoxetine) to treat depressive symptoms.
