dissociative identity disorder, DID, commonly known as multiple personality disorder is best characterized as a condition in which an individual displays at least two personalities that routinely control said individuals personality and behavior. Often times, theses personalities are associated with memory loss. In order for one experiencing multiple personalities to be diagnosed, the symptoms must not be a product of drug use or a general medical condition.
DID is often the result of severe trauma during early childhood commonly an extreme, constant physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse. According to psychologist Pierre Janet’s study of dissociated patients, 44% presented a history of trauma (Cromwell et al, 1996).
Also In the renown case of Shirley Ardell Madison, commonly known under the pseudonym, Sybil Dorsett, the disorder was brought on by excessive physical and emotional abuse by her mother during early childhood. The product of this abuse was sixteen different personalities, two of which were male.
A person diagnosed with this disorder may frequently show multiple attitudes and beliefs that are considerably different from each other. It is theorized that high-dissociators are different from both mentally healthy people and those with mental disorders in the way they analyze the world, relationships, and various events in their life. When dissociates are conflicted with certain contradictory outcomes they do not practice the conventional method of changing their self- constructs (Cromwell et al, 1996) instead they resolve the conflict by creating multiple personas, also known as alter egos, to cope with the situations. When a DID patient changes into their alter ego they may believe that they are a different age, race and/or sex. Each personality or alter provides a different resolution for the current predicament in the mind of the subject. The alters can have different posture, handwriting, mannerisms and even ways of speaking. Both the alters and the primary personality may have no recollection of the events that took place when an alternate personality takes over.
The Term Paper on Personality Disorder Multiple Personalities One
Divided Minds Identity Disorder will Jane Phillips, author of The Magic Daughter: A Memoir of Living with Multiple Personality Disorder talks about living with Multiple Personality Disorder. I was 40 years old and could not explain why a teddy bear had moved in with me. I would run into people I did not know, but greeted me like an old friend. Time was all out of order. Hours were missing from my ...
The aforementioned case of Sybil brought about a drastic increase in the amount of patients diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Speculations of this case being a fraud have brought to light articles such as The “Sybil Tapes”: Exposing the Myth of Dissociative Identity Disorder. These publications use Sybil’s case as a point of reference to prove that some patients have been misdiagnosed by psychologists. Statistics show that in the 1970’s there were only 79 cases of DID documented in literature. In the mid 1980’s the number increased to 6,000. By the end of the 20th century, although difficult to accurately determine, the number of cases has been estimated to be at 40,000. (Lynn & Deming, 2010) The majority of these positive diagnoses are found in North America, the result from this is the belief that DID is a phenomenon only occurring in this region of the world.
In the case of Sybil Dorset, she developed 16 different personalities over a span of 23 years. All of her alters were extraordinarily talented with art, each personality could be seen through the different pieces of her art work. For example, one of Sybil’s alters, a toddler named Ruthie that was known for her exceptional coloring skills, would use crayons to create her masterpieces. While her “older” alters would create more sophisticated pieces using paint as opposed to crayons. The reason behind the fame of Sybil’s case comes from the excessive amount of publicity she received from books, movies produced by Flora Rheta Schreiber’s and the different forms of art work produced by her numerous personalities. (Arsdale)
The Term Paper on Multiple Personality Disorder Alters Treatment Personalities
The most famous dissociative disorder is Multiple Personality Disorder, also known as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). It is estimated that one in one hundred people may suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder and other Dissociative Disorders. With correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment, people have the potential for complete recovery. Multiple Personality Disorder is a condition in ...
Reiber revealed tapes and transcripts of Sybil and her psychiatrist, Cornelia Wilbur, having conversations in which they strategize about their upcoming novel. After an evaluation of Sybil by a prominent psychiatrist at Columbia University, Herb Spiegel, Sybil was said to have been highly suggestible with multiple identities fabricated to please Wilbur. (Lynn & Deming, 2010) These findings support claims that state Sybil may have been misdiagnosed.
Sybil’s case has been used by psychiatrist’s as a foundation to credit or discredit the validity of Dissociative Identity Disorder. Although Sybil’s case may have been a misdiagnosis of DID this does not prove that it is unreal. While her case could have been exaggerated this does not mean that actual cases of DID are nonexistent around the world. Though her case should not be used as a basis for the validation of this disorder psychologists are wise for using this prominent case as a method of proving that there is an abundance of falsely diagnosed individuals throughout the world.
References
Dale, K., degrd, A., Tschudi, F., Cromwell, R., Saunders, B., Eden, ., et al. (2010).
Cognitive complexity and dissociative identity disorder. Journal of Constuctivist Psychology, 23(2), 158-165. doi:10.1080/10720530903563264.
Lynn, S., & Deming, A (2010).
The “Sybil Tapes”: Exposing the myth of dissociative identity disorder. Theory & Psychology, 20(2), 289-291. doi:10.1177/0959354309345644.
Arsdale, Sarah. “Famous multiple-personality case was stranger in our midst.” Ace Weekly 02 Aug. 2001: n. pag. Web. 15 Nov 2010. .
