Disassociative Identity Disorder

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), more commonly referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), is a very controversial topic in the realm of psychology. The confirmation of this disease holds many implications. To establish or discredit the idea of a person being capable of having separate personalities coexisting within one body ultimately affects how that person will be treated by their community, therapists, and the judiciary system. Research suggests that this is a real disorder that must be taken seriously by the public and psychologists alike. Studies have been done to assess the frequency of its symptoms throughout those who have been diagnosed and many arguments brought forth by those who are skeptical of DID’s existence have been dispelled.

There are two main types of theories that stem from those so not accept DID as an actual disorder. Also, it is suggested that the symptoms that suggest DID have changed over time and that the symptoms noted may be attributed to other mental disorders such as schizophrenia. It is well known that this disorder has received massive amounts of attention throughout the media due to its unusual nature. Therefore, some skeptics believe that a patient may feign the disorder to receive attention from their therapist or others. Other cynics maintain that DID is first recognized by the therapist who then transmits it to the patient through reinforcements such as psychotherapy or hypnosis (Spanos). Regardless of what category of thinking they maintain, those who stand in opposition of this disease believe that DID is a phenomenon caused by a person’s belief in the disorder and not the disorder itself.

Although nonbelievers provide compelling arguments for their opinion, research suggests that these philosophies are unsubstantiated. According to David Gleaves, several hundred cases of DID have been documented and by studying these cases researchers have been able to establish a uniform set of symptoms localized to the disorder (43). Therefore, if differing symptoms have been noted in the past, those discrepancies can now be expelled due to current research. Furthermore, because these symptoms have been attributed to all DID victims other mental impairments can be excluded as causes.

The idea that patients may be pretending to have this disorder to receive much desired attention is doubtful. Therapists say that most of the time the afflicted person tries to hide their symptoms. A study was conducted by Armstrong and Loewenstein in 1990 in which personality profiles were made of DID patients. Contrary to skeptic belief, they found that these patients were very introverted and avoidant (Gleaves, 43). This suggests that patients diagnosed with DID are not attention seeking, but would rather prefer no special concern be afforded to them. Also, it must be noted that many times people diagnosed with DID are treated poorly in psychiatric hospitals and are called liars and scrutinized for their “imaginary” dysfunction (Gleaves, 45) Therefore, there is no cause to believe that these patients are faking symptoms of DID to receive attention. Research has conveyed that most DID afflicted individuals do not fit the profile of an attention seeker and that any attention that one might hope to gain would be a negative experience.

According to the opposition of this issue DID may also be caused by