Dissociative Identity Disorder: Information, Feelings, and Emotions Psychology Alternative Final Project

1. Dissociative Identity
Disorder
{ By: Emma Swift

2. 
This is a project for a high school
AP Psychology course. This is a
fictionalized account of having a
psychological ailment. For
questions about this blog project or
its contents, please email the
teacher, Laura Astorian:
laura.astorian@cobbk12.org.
Note to the Reader

3. 3 in 100 people
have DID.

4. Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID):
psychological disorder in which two or
more identities, or personalities, exist in
an individual that can each take over
the conscious behavior of the individual
at different periods of time
 Formerly called Multiple Personality
Disorder

What is DID?

5. The Personalities

6. When under influence of one personality, the
patient doesn’t recall events that occurred
while in other personalities, behaving as a
completely different person
 Period of time controlled by a personality can
range from an hour to five years
 Each personality can have different
characteristics (name, gender, physical
attributes such as need for glasses)
 Average number of alters (personalities): 10-13

The Personalities

7. 



First case in 1811 for Mary Reynolds and was
documented by physician Samul Mitchel
Main early theorists of DID: Pierre Janet (explored
unconscious and hypnosis), Morton Prince
(explored relationship between physical and
psychological parts of DID), and Boris Sidis
(explored the role of neurons )
Became official disorder when added to DSM in
1980
Called Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) in
DSM-III but name changed to DID in DSM-IV
Brief History

8. Subjects with DID usually
unaware that they have it
 Thought to be caused by
sexual or physical abuse as a
child
 First development of an
alter at an average age of 5.9
years, typically in childhood

The Beginning
{

9. 


On average, patients have
spend 7 years in medical
care before coming to a
final diagnosis
Four times as many
women as men are
diagnosed
Symptoms may be:
obsessive compulsive
behavior , eating
disorders, depression,
and drug abuse
Diagnosis

10. 


Main methods: hypnosis and
psychotherapy
Therapy aims to stabilize the
individual and have the
alters unite into single
personality (integration)
Therapy: therapist tries to
effectively communicate
with all alters



Treatment
Tries to get personalities to
meet one another and
interact
Attempts to uncover
traumatic events, retrieve
methods, and make peace
with them
No know medication
available for treatment

11. What it is Like to
Have DID
{
The Struggle and Emotions

12. Loss of Identity

13. Too many
thoughts.
Too many
emotions. So
many people
in my head.
Thought Overload

14. Crowding

15. Low Self-Esteem

16. Lost

17. Frustrated

18. Dark. Cold.

19. Fake

20. Confused

22. Loss of Time

23. Memory Gaps

24. Lost Opportunities

25. 
Dispelling Myths about Dissociative Identity Disorder | Psych Central - Part 2. (n.d.).
Psych Central. Retrieved December 14, 2013, from
http://psychcentral.com/lib/dispelling-myths-about-dissociative-identitydisorder/0009785/2

Dissociation and dissociative disorders. (n.d.). Better Health Channel. Retrieved
December 14, 2013, from
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Dissociation_and_dis
sociative_disorders

Dissociative Identity Disorder. (n.d.). NAMI. Retrieved December 14, 2013, from
http://nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Helpline&Template=/ContentManagement/Co
ntentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=20562

Dissociative Identity Disorder. (n.d.). Psychology Today. Retrieved December 13,
2014, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/dissociative-identitydisorder-multiple-personality-disorder?tab=Symptoms

Dissociative Identity Disorder. (n.d.). Dissociative Identity Disorder. Retrieved
December 14, 2013, from
http://www.aamft.org/imis15/content/Consumer_Updates/Dissociative_Identity_Dis
order.aspx
Works Cited

26. 
Dissociative Identity Disorder Symptoms, Causes, Treatment - What is dissociative
identity disorder? - MedicineNet. (n.d.). MedicineNet. Retrieved December 14, 2013,
from
http://www.medicinenet.com/dissociative_identity_disorder/page2.htm#what_is_di
ssociative_identity_disorder

Clinic Staff. (2011, March 3). Definition of Dissociative Identity Disorder. Mayo
Clinic. Retrieved December 14, 2013, from
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dissociativedisorders/DS00574/DSECTION=symptoms

Phelphs, J. (n.d.). Celebrities with Dissociative Disorders. Yahoo Contributor
Network. Retrieved December 14, 2013, from http://voices.yahoo.com/celebritiesdissociative-disorders-6680648.html?cat=70

Vernon, L., Kallio, J., & Wilcox, A. (n.d.). Some Symptoms & Indications of
Dissociative Identity Disorder. Safe Home. Retrieved December 13, 2014, from
http://www.sascwr.org/files/www/resources_pdfs/mental_illness/Symptoms_of_DI
D.pdf
Works Cited