Mental Illness Dissociative Identity Disorder - 1408 Words

Can someone have more than one personality lingering within them? Is it possible for someone to have missing pieces from their memories because another person within them is taking over at certain periods of time? These are all questions that many psychologists and psychiatrists find themselves asking within the psychology community. This is a topic filled with controversy still to this day. Psychology is a field that has been around for a long time, but we are still discovering new illnesses all the time. One mental illness that is becoming more apparent is dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, but some argue that this illness is not real. To begin to understand what happens within a person with dissociative identity disorder, it is important to first explain what the disorder is exactly. As defined by a forensic psychiatry and forensic psychology book: â€Å"Dissociative identity disorder (DID or multiple personality disorder) repre sents a ‘disruption of identity’ in which ‘two or more distinct personality states’ (also referred to as ‘alters’) occur. Further characteristics include: ‘marked discontinuity in the sense of self and sense of agency, accompanied by related alterations in affect, behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and/or sensory-motor functioning.’ There may be gaps in recall of every day events, important personal information, and/or traumatic events inconsistent with ‘normal forgetting’†Show MoreRelatedDissociative Identity Disorder ( Multiple Personality )1397 Words   |  6 PagesDissociative Identity Disorder can be difficult to diagnosis as mentioned before. However, a scale has been developed to help a professional with their diagnosis of individuals that may suffer from this mental illness. There have been many studies conducted to test the reliability and validity of this scale. The scale is refer red to as The Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and was developed to help measure dissociation in individuals. The Dissociative Experiences Scale is a twenty-eight item self-reportRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder ( Dissociative Disorder )1040 Words   |  5 PagesDissociative Identity Disorder Dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder, is a mental illness that is greatly misunderstood, much like many other mental illnesses. Nicholas Spanos, Professor of Psychology, hypothesized Multiple Personality Disorder as a defense against childhood trauma that creates â€Å"dissociation† or a split mental state. The trauma sustained during childhood is so substantial, that the individual creates different identities to cope with itRead MoreCommon Stressor Related Disorders ( Disorder )913 Words   |  4 PagesStressor-related disorders are expressed in many forms throughout different individuals. Common stressor-related disorders are one trauma and stressor-related disorder or anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive or related disorder, or dissociative disorder. One particular stress-related disorder that has caught my attention is dissociative identity disorder. Dissociative identity disorder is characterized by having two or more perso nalities within an individual. Typically, one is dominant and presentRead MoreEssay on Furthering Knowlege of Dissociative Identity Disorder640 Words   |  3 Pagesknowledge on the controversial mental illness identified as Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID. More commonly known as multiple personality disorder, it has been a mental illness which gained attention from being the main focus in a variety of Hollywood’s films, aside from what has been portrayed in films I have little insight to what this disorder is. â€Å"What is Dissociative Identity Disorder, its causes and how is it clinically diagnosed?† Dissociative Identity Disorder is a target of controversyRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder And Schizophrenia893 Words   |  4 PagesBlunt, American politician, once said, â€Å"People with mental health problems are almost never dangerous. In fact, they are more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators. At the same time, mental illness has been the common denominator in one act of mass violence after another.† There is a misconception that mental disorders such as dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia are the same. Today’s society often see all mental disorders as one, however, they are very much different. If oneRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder And Multiple Personality Disorder1399 Words   |  6 Pages Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder, is defined as â€Å"a severe condition in which two or more distinct identities, or personality states, are present in—and alternately t ake control of—an individual†. In 1994, the name of the disorder was changed to reflect a better understanding of the condition. DID is characterized by fragmentation, not by the growth of separate identities. DID is not a new disorder. However, it has been misunderstood forRead MoreThe Stigma Of Mental Illness With Information1007 Words   |  5 PagesFighting the Stigma of Mental Illness with Information When describing the brain, it can be labeled as many things but not one-dimensional or simplistic. This is an organ that we find hard to understand because, oddly enough, we have a brain that isn’t wired well enough to understand itself. What makes our brain so complex? Is it the billions of neurons or the trillions of synapses that make up all of our mental connections? The three pound mass in your skull is bursting with power. It comes completelyRead MoreThe Secret Window And Dissociative Identity Disorder1096 Words   |  5 PagesThe Secret Window and Dissociative Identity Disorder The Secret Window is a film released in 2004 directed by David Koepp and written by Stephen King. The main issue in this film is one of a psychological basis which keeps the audience on their toes and maybe even slightly confused until all of the pieces fit together at the end of the film. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the psychological issue that plagues the main character, Mort Rainey (portrayed by Johnny Depp), and identify anyRead MoreMental Illness And Its Stigma1363 Words   |  6 PagesMental Illness and Its Stigma â€Å"One in five adults in America experience mental illness,† (Mental Health, n.d., para 1). Many people define mental illness as a characteristic that makes one irrational or delusional and derives a belief that those who have mental disorders are not suffering from a real disease, resulting in a negative view of those who suffer. There are three ways to defy this stigma that everyone, from media producers to the sufferers themselves, must participate in to break downRead MoreAbnormal Psychology : Dissociative Identity Disorder1623 Words   |  7 PagesPsychology: Dissociative Identity Disorder Dissociative Identity Disorder, previously referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder, is a psychological illness that has raised a lot of controversy and led researchers to question its validity. This disorder has been recorded as early as the 1800’s, but has recently been given more attention to by clinical researchers because of its diagnosis rates. The brain is a very complex organ and certain traumas can lead to the occurrence of this illness. Dissociative