Is Dissociative Identity Disorder Real or a Modern-Day Scam - Assignment Example

A patient with DID has a minimum of two distinct personalities with each having its own way of sensing, relating to self and thinking about the environment. DID is caused when a person undergoes acute traumatic situations that do not give a physical escape. Therefore the person resorts to getting out of his or her mind. This is a defense method used to overcome severe emotional or physical pain or anxious anticipation of such circumstances. Through the dissociative process, feelings, memories, thoughts, and perceptions of traumatic circumstance are separated from the person psychologically and enable the person to live as if the circumstances never occurred (Dissociative Identity Disorder 2003).

Dissociative identity disorder or multiple personality disorder is considered from a sociocognitive perspective as a socially constructed disorder. The disorder is goal-oriented, context bounded and the social behavior is evolved to meet the expectation of others significant to a circumstance and the characteristics o the behavior changes according to changes in circumstances (Spanos, N. P. 1994).Though multiple personality disorder has gained acceptance in the medical perspectives, there are several reasons that point out that this is not a disorder because it does not meet specific criteria to be recognized as a disease.

Piper and Merskey (2004) notes that even close relative often do not recognize multiple personalities before patients begin therapy. In certain cases, relatives of the patients are given explanations, and the changes in behavior are specifically pointed out to understand multiple personalities because it was not evident before. Experts who advocate DID have not been able to strategically point out symptoms of the disorder since there is no specific personality state, identity, behavioral changes or other criteria that qualify the existence of the disorder.

There is no definition for one personality taking control of the other or the methods to differentiate the changes in personality (Piper, A. & H. Merskey 2004 p.679).It may be concluded that from a sociocognitive perspective, dissociative identity disorder seems to exist in individuals in extreme circumstances. However, considering practical symptoms and etiology there is no specific method to identify the disorder. This leads to a question whether such disorder is real.