Dissociative Identity Disorder - Essay Example

The paper “Particular Qualities of Dissociative Identity Disorder" is an affecting version of a term paper on psychology. Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is a complex disorder which is sometimes viewed not as a mental illness at all. However, I believe that it is real because it is different from PTSD or schizophrenia even though sometimes it looks like these two disorders. DID has several characteristics that separate it into a different class that requires special treatment. This essay will cover the main reasons why DID should be treated as a real disorder due to the fact that it has clear diagnostic criteria, differences from other dissociative and anxiety disorders and special treatment.

First of all, almost all cases of DID are caused by serious childhood trauma like chronic abuse or extreme violence (Brown & Barlow). Memories about trauma are partially blurred or fragmentary due to the fact that traumatic actions were repeated and children learned to live with it somehow blocking unpleasant memories in their minds in order to live further. In Wendy's case, certain memories were very painful; they made her sleep in the closet because most of the violent scenes took place in bed.

She was abused by her mother, friends, lovers, and even brothers and sisters. Her painful childhood would naturally result in serious mental health issues and it led to DID, depression, psychotic episodes, numerous hospitalizations and unsuccessful treatments (Brown & Barlow).DID is difficult to diagnose as it requires long therapy sessions to be discovered. Even when people are aware of their alters, they do not rush to share this information with others. Wendy was hospitalized several times a year with different diagnoses and symptoms.

She also received different medications but they did not help as her hospitalizations repeated again and again. DID creates a system in patients mind where their major state has a role of the host and all alternative states can front if they are triggered by specific conditions. There are also repressed states, which are usually traumatized or destructive, and they never front because they are left in the past together with all bad memories. In fact, DID develops as a protective function because child's psyche is underdeveloped and unready to cope with violence and distance from it; however, it can break into certain segments that have qualities to protect, be more aggressive or more reluctant depending on the circumstances.

Other symptoms of DID include amnesia or inability to recollect traumatic events from the past (it can be partial) and disturbance cause not by substance abuse or medications (Brown & Barlow). Wendy has all these symptoms that are not typical for other disorders. For instance, her borderline personality disorder is a question as it does not meet all diagnostic criteria even though she cuts herself severely (Brown & Barlow). PTSD is not an alternative diagnosis because it occurs simultaneously with DID as Wendy has never received appropriate help and treatment after each traumatic episode.

A key factor in Wendy's treatment is presented not by medications but by trusting relationships with her therapist (Brown & Barlow). Only in several months of therapy she became honest and explained why she cut and burned herself. Suggested therapy would not work for schizophrenic patients but it is very alike to PTSD treatment. The therapist explained Wendy that her behaviors were not insane, related them to the past and provided better coping strategies. This approach helps DID patients integrate different personalities and their functions into the host and live as one personality (Brown & Barlow).

 Overall, therapists make people aware of their alters and work with all of them together during the therapy. They also define the role of each alter as it can be protective, destructive or aggressive and make people understand this role and certain rituals performed by each alter to realize this role. Since DID has definite diagnostic criteria, it is different from other mental disorders and requires special therapy similar to PTSD to be controlled, it should be treated as a real mental disorder.

People who suffer from DID often get incorrect diagnose and inefficient treatment due to the fact that their therapists do not believe that DID exists. Wendy was given anti-psychotic medication to tame her compulsive behaviors but they did not work because they did not address the reason why she acted that way. Only a deep understanding of the cause and making sure that people understand that the same will not happen again can help people to control their inner impulses and make them feel safe.

Overall, I believe that people can develop several identities or definite states that help them cope with the world and their awful memories. Their psyche is not fully developed and they cannot deploy more effective coping strategies other than split memories they do not like and keep them somewhere deep inside. People who have DID rarely get any mental treatment and rehabilitation when they are young because domestic violence and abuse are usually hidden from others because they lead to legal responsibility and public shame.

In such conditions, children stop hoping to be helped by others; moreover, their perpetrators often threaten them in order to keep them in fear. Such a situation leads to serious mental health problems that include DID, chronic PTSD, depression, suicide attempts, and self-harm. All these symptoms require special approach of therapists, their attention and trust in order to make people speak about what they really feel about their past and how they can leave it all behind to have a happier life.