Dissociative Identity Disorder - Essay Example

For a conclusion to be made that a person is suffering from DID, must be able to impact behavioral change that is accompanied by loss of memory for basic information such as original identity. This implies that people with DID are not fully aware of their real selves. It is important to note that similar symptoms emanating from abuse of substance are not considered DID. This implies that DID has similar symptoms with other disorders such as factitious disorder and therefore DID diagnosis requires caution.

For instance in the TV series Blacklist season 2 episode 1 Norah is suffering from DID where she has another personality that reflects her sister Rowen. When these shifts take place Norah is not aware of the shifts and she fully believes that she is Rowen. For example, after apprehensive by the FBI for crimes she committed, she genuinely argues that it was not her and even believes that her sister Rowen, who had died earlier, is still alive. After a shift back to Norah, she does not seem to remember the incidents or actions she had formally done in her personality as Rowen. Therefore, it is in order to conclude that Norah is suffering from DID due to the personality shift and loss of memory including basic information such as her real identity.

In a bid to ensure that Norah was indeed suffering from DID it is important to ensure that she portrays all the symptoms of DID. Norah experiences personality shifts and after the shifts, she experiences memory loss and identifies herself as Rowen rather than Norah. However, it important to note that personality shifts and or memory loss can be caused by other disorders and factors such as substance abuse such as alcohol or any other form of medication. Nevertheless, Norah is not under influence of any substances and hence this proves that Norah is suffering from DID. DID is in many cases mistaken for other disorders such as schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder since they portray similar symptoms. However, with careful examination of the patient, it is possible to differentiate these disorders and provide an accurate diagnosis. For instance, borderline disorders have no episodes of dissociation and only exhibit such symptoms as relationship instability (Larsen & Buss, 2005).

DID has been associated with traumatic events that mainly take place during early childhood such as sexual harassment. From the TV series in reference, it is made clear that Norah had suffered sexual abuse by her uncle at a younger age. Additionally, her efforts to share her experience with the parents and other adults were futile since they did not believe her. This implies that the trauma she had experienced was not well dealt with and this explains why she was suffering from DID. As a result, she sought to suppress her trauma and the next easier step was to adopt her sister’s personality. However, since there could not share Rowen’s personality while still, Rowen was present, Norah resulted in killing Rowen and then took over her identity. All other actions that followed Rowen’s murder were in a bid to perfect the new identity and hence the need to eliminate any seemingly possible threats to Norah’s new identity. Therefore, Norah can be diagnosed to be suffering from DID and not any other disorder.

DID is quite challenging to fully treat and there are no generally preferred criteria that can be used for treatment at an advanced stage. However, in most cases continued therapeutic care may seem to have a positive effect. This involves mixing several therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy among others. In the process of treatment levels of personality, the shift is expected to reduce. There have been suggestions on the use of three stages to treat DID. The first stage focuses on ensuring the safety of patients by trying to prevent harm emanating from the different personalities. The second step involves exposing the patients to events that cause the shift although this is done under keen observations and interventions are done when required. The last step attempts to combine the personalities yet ensuring that there is no memory loss. With these three stages, there has been some progress towards treating DID.