Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder

Dissociative identity disorder is when an individual develops alternate personalities that function with or without the awareness of the person’s usual self. In this video, we explain and dive into what dissociative identity disorder is and some of the potential causes.

This video was made by McMaster students Xiang Xiang Fang and Kirti Harish, in collaboration with the McMaster Demystifying Medicine Program.

This video is provided for general and educational information only. Please consult your health care provider for Information about your health.

Copyright McMaster University 2021

#DemystifyingMedicine, #MentalHealth

References

Dissociation debates: Everything you know is wrong. (2018). Controversies in Psychiatry Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 20(3), 229-242. doi:10.31887/dcns.2018.20.3/rloewenstein

Gillig P. M. (2009). Dissociative identity disorder: a controversial diagnosis. Psychiatry (Edgmont (Pa. : Township)), 6(3), 24–29.

[AimeeCharlize]

i just had a really long heartfelt talk with my friend from 3-6 am and she opened up to me about her disorder so i’m trying my best, watching every youtube video and articles on this topic to try to help her and be more educated on it

[BlueDolphinStudios]

I am 52. I have been officially diagnosed with DID, PTSD, and Bi-Polar for 15 years. Hallucinations are definitely a part of my life, both auditory and visual. Auditory is all the time but I would not call them hallucinations, just conversations between all of us. The visual ones are often very scary. Each person is individual. There are things that are in common with my DID brothers and sisters but no one is identical. Thank you for creating such a non threatening way of explaining DID. Well done.

[lizcaplan]

Here is the best explanation of the development of DID that I have ever heard. It's like this: a person's wise, sub-conscious mind decides to place itself into a little jar for safe keeping, in order to survive otherwise un-survivable pain. Another part-self must necessarily be created, then. It's really, really simple. It works. It enables survival.

[day]

I was with my therapist talking about how I feel different emotions when certain things happen and explaining how they are kinda their own person and she said that WASN'T normal the way I was shocked thinking it was low-key normal and she brought up DID and now I'm here doing my research to see if I relate to this

[melanietoth]

I have this diagnosis. I've lost friends when I've told them because they fear it not because of experiences with me. I was horribly abused and tortured from infancy to toddlerhood and sexually. emotionally, and physically abused until I was 15 and chose to live on the streets. I have massive gaps in memory...in my adult life I've ended up states away from home twice. Medication has helped immensely in just keeping me from disassociating...I'm still always afraid of it. It could happen any time im in a situation of trauma. It hasnt for 5 years so far but I'm still on edge because I've lived with it for 4 decades. It's not like Sybil, the disassociation doesnt have a name...I'm not aware of it...I just cease to exist. Its fing scary

[kimlec]

Dissociation : a way to forget how awful you felt/feel for a while. Writing helps a lot. Write a shopping list, anything. it will help you discover you can handle anything if you write stuff down. it need not be about the traumatic things. sometimes is best to write encouraging things to yourself. past is gone. you are here. focus on what you like/ what uplifts you, when you can. tell yourself truth - it is not a disorder - it's a coping strategy for emotional pain.

[thewiggles]

final fusion is not required. as long as a person or system can become functional and healthy, there is no need to fully integrate.

[didsystem]

Our childhood was mainly, Sexual assault from the ages of 18 months to (the bodily age), hospitalisation of family and friends, near death at the age of 3 to 10, rape from 1 year old to now, abuse and neglect, kidnapping from 3 to 10 including trafficking, kicked out and becoming homeless for three years and CPS coming and taking us away on and off for (bodily age) years. We don’t know how we survived any of it. -Amber

[SailorYue]

I know 3 people who have this, and it's different for each of them. One of them just recently learned why he keeps having these blanks of memories while on our side were still talking to him, only his way of talking changes in chat. It's a very interesting disorder for sure

[chiu]

I'm watching it to make an outline of the character in my novel on which I'm working on. But really i goosebumps after knowing a lot of things in detail about DID and PDSD. I think a lot more people needs to get educated on this unexplored topic(to which ppl think it seems unrealistic and is limited upto few fictional movies n all) Because of the less knowledge most of time ppl consider it as spirits, ghosts, and other kind of scary stuff. But this video will surely be an eye- opener of many, who r still struggling and r confused about their conditions. It's just an illness just like any other. Ppl should treat patients like this with humbleness, love and respect afterall it's our social and humanitarian responsibility to give these ppl a better world wiithout having any ill thoughts towards these ppl. 💜💜💜

[melanietoth]

Thank you to all those with did who posted to this thread. I feel less alone now. Our stories are so similar and our diagnosis has never been depicted correctly in the media. We arent scary. Weve been severely abused but are "fine" unless we arent and we are good at hiding that even when we wont remember those periods if time. It's horrible and disconcerting to be an adult and have enormous memory gaps ...and to continue having them. In my case I also leave...which can mean walking off and found a few miles away or, twice so far, getting on a bus and ending up thousands of miles away and losing months of time. Its terrifying to have to protect oneself from whatever might cause disassociation in order to avoid something you will never remember.

[jennifermusielak]

Interesting...i was diagnosed DID. I remember finding papers "i" wrote in school and college, and I would think dang, this person is smart, only to find out I was the person who had written.them. it was if I was another person when I wrote them cause it didnt even sound like the person I was at that time. It now makes sense.

[kimlec]

it's rough conditions with the loved ones. Dissociation is strategy of your mind to keep you alive. Much of what we had to endure in our family was actually violence of every kind. Emotional, psychological, verbal. The dissociation helps us handle the utter terror we felt when very young, knowing there is no safety or love or care available where we were.

[andromedarose]

Generally, the trauma has to occur before or by the age of 8 for one to develop DID. This is because this is when the personality integrates. You can develop other dissociative issues or PTSD after exposures to trauma later, but one cannot develop DID after a trauma that solely happened in adulthood. DID can be diagnosed later in life because often the host personality is unaware that they have DID.

[willowhedgesystem]

I feel it is important to say that demon possession is in no way shape or form part of DID. And this stigma needs to end. It is an extremely dangerous way to look at mental illness. Yes, some of us in the DID community have alters that are nonhuman. This is not demon possession. Please stop demonizing mental illness.

[fcsvazrael]

Took me forever, but I managed to get to know - and love all of my "alters".

I hear them, almost like they're thoughts - but not my own.
I get feedback, I get laughs and a better understanding of who I am.

I've recorded all of their names, their ages, their gender identities, their favorite songs, animals, just for the sake of knowing them all.

[motleythewild]

Women more likely being diagnosed over men is 100% because women will actually seek help while men think it's fine to just "toughen up and deal with it" not realizing their choice is hurting more than just themselves. I know this because I have been both

[reginaldbutcha]

I think ive always had DID. As of late, I've been having incredibly realistic and vivid dreams the last year. Only to find out, some were probably dreams and some were events even my friends could recall. The scariest one by far is a time my friend saw me driving around in a car with someone I normally don't associate with, and calling out his name from the window earlier that morning. No way, I thought, because I'd been sleeping up till then. But he said it looked exactly like me. Was I out of it? Was he seeing things? Would I sound crazy if I went to the person I was allegedly with and asked? Idunno. Scary shit though.

Edit: I did experience trauma as a child tho. Repititive sexual abuse

[crazyeyedme]

Damn..
@2:10, I have experienced all of it except for trafficking but I was held captive like a male stud animal. They broke me like a wild horse and he went through inconceivable heartache.
It's unfair that a good kid like that has to experience so much in every important part of his life. That's why ppl like me have to protect him...he won't love himself so that is why alters exist. The worst part is knowing that the people you love have to see how effed up you are.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

RAHHHH

[TheOfficialZombieWhisperer]

My uncle abused me as a 22 month old baby, my first freaking memory, my Great Grandfather too I don't remember when he started I was out of training pants I do remember, I have issues within the different parts of me, I feel like a puzzle and all the pieces are in a mess and the edges are rugged and misshapen, I know when I go through some of the changes, I can't control when or where it happens the triggers are inconsistent, imagine having a registered pedophile next door, a daily reminder, I'm in southwest Oregon and no place affordable to move to after everything burned down last year.