Dissociative Identity Disease (DID) Essay

Introduction

Dissociative identity disease (DID) is a mental disorder that is has a unique diagnosis and treatment procedure. DID is an interesting disease since it was discovered centuries ago but very little information exists about the disease. It is the least studied disease historically yet it has become the most debated psychiatric disorder among the scholars. Most scholars differ on the validity of the condition. 38% of psychiatrists (among 425 who have a doctorate in clinicians) believe that the disease can be formed in the mind of the patient when interacting with a therapist. On the other hand, another 15% of psychiatrists argue that the diseases develop when the patient is exposed to different kinds of media. The findings above indicate how complex the disease is and how the developments made could be delusional and misguiding when dealing with DID disorder. Nevertheless, its diagnosis is conducted by two persons one of whom must be able to recognize himself/herself and the environment around him or her (Merckelbach, Devily, and Rassin, 2002).

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The film, Split depicts a character, Kelvin, having DID. Kelvin kidnaps children while hanging out playing among them Casey Cooke. Casey is an emotional girl who had been defiled by her guardian, Uncle John, after the death of her father. Casey and her friends have to deal with Kelvin who has 23 different personalities who control him. These personalities sit in a room and try to control the "light" in terms. Some personalities like "Denis" are violent, and each time Casey tries to escape Kelvin becomes violent (Shyamalan, 2017). This film, however, does not depict the real symptoms and diagnosis of DID. This paper will illustrate how the film has misleading images on the symptoms of DID.

Conclusion that someone has DID

Research indicates that DID is uncommon among community with prevalence of between 0.4% and 1.2% (Leonard & Tiller, 2015). There is no correct none diagnosis or treatment of the disease and it is often delayed since most psychiatrists are not aware of the diagnosis methods to apply. It is disease that is associated with childhood trauma that alters the cognitive development of a child. Here, the film takes advantage of this knowledge to illustrate the Kevin Wendell Crumb had suffered abuse in his childhood by his mother (Shyamalan, 2017). Most psychiatrist associate this disorder with schizophrenia since it also has symptoms of alternative identity states. However, in order to identify and diagnose DID, the psychiatrist must use three-phased approach; achieving stability, working with trauma and working towards integration (Leonard & Tiller, 2015). Looking at the film Dr. Fletcher only goes through the first two steps of treatment and diagnosis. After the first two steps, Dr. Fletcher concludes that Kelvin is suffering from DID (Shyamalan, 2017). Important to note, the phases may take a long period of time in order to ensure that one is suffering from the right disease and not any other disease similar to DID. In the film, Dr. Fletcher haphazardly concludes that Kevin is suffering from DID yet he has not completed all the three phases of disease identification. It is misconception how Dr. Fletcher concludes that Kelvin is suffering from the disease yet hundreds of doctorate clinicians have never had a conclusive arguments about the symptoms of the disease.

Too much violence in the film

The film only depicts the violent parts of the DID conditions. The film makes it look like the patients with DID are extremely violent and prone to doing the wrong things. This is a misrepresentation since individuals with the condition have no tendency of being violent and tend to hide their mental conditions (Leudar & Sharrock 1999). Additionally, Leudat contrasts the arguments by Hacking that the condition keeps changing and may have different symptoms depending on the patient. Hacking adds that the condition is socially created. Leudar argues that sexual abuse has recently become the suspect of DID (Leudar & Sharrock 1999). Looking at the film, there are two concepts that are misleading. One of the recent findings indicates that DID is more propelled by sexual abuse then social factors. Kelvin is said to have been mistreated by his mother but not sexually. The character Casey was the one who when through sexual abuse ordeal and the audience expects her to suffer from the condition and not Kelvin (Shyamalan, 2017). Secondly, the film portrays misleading images DID indicate that patients with DID are extremely violent. These symptoms are highly different from DID symptoms in real life. Furthermore, the film only highlights the extreme symptoms that a patient can possess. There are cases known where patients are cool and collected. The case in the film is even scary to those with DID disorders.

Conclusion

Summing up dissociative identity disease (DID) is a mental disorder that is associated with severe traumatic conditions when the child is growing up. Recently, the condition is triggered by sexual abuse in a child. The disease is interesting since little is known about the symptoms and diagnosis. The disease is sometimes confused with schizophrenia. Therefore, for a psychiatrist to conclude that a patient has DID, three phases must be used; achieving stability, working with trauma and working towards integration. The film Split has misleading images of DID's symptoms since Dr. Fletcher only uses the first two phases to conclude that Kelvin is suffering from DID. Additionally, the film only depicts the extreme case of DID where patients are violent.

References

Leonard, D. & Tiller, J. (2015). Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) in clinical practice - what you don't see may hurt you. Australasian Psychiatry, 24(1), 39-41. Retrieved from

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1039856215604481Leudar I. & Sharrock W. (1999). Essay review: Multiplying the multiplicity: Are dissociative identity disorders 'real'?. British Journal of Psychology. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/000712699161431/epdf

Merckelbach, H., Devily, G., and Rassin, E. (2002). Alters in dissociative identity disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 22(4), pp.481-497. Retrieved from

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272735801001155Shyamalan, N. (Director). (2017). Split [Motion picture on DVD].