Dissociative Identity Disorder Essay Example

Introduction

Dissociative Identity Disorder is a mental disorder characterized by two or more different states of personality which show in the client's behavior. Clients with Dissociative Identity Disorder often forget various events, in an unordinary way. Dissociative Identity Disorder has always been thought as a rare disease since most clinicians can often have a problem with its identification. Patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder can harm themselves as well as interfere with the safety of other people recommended by practitioners, maybe as their therapists. Most clients with the also have inconsistencies in their story. These inconsistencies could result from the different takes at their cognitive levels such as thoughts and experiences. Through these inconsistencies, the clients tend to have the potential of harming their relationship with the people around them (Vermetten, 2006). The Dissociative Identity Disorder is a rare disease with unique features, risk factors, prevalence, and treatment methods as compared to other disorders.

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Key features of the disorder

The Dissociative Identity Disorder can be characterized by the availability of two or more personalities in an individual, where either of them has their pattern of perception, as related to and thought of the surrounding stimuli (Ringrose, 2012). The behavior of the individual is affected in this case by two or more of the prevalent personalities. There is a characteristic of identity fragmentation instead of the proliferation of distinct personalities as associated with the disease.

Patients with the condition tend to have various host identities, where one of them could be the clinician or therapist and the other as an alteration of their identity. There could be accompanying amnesia with the Dissociative Identity Disorder where there could be characteristics of the inability to recall information from one's knowledge. Many people with Dissociative Identity Disorder tend to forget personal information and as well have other symptoms. Some of these may include de-realization, depersonalization, as well as spontaneous autotrophic symptoms. Additionally, the individual may also exhibit pseudo psychotic symptoms including passive influence and other Somatoform symptoms (Ringrose, n.d.). There is also an association of early stress with the disorder, where are recorded changes with the structure of an animal, which are essential for the animal's knowledge inquisition, stress regulation, and memory.

Another of the critical features of the Dissociative Identity Disorder is the disruption of various functions of the individual at a cognitive level. Other symptoms associated with the condition include fugue episodes where the patients tend to realize themselves at various destinations without an understanding of the reason they were there they are, or the concept behind them being there. Patients may also experience auditory hallucinations where they could cry and make remarks about themselves. Some may also have insomnia where the hosts such as clinicians can be kept awake as a result of reported nightmares. Some also often lose time when any alters of the condition take over various limelights for a certain period. Besides these conditions, clients may experience low self-esteem, mood swings that cannot be associated with bipolar disorder, numbness, and self-harm. Suicide attempts can also be associated with the disorder, especially when it is unknown to the hosts including the therapists.

Risk factors for the disorder

One of the risk factors includes borderline-personality disorder. Many children tend to suffer from trauma, which is a risk factor for Dissociative Identity Disorder (Bradford, 1994). Children are commonly affected as the condition can mostly be associated with childhood trauma. Trauma could arise from specific experiences including war during childhood. Some genetic factors also contribute to the condition where an interaction with a person's family and their cultural environment could contribute to the condition.

People who are most at risk for the disorder

The people who are at the most risk for the condition include people from poor, insecure, and unpredictable relations with their parents or guardians (Bradford, 1994). Other people affected include those who are emotionally affected by their unconditional mother love or children without their mother. Other people mostly affected include children raised in single-parent families as they could be emotionally tortured by seeing their peers experience love while at their dual-parent families.

The condition could also affect individuals who have been tortured, neglected, or abused in any way including physical or sexual abuse (Bradford, 1994). This also includes individuals who have witnessed domestic violence. The affected also include individuals who have been repeatedly admitted into the accident and emergency departments at the hospital as a result of their suicide attempts or attempts to injure themselves. These patterns could be evident within a short time frame. Other individuals most affected include those with frequent contact with some mental health services especially those at their teenage years. People who have undergone a diagnosis of anxiety are also not excluded, as well as those who have experienced anxiety and other disorders in the past.

Prevalence of the disorder

The diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder is associated with a history of trauma, especially when at a young age (Ringrose, 2012). The form of trauma could be in its multiple and sustained treatment forms. The condition is mostly associated with children, especially those at their post-traumatic development (Bradford, 1994). In the case of adults, those with the disorder as related to their physical abuse tend to exhibit little hippocampal sizes (Vermetten, 2006). The prevalence of the condition has been noted in the psychiatric community. Women of between 16 and 50 years are commonly affected with the condition, especially those who have been identified with a psychiatric condition. Most of the patients of the Dissociative Identity Disorder are women.

Accepted treatments

Diagnosis and treatment of the condition mostly involve supportive care and counseling (Vermetten, 2006). Its treatment cannot be made until one reaches their adulthood. Presently, treatment of the condition tends to focus more on communication and cooperation between hosts, who are the clinicians and therapists, and any alters of the condition. There, therefore, could be an integration of various identities associated with the condition. People aged between twenty-nine and thirty-five years are ones who commonly undergo the therapy.

Different therapists may differ in how they deliver their professionalism to the clients. These practitioners tend to have different periods of how long the therapy would take. Most of the long-term therapies may be long as a result of repeated abuse by many people, as well as the association of the cognitive mind, where one may have suffered from poor attachments. Long-term therapies may also be established at a more extended point as stabilization may take a long time since the condition may have been realized at a later stage. Acceptance of the diagnosis and treatment could be, and most of the patients tend to take too much time to accept any alters and adapt to their hosts. Alters also need more time to communicate with each other. However, the duration of therapy is an important consideration for most of the therapists and practitioners. Establishing sessions with the therapists is also one step towards treating the condition as the more regular the sessions, the better the treatment. More extended sessions are better for the clients to enable them to get enough time to have treatment taken on them. These sessions may be different between clients.

Alternative treatments

Most of the specialists also associate the treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder with screening, assessment of the individual, and some diagnosis (Ringrose, n.d.). There might be numerous tests when undergoing therapy for the condition to take note of the progress of the patient. Other clinicians may offer psychotherapy assessments as a way to guide the therapy (Ringrose, n.d.). For the patients, besides having a plan for their therapy, they could have long-term strategies that involve medical practitioners to assist in treating the condition.

However, there could also be missed diagnoses, which are related to the difficulty in identification of the condition. Its difficulty in identification could be masking with other conditions like anorexia. Additionally, finding a suitable drug for the condition could be a challenge to the therapists and practitioners hence, making a recommendation for the closest alternatives only. Some of the therapies associated in this case an alternative treatment for the condition include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoid tendency, or schizo-affective disorder forms of treatment. Some other conditions associated with Dissociative Identity Disorder hence, similar treatment include comorbid disorder such as the borderline personality condition.

Having only one therapy could, however, be insufficient for the client. There could be a combination of therapies including person-centred therapy, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Focusing-Oriented Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Sensorimotor Therapy as desired by their hosts. Besides having the therapies, it is also essential to have an inventory of the child's development, which is a necessity to identify the associated alters. However, any form of therapy should not be considered as an individual one, but there should be a consideration of multiple identities (Ringrose, 2012). One of the examples includes having family therapy as multiple identities.

Beyond therapy, psycho-education is also essential as the clients can better be taught the strategies towards dealing with their negative emotions in a different perspective (Ringrose, n.d.). Through psycho-education, most of the clients suffering from the condition would no longer see the necessity in dissociation, cutting, or desire to commit suicide. Additionally, clients can be educated on their multiplicity to make them aware of the existing barriers between the identities. It is through psycho-education and education on multiplicity that clients can feel that they are relieved (Ringrose, n.d.).

References

Bradford, R. (1994). Developing an objective approach to assessing allegations of sexual abuse. Child Abuse Review,3(2), 93-101. doi:10.1002/car.2380030206

Ringrose, J. L. (n.d.). Considerations for psychotherapy. Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder (or Multiple Personality Disorder), 63-82. doi:10.4324/9780429484483-6

Ringrose, J. L. (n.d.). Assessment and diagnosis. Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder (or Multiple Personality Disorder), 11-22. doi:10.4324/9780429484483-2

Ringrose, J. L. (2012). Understanding and treating dissociative identity disorder (or multiple personality disorder). London: Karnac Books.

Vermetten, E. (2006). Hippocampal and Amygdalar Volumes in Dissociative Identity Disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry,163(4), 630. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.163.4.630