Effects of Multiple Personality Disorder?

Question

That happens to the person who have Multiple Personality Disorder, or Dissociative Identity Disorder (as it's now called).

What is changed in their lives? Both before and after treatment?

Please and thank you! (Psychology assignment)

Answer 1

This requires a lengthy answer so please bare with me as I try to answer this for you.

A person is diagnosed with DID when  they have two or more distinct personalities.  

Often the personalities are very different in nature, often representing extremes of what is contained in a normal person. Sometimes, the disease is asymmetrical, which means that what one personality knows, the others inherently know.  What this means is that most people have integrated "personalities" in their minds memory but some are not able to which will cause DID. Each of the personalities has its own, relatively lasting pattern of sensing, thinking about and relating to self and environment.

Most people who have DID have experienced a traumatic event in their life that caused the split to start. After that every traumatic or perceived traumatic event caused them to further segregate the events into one or more of the personalities. Even if there was one event long in the past, there is the left over defensive dissociative defense. Chronic defensive dissociation may lead to serious dysfunction in work, social, and daily activities. Repeated dissociation may result in a series of separate entities, or mental states, which may eventually take on identities of their own. These entities may become the internal "personality states,"  Changing between these states of consciousness is described as "switching."

Their life before treatment becomes chaotic. Some of the things that can happening include -

Forgetfulness

Trauma

Depression

Mood swings

Suicidal tendencies

Sleep disorders (insomnia, night terrors, and sleep walking)

Panic attacks

Phobias

Alcohol and drug abuse

Once the person is able to start treatment, the are able to start to become "stable" with less switching". The most effective treatment includes both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy.

Depending on the person and which symptoms are present at the time will help a psychiatrist decide which medication(s) will be most effective.

Depending on the therapist will decide which approach(s) will be tried. It has been found that individual therapy, instead of group or family therapy, is most effective.

I know that this a lengthly explination. I hope that it will help you with your assignment.