psychiatric disorders
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Etiology of Dissociative Identity Disorder
Dissociative identity disorder usually occurs in people who experienced overwhelming stress or trauma during childhood. Children are not born with a sense of a unified identity; it develops from many sources and experiences. In overwhelmed children, many parts of what should have blended together remain separate. Chronic and severe abuse (physical, sexual, or emotional) and neglect during childhood are frequently reported by and documented in patients with dissociative identity disorder (in the United States, Canada, and Europe, about 90% of patients). Some patients have not been abused but have experienced an important early loss (such as death of a parent), serious medical illness, or other overwhelmingly stressful events. In contrast to most children who achieve cohesive, complex appreciation of themselves and others, severely mistreated children may go through phases in which different perceptions, memories, and emotions of their life experiences are kept segregated. This is intensified by parents or other caretakers who behave inconsistently (eg, alternating between affectionate and abusive behaviors) in a pattern termed betrayal trauma ( Etiology reference ). Over time, such children may develop an increasing ability to escape the mistreatment by “going away"—that is, by detaching themselves from their harsh physical environment—or by retreating into their own mind. Each developmental phase or traumatic experience may be used to generate a different identity. On standardized tests, people with this disorder have high scores for susceptibility to Hypnotherapy and dissociation (ability to uncouple one’s memories, perceptions, or identity from conscious awareness). 1.Gobin RL, Freyd J: Do participants detect Sexual abuse depicted in a drawing? Investigating the impact of betrayal trauma exposure on state dissociation and betrayal awareness.J Child Sex Abus26(3):233-245, 2017. doi: 10.1080/10538712.2017.1283650 