Trying to Understand Dissassociative Identity Dissorder Essay

Trying to Understand Dissassociative Identity Dissorder Dissociative identity disorder, more commonly known as multiple personality disorder, is one of the most intriguing and least understood of mental disorders. The publication of Sybil in 1973 created a wave of public fascination and, more importantly, professional recognition of childhood physical and sexual abuse as precipitants of the disorder. Dissociative identity disorder is characterized by the presence of ...at least two separate ego states, or alters, different modes of being and feeling and acting that exist independently of each other, coming forth and being in control at different times (Davison and Neale 180). Each personality is fully integrated and a complex†¦show more content†¦By the same token, an abused child uses this defense to distance its mental self from its physical being. The child dissociates, or breaks the connection between his/her thoughts, feelings, and his/her very identity. The child becomes like a hidden observer (Alexander, et al. 94) wh o does not have to deal with the pain or fear of the attack. All thoughts and memories of the abuse are psychologically separated from the child. After repeated abuse, this dissociation becomes reinforced. If the child is good at it, he/she will use it as a defense mechanism in any situation that he/she perceives as threatening, and different personalities begin to develop. Trance-like behavior in children has been found to be the single best predictor of childhood dissociative identity disorder (Carlson, et al. 118). It has been documented that disassociative identity disorder can only develop during childhood, usually between the ages of 3 and 9. There is no adult onset disassociative identity disorder, due to the fact that ...only children have sufficient flexibility (and vulnerability) to respond to trauma by breaking their still coalescing self into different, dissociated parts (Rainbow House 2). It has also been found that only children who are highly susceptible to hypn osis are able to accomplish disassociative behavior. This is because a hypnotic state is very similar to the trance-like