Personal dissociation: causes, symptoms, diagnosis, necessary treatment and advice from psychologists

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Personal dissociation is a whole complex of psychological diseases, which are characterized by a significant or complete impairment of mental functions. As a rule, with this form of internal disorder, a person ceases to perceive the concept of his own "I" and begins to imitate the personalities that are in the depths of his subconscious. In our article you will find the symptoms and signs of dissociative identity disorder, as well as methods of dealing with this serious illness.

What do we know about split personality?

Split Personality Syndrome became known to science several centuries ago. With this disorder, the patient feels not one, but two or more personalities at once. Moreover, each of them is characterized by its own behavior, temperament, worldview, and in some cases even memory. Research has proventhat people with dissociative identity disorder have high blood pressure in an area of the brain, as well as a fast heart rate. Therefore, if you do not start treating a psychological illness in time, then not only the patient's close people, but also his body can suffer from this.

According to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), dissociative identity disorder occurs in women about 8 times more often than in men. Especially if they were abused at an early age. However, only an incompetent psychiatrist will argue that men are completely protected from the dissociation of a personality disorder. In fact, everything depends for the most part not on the gender of the patient, but on the circumstances experienced. A person cannot be born with such a disease, because he acquires it in the process of socialization. As a rule, most often the disease begins to manifest itself in adolescence, however, in some cases, individual symptoms can also be observed in children.

Of course, the reasons why personality dissociation occurs are still completely unidentified. Although in fairness it should be noted that a similar trend is observed in almost all mental illnesses. There are a huge number of theories and hypotheses that talk about the occurrence of personality disorders. However, none of them can be universal, since psychological diseases are always associated with the characteristics of the patient's character. All people are different, therefore, the emotions caused by this or that event in life are alsowill be very ambiguous.

What is characteristic of personality dissociation

If you want to understand the causes of any disease, then first you need to make sure that the diagnosis was made correctly. To do this, it is necessary to compare the patient's behavior with what is written in the psychological literature. For example, a dissociative syndrome is characterized by the manifestation of different personalities. In most cases, they show themselves not at the same time, but in turn, replacing each other, depending on a particular situation. Here are some more features of a split personality that are characteristic of most patients suffering from this ailment:

• complete isolation of memory, that is, individuals do not know anything about each other;
• signs of impending personality change - discomfort, pressure, nausea;
• the presence of circumstances in which individuals show themselves to the environment.

And these are just the main signs. As mentioned earlier, the disease can manifest itself in completely different ways in different patients. For example, some people are aware that they are sick, and can even control the process of releasing personalities, causing certain emotions within themselves that contribute to the manifestation of a particular personality. Others have no idea that several personalities are concentrated inside them. They do not notice anything unusual in their behavior and continue to live as if nothing had happened. One day they can behave sincerely and sympathetically with loved ones, and the next -deceitful and selfish.

Causes of personality disorders

Before looking at examples of dissociative identity disorder from life, we strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the most common causes of this disease. Of course, mental illness is very difficult to be specific, but something in common between different patients can still be distinguished. For example, the causes of this disease:

• violence of a sexual nature, physical or moral;
• severe mental trauma received at a young age or in childhood;
• inability to withstand stressful situations and depression;
• heavy life shocks (war, catastrophe, death, and so on);
• abuse of tobacco, alcohol and other bad habits;
• consequences of using various psychotropic drugs;
• past brain injury.

As you can see, there can be quite a few reasons. A split or dissociation of personality is the separation of one's inner "I" into several independent parts. If a person has undergone such an illness, this does not mean that he has ceased to be himself. In each of us there are such personalities, but they are always in the aggregate and create the concept of our own "I". In mentally ill people, they are apart from each other and live their own lives. Most often, this is what frightens the relatives and friends of the person who fell ill with this disease.

Types of diseases

Psychologists distinguishthe following types of dissociative disorders: nonspecific, extensive, generalized, simple. However, in our article we will consider this phenomenon in the general case, since going into details will be quite long and not very interesting.

Multiple dissociative personality disorder also deserves special attention. This is an advanced phase of the disease, in which up to 10 different personalities can take over the patient. As a rule, the smarter and more versatile a person is, the more personalities they will manifest.

It is worth noting once again that in each case the disease manifests itself in different ways. In some patients, these individuals behave quite calmly and do not attract personal attention, while in others they show fanaticism or even aggression towards others.

Signs of a dissociative disorder

Symptoms and signs of personality dissociation may not appear for years, but for an observant psychoanalyst, it will not be difficult to identify a disease at the formation stage. It all starts with a banal mood change in a person and changes in behavior. The patient may want to do something that is contrary to his usual way of life. For example, quite often patients feel like a man in one image, and a woman in another. Accordingly, the signs of the disease in this case will be very characteristic.

However, it also happens that personalities begin to appear gradually, without causing drastic changes in the patient's life. At the initial stage of theirthere can be no more than two, so even an experienced psychiatrist will not be able to diagnose the disease. However, over time, more and more personalities will appear. If they appear with a certain frequency, then the relatives and friends of the patient may notice changes too late, when the disease is practically incurable.

Although it is worth noting that with the dissociation of a personality disorder, a person does not lose his original worldview, and all personalities are an addition to the main one. Very often, patients even come to their senses for quite a long period of time, but a sharp jump in mood can provoke a dissociative syndrome again, after which the personality will show itself in all its glory.

Is it possible to live with such a disease? In most cases, yes. However, everything is strictly individual. It is worth realizing whether your personalities have a detrimental effect on society or, on the contrary, they help you deal with difficulties in difficult life situations. However, do not forget that such a disease is characterized by problems with the physical state of the body. A prime example is high blood pressure, which can lead to more serious illnesses.

Diagnosis of mental illness

Bipolar personality disorder, or personality dissociation, is extremely difficult to diagnose, especially in the early stages of the disease. However, in psychology, you can still find some criteria that allow you to diagnose a psychological disorder. The list below only liststhe main ones.

1. The patient is visited from time to time by different personalities (two or more). As a rule, they have their own age, gender, and even outlook on life, which naturally affects their behavior.
2. Persons replace each other in turn and only on a prearranged signal (for each personality they are different). If such a signal does not occur, then the patient will be in the usual state.
3. A person does not remember anything about those moments when he was in the face of some personalities. This sign unconditionally indicates the presence of a mental disorder, but it may not be at all.
4. Alcohol, cigarettes and drugs often cause personality changes. That is, bad habits turn out to be a certain signal for them, such as severe stress or pleasure.

If at least one of these criteria falls out, then it is already possible to talk about the patient's personality disorder. However, other, more individual features that characterize a personality disorder may also be present. In this case, only a psychotherapist with extensive experience working with such patients will be able to diagnose such a disease.

Many beginners very often confuse personality disorder with a form of schizophrenia, when the patient communicates with himself and hears voices in his head. It is worth understanding the main difference between these diseases: with personality dissociation syndrome, a person does not know anything about what is happening with his personalities at the time of their appearance, and with schizophrenia, memory lapses are never observed (only if shenot accompanied by any other disease).

Can a test detect a disorder?

Association and dissociation with one's own personality is easily checked with the help of various psychological tests. This procedure involves a series of questions that the doctor asks the patient. These questions concern various social moments in the patient's life, for example, his relationships with peers during adolescence and childhood. Also, a psychologist can find out his worldview or attitude to various life situations. Here is a list of the most common questions that a specialist asks a patient:

• Do you often use other people for your own benefit?
• Have you ever lied to other people? If yes, how serious?
• Do you like to risk your life or play a dangerous sport?
• Do you think your actions might cause concern to others?
• Is it hard for you to work in a new team or are you a loner?
• How often do you feel guilty about things you've done?
• Do you think you feel pressure from others?
• Do you have hallucinations or trouble sleeping?

As for the last point, it deserves special attention. Sleep disorder with personality dissociation are inextricably linked with each other. As a rule, most patients who suffer from a split personality have problems with sleep to a greater or lesser extent. Insomnia can be causedvarious thoughts or nightmares that come to the patient at night. Although it should be noted that such a symptom allows you to accurately diagnose a personality disorder.

Symptoms of a personality disorder

Signs of dissociative identity disorder can be very diverse, depending on the individual characteristics of the patient. However, early detection of the disease can be very important. Therefore, the family of the patient is strongly advised to pay attention to the following symptoms of personality dissociation:

• amnesia - the patient may forget important dates from his personal life;
• memory lapses - the patient does not remember how he ended up in a particular place;
• the appearance of various things in the house, the origin of which no one knows;
• forgetfulness - the patient increasingly forgets the names of unfamiliar people;
• the presence in the house of various notes written by the hand of the patient;
• the appearance of the feeling that the patient lives in a completely different world;
• feeling the unreality of everything that happens.

In addition, we should not forget about the symptoms of those diseases that often accompany personality disorders, such as depression. For a depressive state, symptoms such as suicidal tendencies, panic attacks, hallucinations, phobias, and so on are almost always characteristic. However, the symptoms should not be confused with paranoia or schizophrenia, since the causes of dissociative identity disorder most often lie in childhood trauma, and schizophrenia can be inherited.

Treatmentpsychological disorder

Now you know about the symptoms of dissociative identity disorder. However, this knowledge will not be enough to cure the patient. For this purpose, we recommend that you read this paragraph, which provides some actionable examples of how to treat a patient suffering from a personality disorder.

So, in almost all cases, treatment comes down to a combination of two types: the use of potent drugs and psychotherapy. It is worth noting that only a qualified specialist with sufficiently extensive experience can conduct psychotherapy. If given such a task to a novice psychotherapist who has never experienced dissociative disorders before, he can harm the patient.

Tranquilizers are commonly used to treat dissociative identity disorder, supplemented by antidepressants. Such a "mixture" is made in order to make it easier to calm the patient's increased activity in the phase of manifestation of a particular personality, as well as relieve depression. As a rule, it is depressive states that become inseparable companions of patients during various mental illnesses. However, extreme caution should be exercised when using potent drugs, since even the slightest mistake in dosage can lead to side effects or addiction. Almost always, such a drug is issued strictly by prescription.

Quite often, specialists use hypnosis in the treatment of personality disorders. Indeed, in most cases it will showa good result, because with the help of hypnosis you can not only remove unpleasant memories from childhood that contributed to the development of the disease, but also completely eliminate an alternative manifestation of personality. Of course, all this is possible only if the specialist really has good skills in this area.

In order for a mental disorder not to turn into a chronic stage, from which it is almost impossible to withdraw a patient, it is necessary to devote a sufficiently long time to its treatment. In especially neglected cases, such a course lasts about 5 years or even more. To do this, a specialist can apply one or combine several of the following methods at once:

• use of medications, tranquilizers, antidepressants;
• use of various methods of psychotherapy (dynamic, cognitive);
• treatment based on identified symptoms associated with this disease;
• use of hypnosis for medicinal purposes.

And these were just the main directions that a novice specialist needs to keep in mind. In each case, the treatment of a mental disorder is strictly individual, so not all methods can be equally useful, and some of them can even harm the patient. Since even two identical cases cannot be found in the history of the treatment of personality disorders, the complex of drug treatment and psychotherapeutic measures should be correctly adjusted.

Disease prevention

Besidessymptoms of dissociative personality disorder, it is also necessary to know the rules for the prevention of this mental illness, since often the complexity of treatment depends on the correct prevention. If it is possible to identify the patient's predisposition to multiple personalities at an early stage of the disease, then it will be possible to stop the progression of the disease or even rid the patient of it. Based on the practice of psychologists, the following prevention rules can be distinguished:

• timely contacting a doctor if even the slightest symptoms are detected;
• periodic visits to a psychotherapist even after healing from an illness;
• avoiding alcohol, tobacco and other bad habits;
• avoidance of stressful situations and the manifestation of negative emotions.

In addition, if you have already turned to a specialist for help, then you should definitely follow all his instructions, since this is also a kind of preventive measure. If a psychotherapist has advised you to find some activity that will be able to distract you from pressing problems, then be sure to follow his advice. If you treat your disease irresponsibly, then you will not be able to avoid complications.

What children should be protected from

According to psychology, dissociative identity disorder almost always begins to form at an early age, so if you want to protect your children from such a disease, it is highly recommended to followtips that will be given in this section.

Preserving a he althy psychological climate in the family is the main task of any parent. If you do not give your child a flu shot on time, he may not get it. However, with constant quarrels and scandals in the family, the child will almost certainly have a nervous frenzy. In addition, there is no vaccine or cure for such a disease (all medicines only dull the symptoms). Therefore, parents are obliged not to sort things out with the child, especially in high tones.

Alcohol or drug addiction destroys millions of people around the world. However, the worst thing is when a similar symptom is observed in children. Unfortunately, you are unlikely to be able to completely protect your child from the harmful influence of the world. However, you must teach him that cigarettes, alcohol and drugs are evil, which he should not even touch. If you still find your teenager drunk, then you should not yell at him or even beat him. Try to communicate in calm tones, but you still need to punish the child.

Special attention should be paid to the factor of child abuse, as it has been increasingly forgotten in recent times. If you look at real life examples, dissociative identity disorder most often occurs in the context of child abuse. The fact that mental illness occurs in childhood is scientifically proven, so any parent should avoid assault in educationalgoals for your child. In addition, it is necessary to regularly take an interest in the child's life at school in order to know about his relations with peers and intervene if necessary.

Third world countries still use legalized child labor. Fortunately, in Russia, an employer can end up in jail if he hires a child as an employee in his company. However, this rule is very often neglected by parents of children, especially in rural areas. Of course, no one says that the child should not perform his duties around the house, but remember that hard work can lead to a violation of the psyche of the child's body, especially if it is regular.

According to statistics, 98% of patients say that in childhood or adolescence they had to experience violence or bullying from their peers. Girls can even succumb to such a disease after committing violent acts of a sexual nature. Therefore, any parent is obliged to protect their child from the negative influence of the modern world. This should be done not only in order to prevent the development of mental illness, but also according to the moral and ethical principles formed by modern society. Parents should do their best to ensure that their children grow up in love and security.

Video and conclusion

We hope our article helped you better understand what dissociative identity disorder is, as we tried to describe everything in the most accessible and understandable language. If you still havesome questions, we strongly recommend that you watch a short video in which, most likely, you will find the answer to them. The author of this channel has several million subscribers and tries to express scientific facts in a language understandable to humans. In addition, all words are accompanied by beautiful illustrations, which allows you to better perceive the material that is presented.

According to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), dissociative personality disorder is a mental illness that is very difficult to treat. Of particular difficulty is the fact that the symptoms and signs of the development of the disorder can be strictly individual. Because of this, only a qualified specialist can prescribe the correct treatment. What do you think about what symptoms are characteristic of a split personality? Perhaps one of your friends or even you have a similar ailment?

As you can see, dissociative identity disorder (examples were given in the article) is a disease that is very difficult to diagnose. Science has not yet found a rational way to treat most psychological diseases, especially those that do not have a genetic predisposition, but are acquired in childhood or adolescence. The only way to protect your child from such an ailment is prevention, which was described in the previous section. However, if someone close to you is still prone to dissociative disorder, then you should immediately seek help from a specialist. ATotherwise, the disease may develop into a chronic stage.