6 Myths about Dissociative Identity Disorder

1) DID isn’t real

Many people, even professional therapists don’t understand DID. People either dismiss this topic completely, or they believe it’s not real at all. In the 1980’s, this disorder received it’s first large scale attention. At that time it was known as MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder), which quickly fell into disrepute. In the 1990’s it was re-categorized as a dissociative disorder. Since the increased attention given to PTSD, DID seems (in my humble opinion) to have received more validity, even in the therapeutic community.

2) DID makes people dangerous or violent

With Hollywood churning out movies like “Split”, the myth of DID is perpetuated.  These types of movies make it seem like people with DID are both dangerous and violent. By and large, people with DID are often no different than anyone else, accept that they have more than one pronounced personality. People with DID may pose a danger to themselves, but not usually towards others.

3) DID is demonic possession

Some religious people exhibit a lack of understanding or fear of mental illness. These religious people can struggle with an appropriate interpretation of things which are outside of their own reality. The way they deal with these things is to call it the devil.

4) DID is easy to spot

People with DID can be incredibly intelligent and versatile. While some people with DID can have difficulty holding down a job, many of them can be very high functioning.  Many outside observers may never see a noticeable shift in the personality.

5) DID is created by Therapists

There are those who claim that people with DID have highly suggestive personalities. The claim is that therapists may have guided their patients to creating these alter personalities. While there are certainly therapist who are trying to hitch their wagon to this train, the majority of people with DID are not a result of bad therapy. The evidence shows that people with DID, all across the world, tell similar stories of abuse without having heard it elsewhere.

6) DID is not like in the movies

I have seen most of the movies and documentaries, even TV shows that portrait people with multiple personalities. The movies, while often entertaining, share little commonality with the truth of what it is like to live with DID. Many of the documentaries, on the other hand, have been very educational.

So, before you decide that you know what DID is all about, find someone with DID and spend a lot of time with them. If you get to know them and walk a few miles alongside them, you may come to a completely new appreciation of what it means to be DID.