The dissociation of personality is a whole complex of psychological diseases, which are characterized by a significant or complete violation 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 individuals who are in the depths of his subconscious. In our article you will find symptoms and signs of dissociative personality disorder, as well as methods to combat this serious illness.
What do we know about split personality?
The 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. Studies have shown that people with dissociative personality disorder have high blood pressure in the brain area, as well as increased heart rate. Therefore, if you do not start treating a psychological illness in time, then not only close people of the patient, but also his body can suffer from this.
According to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), dissociative personality disorder occurs in women about 8 times more often than in men. Especially if they were abused at an early age. However, to argue that men are completely protected from the dissociation of personality disorders, only an incompetent psychiatrist will become. In fact, everything depends for the most part not on the patient’s gender, but on the circumstances experienced. A person cannot be born with such an ailment, since he acquires it in the process of socialization. As a rule, most often the disease begins to manifest itself in adolescence, but in some cases, individual symptoms can be observed in children.
Of course, the reasons for the dissociation of personality are still completely unclear. Although in fairness it is worth noting that a similar trend is observed in almost all mental illnesses. There are a huge number of theories and hypotheses that indicate the occurrence of personality disorder. 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 one or another event in life will also be very ambiguous.
What is characteristic of personality dissociation
If you want to understand the causes of a disease, then first you need to make sure that the diagnosis has been made correctly. For this, it is necessary to compare the patient's behavior with what is written in the psychological literature. For example, the dissociative syndrome is characterized by the manifestation of different personalities. In most cases, they do not show themselves simultaneously, but in turn, replacing each other, depending on the specific 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 an upcoming 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 completely differently in different patients. For example, some people realize 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 responsibly with loved ones, and the next day they can be deceitful and selfish.
Causes of Personality Disorders
Before considering examples of dissociative personality 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 give specifics, but something common between different patients can still be highlighted. For example, the causes of this ailment:
- violence of a sexual nature, physical or moral;
- severe mental injuries received at a young age or in childhood;
- inability to withstand stressful situations and depression;
- severe life shocks (war, catastrophe, death, and so on);
- abuse of tobacco, alcohol and other bad habits;
- consequences of using various psychotropic drugs;
- Brain injuries.
As you can see, there can be many reasons. The bifurcation or dissociation of personality is the separation of one's inner self into several independent parts. If a person has undergone such an ailment, this does not mean that he has ceased to be himself. Each of us has such personalities, however, they are always in the aggregate and create the concept of our own "I". In mentally ill people, they are separated from each other and live their own lives. Most often, this is precisely what scares the relatives of the person who fell ill with this ailment.
Types of diseases
Psychologists distinguish the following types of dissociative disorders: nonspecific, extensive, generalized, simple. However, in our article we will consider this phenomenon in the general case, since it will be rather long and not very interesting to delve into the details.
Multiple dissociative personality disorder also deserves special attention. This is a neglected 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 he will manifest.
It is worth noting once again that in each case, the disease manifests itself in different ways. In some patients, these personalities behave quite calmly and do not attract personal attention, while in others they show fanaticism or even aggression towards others.
Signs of Dissociative Disorder
Symptoms and signs of personality dissociation may not appear for years, however, for an observational psychoanalyst to identify a disease at the formation stage will not be difficult. It all starts with a banal change in a person’s mood and changes in behavior. Perhaps the patient will want to do something that contradicts his usual way of life. For example, quite often, patients feel in one way a man, and in another - a woman. Accordingly, the signs of the disease in this case will be very characteristic.
However, it also happens that individuals begin to appear gradually, without causing drastic changes in the patient's life. At the initial stage, there can be no more than two, so even an experienced psychiatrist will not be able to diagnose an ailment. However, over time, personalities will appear more and more. If they appear with a certain periodicity, then the relatives and friends of the patient may notice the changes too late, when the disease will be practically incurable.
Although it is worth noting that with the dissociation of personality disorder, a person does not lose his initial attitude, and all personalities are in addition to the main one. Very often, patients even come to their senses for a rather long period of time, however, a sharp jump in mood can provoke a dissociative syndrome again, after which individuals will express themselves in all their glory.
Is it possible to live with a similar disease? In most cases, yes. However, everything is strictly individual. It is worthwhile to realize whether your personalities have a detrimental effect on society or whether they are vice versa - helping you deal with difficulties in difficult situations. However, do not forget that for such a disease problems with the physical condition of the body are characteristic. A striking example is high blood pressure, which can trigger the development of more serious diseases.
Diagnosis of mental illness
Bipolar personality disorder, or personality dissociation, is extremely difficult to diagnose, especially in the initial stages of the disease. However, in psychology, you can still find some criteria that allow you to diagnose a psychological disorder. The list below lists only the main ones.
- From time to time, the patient is visited by different personalities (two or more). As a rule, they have their own age, gender and even outlook on life, which, of course, affects their behavior.
- Personalities replace each other alternately and only by conditional signal (for each personality they are different). If such a signal does not occur, then the patient will be in the usual state.
- A person does not remember anything about those moments when he was in the person of some personalities. This symptom unconditionally indicates the presence of a mental disorder, but it may not be at all.
- Alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs often cause personality changes. That is, bad habits turn out to be a certain signal for him, such as severe stress or pleasure.
If at least one of these criteria has fallen out, then you can already talk about the patient’s personality disorder. However, other, more individual signs characterizing personality disorder may also be present. In this case, only a psychotherapist with extensive experience working with such patients can diagnose such a disease.
Many beginning specialists very often confuse personality disorder with one of the forms of schizophrenia, when the patient communicates with himself and hears voices in his head. It is worth understanding the main difference between these diseases: in the case of personality dissociation syndrome, a person does not know anything about what happens to his personalities at the time of their appearance, and with schizophrenia, memory lows are never observed (only if there is still some kind of illness).
Can I detect the disorder using a test?
Self-association and dissociation is easily verified through various psychological tests. Such a procedure includes a number of questions that the doctor asks the patient. These questions relate to various social aspects in the patient's life, for example, his relationships with peers in 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 a specialist asks a patient:
- Do you often use other people for your own gain?
- Have you ever lied to other people? If so, how serious?
- Do you like to risk your life or go in for a dangerous sport?
- Do you think your actions may cause concern among others?
- Is it hard for you to work in a new team or are you a loner?
- How often do you feel guilty for doing things?
- Do you think you are under pressure from others?
- Do you have hallucinations or trouble sleeping?
As for the last paragraph, it deserves special attention. Sleep disorder with personality dissociation is inextricably linked. As a rule, most patients who suffer from a split personality have more or less trouble sleeping. Insomnia can be caused by various thoughts or nightmares that come to the patient at night. Although it should be noted that a similar symptom allows you to accurately diagnose personality disorder.
Symptoms of Personality Disorders
Signs of dissociative personality disorder can be very diverse, depending on the individual characteristics of the patient. However, identifying the disease at the initial stage can be very important. Therefore, the patient’s relatives are urged to pay attention to the following symptoms of personality dissociation:
- amnesia - the patient can forget important dates from his personal life;
- memory lapses - the patient does not remember how he ended up in one place or another;
- the appearance in the house of various things about 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 patient’s hand;
- the appearance that the patient lives in a completely different world;
- a sense of unreality of what is happening.
In addition, one should not forget about the symptoms of those diseases that are often associated with personality disorder, for example, depression. Symptoms such as suicidal tendencies, panic attacks, hallucinations, phobias and so on are almost always characteristic of a depressive state. However, symptoms should not be confused with paranoia or schizophrenia, since the causes of dissociative personality disorder are most often found in childhood trauma, and schizophrenia can be inherited.
Psychological Disorder Treatment
Now you know about the symptoms of dissociative personality disorder. However, this knowledge will not be enough to cure the patient. For this purpose, we recommend that you read this paragraph, which provides several effective examples of how to treat a patient suffering from 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 enough experience can conduct psychotherapy. If you give a similar task to a novice psychotherapist who has never encountered dissociative disorders before, he can harm the patient.
Tranquilizers supplemented with antidepressants are commonly used to treat dissociative personality disorder. Such a “mixture” is made in order to make it easier to calm the increased activity of the patient 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 dosage error can lead to a side effect or an addiction. Almost always, such a drug is given strictly by prescription.
Quite often, specialists use hypnosis in the treatment of personality disorder. Indeed, in most cases, it will show a good result, since with the help of hypnosis one 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 go into a chronic stage, from which it is almost impossible to withdraw the patient, it is necessary to devote a sufficiently long time to his treatment. In especially neglected cases, such a course lasts about 5 years or even more. For this, a specialist can apply one or combine several of the following methods at once:
- the use of medications, tranquilizers, antidepressants;
- the use of various methods of psychotherapy (dynamic, cognitive);
- therapy based on the identified symptoms associated with this disease;
- the use of hypnosis for medicinal purposes.
And these were only the main areas that a novice specialist should 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
In addition to the symptoms 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 completely rid the patient of it. Based on the practice of psychologists, the following prevention rules can be distinguished:
- timely access to a doctor if even the slightest symptoms are detected;
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According to psychology, dissociative personality disorder almost always begins to form at an early age, so if you want to protect your children from this disease, it is strongly recommended that you follow the tips that will be given in this section.
Maintaining a healthy psychological climate in the family is the main task of any parent. If you don’t get your child vaccinated against the flu in time, he may not get the flu. However, with constant quarrels and scandals in the family, the child will almost certainly have nervous insanity. In addition, you will not find a vaccine or a medicine for such a disease (all medications only dull the symptoms). Therefore, parents are required not to clarify the relationship with the child, especially in high tones.
Alcohol or drug addiction is destroying millions of individuals around the world. However, the worst thing is when a similar symptom is observed in children. Unfortunately, you are unlikely to completely protect your child from the harmful effects of the world. However, you must teach him that cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs are evil that he should not even touch. If you still found your teenager drunk, then do not shout at him or even beat him. Try to communicate in calm tones, however, you still need to punish the child.
Particular attention should be paid to the factor of violence against children, as it has been increasingly forgotten recently. If you look at life examples, dissociative personality disorder most often occurs against the background of violence against children. The fact that a mental illness occurs precisely in childhood is scientifically justified, so any parent should avoid physical abuse for the educational purposes of their child. In addition, you need to be regularly interested in the child’s life at school in order to know about his relationship with his peers and intervene if necessary.
In third world countries, legalized child labor is still used. Fortunately, in Russia, an employer can go to jail if he takes the child as an employee to 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 fulfill his duties at home, but remember that hard work can lead to mental disorders 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 by peers. Girls can even succumb to a similar disease after committing violent acts of a sexual nature. Therefore, any parent must protect their child from the negative influence of the modern world. This should be done not only to prevent the development of mental illness, but also on the moral and ethical principles formed by modern society. Parents should make every effort to ensure that their children grow up in love and safety.
Video and conclusion
We hope that our article helped you better understand what dissociative personality disorder is, since we tried to describe everything in the most accessible and understandable language. If you still have any questions, we strongly recommend that you watch a short video in which, most likely, you will find an answer to them. The author of this channel has several million subscribers and tries to express scientific facts in a language that is understandable to humans. In addition, all the words are accompanied by beautiful illustrations, which allows you to better perceive the material that is served.
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. And what do you think about what symptoms are characteristic of a split personality? Perhaps someone from your friends or even you have a similar ailment?
As you can see, dissociative personality 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 one of your loved ones is still susceptible to dissociative disorder, you should immediately contact a specialist for help. Otherwise, the disease can develop into a chronic stage.