Emotional Detachment: Dissociative Identity Disorder

ental health problems,

Mindy Lawrence

Dissociative identity disorder was once called Multiple Personality Disorder – or having multiple personalities. People who have this problem have fractured identities. They are disconnected from others, the world around them, and from themselves. Events that cause stress, abuse, or trauma can cause these reactions, particularly if they occurred in a person’s youth.

People can shift from one identity to another without warning. A person with long-term gaps in memory, someone who forgets everyday events, personal information, or traumatic events in their past shows signs of this problem. Also, difficulties with social settings such as in the workplace or in daily life can also be an indicator. These identities have their own individual attitudes, memories, and ways of thinking. People with this disorder are known to display behaviors such as attempting suicide, self-mutilating, and other self-injuring actions.

The National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) gives these symptoms and signs of dissociative behavior:

· Significant memory loss of specific times, people, and events

· Out-of-body experiences, such as feeling as though you are watching a movie of yourself

· Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide

· A sense of detachment from your emotions, or emotional numbness

· A lack of a sense of self-identity

Types of treatment for dissociative disorder include psychotherapies, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and medications such as antidepressants.

LINKS

4 Signs of Dissociative Identity Disorder, According to an Expert Working with People Who Have the Condition, Yahoo News, Julia Naftulin

https://www.yahoo.com/news/4-signs-dissociative-identity-disorder-181051452.html

Dissociative Disorders, NAMI.org

https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-Conditions/Dissociative-Disorders

What are Dissociative Disorders, Cleveland Clinic

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17749-dissociative-disorders-