Multiple Personality Disorders
Introduction
Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is a mysterious condition and remains controversial. Biological psychiatrists who use medication for treatment claim that MPD in most cases, is non-existent. However, it is iatrogenic, in cases where it does exist. In other words, they mean that the condition is created by therapists who train their patients to view their symptoms as though they carry a separate set of personalities. Nevertheless, specialized clinicians take the condition with notable seriousness. They even arrange for separate meetings with the various facets of the patient's personality. The believers in the existence of the condition, based on data, highlight that the various personalities come with various electroencephalogram history. The cynics, on the other hand, will claim that actors can trigger various EEG tracings when they decide to switch between characters (Bhandari 2020). Like other psychiatrists, I have my considered view regarding dissociative disorders. The argument in this paper is based on the view that, indeed, Multiple Personality Disorder exists. The paper seeks to support this position through cogent arguments and counter-opinions before arriving at such a conclusion.
Arguments for the Existence MPD
Defining MPD, and who is likely to suffer
MPD manifests as a complex psychological condition caused by a wide range of factors, including trauma in childhood. Such trauma is usually one that is repetitive, severe, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. Multiple personality disorder is an extreme dissociation form. It is a cognitive process that causes disconnection in one's thoughts, memories, actions, feelings, or identity (Bhandari 2020). Dissociative complications are thought to be caused by a set of factors that could include someone with the disorder being traumatized. Dissociation is believed to be a way to cope with the experiences. Such a person shuts off from the experience that is too searing and violent to bear, trauma, or pain, to assimilate with his conscience.
The Difference between MPD and Other Related Disorders
Multiple personality disorder manifests with two or more split identities or characteristics that control behavior. MPD victims commonly forget crucial personal information in a way that is too glaring that it cannot be brushed off as sheer forgetfulness. Memory variations are a common symptom with MPD victims, and they often fluctuate.
While not all victims experience the same symptoms of MPD, for some, the various alters have their varying ages, race, and sex (Brand et al. 2016). Each of them exhibits their gestures, distinct gait, postures, and even how they talk. Sometimes, the"alter" are imaginary persons or even animals. As a particular personality emerges, reveals, and takes control of the individual, it is referred to as switching. The switching phenomenon varies from minutes to hours to days, weeks, and even months. Some of the cases call for hypnosis in the situations where the"alter" is responsive to the requests of the therapist.
More signs of MPD include amnesia, headaches, trances, time loss and"out of body experience". Some individuals with this condition tend to lean towards self persecution, sabotaging oneself, outwards, or self-inflicted...
References
Bhandari, S. (reviewer). Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder). WebMed (2020). Accessed 20 June 2020 https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder#1-4
Brand, Bethany L., Vedat Sar, Pam Stavropoulos, Christa Krüger, Marilyn Korzekwa, Alfonso Martínez-Taboas, and Warwick Middleton. "Separating fact from fiction: An empirical examination of six myths about dissociative identity disorder." Harvard review of psychiatry (2016).
Dorahy, Martin J., Bethany L. Brand, Vedat ?ar, Christa Krüger, Pam Stavropoulos, Alfonso Martínez-Taboas, Roberto Lewis-Fernández, and Warwick Middleton. "Dissociative identity disorder: An empirical overview." Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 48, no. 5 (2014): 402-417.
Frances, A.J. Multiple Personality: Mental Disorder, Myth, or Metaphor? Psychology Today, (2014). Accessed 20 June 2020 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/saving-normal/201401/multiple-personality-mental-disorder-myth-or-metaphor
Jepsen, Ellen KK, Willie Langeland, Hal Sexton, and Trond Heir. "In-patient treatment for early sexually abused adults: A naturalistic 12-month follow-up study." Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 6, no. 2 (2014): 142.
Lazarus, C.N. Why DID, or MPD is a Bogus Diagnosis. Psychology Today, (2011). Accessed 20 June 2020 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/think-well/201112/why-did-or-mpd-is-bogus-diagnosis
Nathan, Debbie. Sybil exposed: The extraordinary story behind the famous multiple personality case. Simon and Schuster, 2011.
Ringrose, Jo L. Understanding and treating dissociative identity disorder (or multiple personality disorder). Routledge, 2018.
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