Dissociative Identity Disorder
The most severe and chronic manifestation of dissociative disorders is dissociative identity disorder (DID) and is believed to be extremely rare (Weber 1003-1004). Clinical dissociation occurs when disconnections between consciousness, memory, perceptions, and identity form, and with DID, distinct and largely mutually-exclusive personalities develop that alternately cope with different aspects of the host's life. The most prominent diagnostic feature is an inability to recall events an alternate personality experienced. DID personalities therefore tend to live completely different lives, including cognitively.
The book "Sybil" was published in 1973 by the professional author Flora Schreiber, in collaboration with the psychiatrist Cornelia Wilbur, which described a patient who was alleged to have DID (Lynn and Deming 289). A movie was subsequently made and the combination popularized DID, and this phenomenon is blamed for the dramatic increase in the number of cases from less than 100 to over 40,000 in just three decades. Controversy emerged in 1998 when psychologist Robert Rieber released tapes of actual sessions between Wilbur and Sybil that revealed Sybil was inventing multiple personalities to please her therapist (Reiber, Takooshian, and Iglesias 356). The case of Sybil therefore turned out to be more about the power of suggestion therapists have over their clients (Lynn and Deming 290).
In contrast to Sybil, Chris Sizemore, or "Eve," represents a validated case of DID. The disturbing events that triggered the first dissociative episode are known to the patient and diagnosis depended first on the presence of amnesia (Sizemore and Huber). One to four personalities existed at a time and often developed in response to an environmental trigger. Sizemore experienced most of these personalities as completely distinct, as did everyone around her. The longest a personality existed was 12 years, and the shortest 6 weeks.
Works Cited
Lynn, Steven J. And Deming, Amanda. "Review: The "Sybil Tapes": Exposing the Myth of Dissociative Disorder." Theory Psychology 20.2 (2010): 289-292.
Rieber, Robert W., Takooshian, Harold, and Iglesias, Humberto. "The Case of Sybil in the Teaching of Psychology." Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless 11.4 (2002): 355-360.
Sizemore, Chris C. And Huber, R. John. "The Twenty Two Faces of Eve." Journal of Adlerian Theory, Research & Practice 44.1 (1988): 53-62.
Weber, Scott. "Dissociative Symptom Disorders in Advanced Nursing Practice: Background, Treatment, and Instrumentation to Assess Symptoms." Issues in Mental Health Nursing 28.9 (2007): 997-1018.
