How Does Multiple Personality Disorder Develop?
“Going somewhere” in the mind is a natural defense for a child when they sense danger. When a child is severely harmed their “self” often dissociates, “goes somewhere,” for protection. The self hides in the unconscious and other parts of the personality take over when there is no self to manage them.
This hiding in the unconscious makes the personality split. Split personality is a useful term. The personality can split into pieces when there is severe harm, particularly, when someone is young. Children are fragile, therefore splitting is a way to stay safe until they can find safety.
To receive a diagnosis of multiple personality disorder the harm was severe. MPD is now renamed dissociative identity disorder.
“As many as 99% of individuals who develop dissociative disorders have recognized personal histories of recurring, overpowering, and often life-threatening disturbances at a sensitive developmental stage of childhood (usually before age 9). Dissociation may also happen when there has been insistent neglect or emotional abuse, even when there has been no overt physical or sexual abuse. Findings show that in families where parents are frightening and unpredictable, the children may become dissociative.” http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder?page=4
A child or adult can have dissociative episodes even when the harm was not overtly abusive. When “parents are frightening and unpredictable” a lesser degree of dissociation can occur. It is still dissociation but not to the degree of multi personality or any other personality disorder.
A healthy self/ego is a manager of our personalities. We all have many sides to ourselves. The job of the self is to mediate those personalities for our benefit and the benefit of others.
I find that many people will have problems with dissociation during a stressful time that may act as a trigger to unconscious childhood situations that were “frightening and unpredictable” or very strict and rigid.
The best treatment requires a therapist or guide that is very experienced with unconscious processes and has experience with recovering the lost self to bridge a relationship to these split off parts of the personality.
Personality disorder types
There are many personality disorders. Personality disorders are a category of diagnosis that indicate severity. Therefore, the treatment is not a cure but a way to manage symptoms and function better in everyday life. For more information on personality disorders: http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/personality-disorder
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