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[I am so grateful to Jane for sharing her experiences and letting us learn from her!. -LPC]
I’ve seen the movie, Sybil, as well as the other Hollywood depictions of Dissociative Identity Disorder (or DID, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder), and they disturb me. Always the person has wild personality changes. But, just as not all mentally ill people are violent, not all individuals with DID are unstable.
I was diagnosed with the disorder a number of years ago. At first for me, when I was diagnosed, I had little control, but from what I gather, my behavior was never to the extreme as always seen on TV and in the movies. Of course, I have not always known what has happened during a personality change, but from what I am told I have not been violent.
DID usually stems from repeated trauma as a child. In order to protect oneself, alternate personalities (“altersâ€) are created to bear the brunt of this trauma. With no recollection of what happened the child stays relatively intact.
Some people have many more alters than others. I have at least seven. I act differently, react differently and perceive the world differently as each alter. One of my alters buys socks. I still don’t know who it is yet, but new pairs show up from time to time in my drawer. I now have two drawers full.
Read in Full:Â http://blogs.psychcentral.com/always-learning/2010/06/i-am-not-sybil-learning-about-dissociative-identity-disorder/