Lesson 2: Unique Disorders

Dissociative Disorder

Recently considered rare and mysterious psychiatric curiosities, dissociative identity disorder (DID), previously known as multiple personality disorder or MPD, and other dissociative disorders are now understood to be fairly common effects of severe trauma in early childhood, most typically extreme, repeated physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse.

In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994), multiple personality disorder (MPD) was changed to dissociative identity disorder (DID), reflecting changes in professional understanding of the disorder resulting from significant empirical research.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), widely accepted as a major mental illness affecting 8% of the general population in the United States, is closely related to dissociative disorders. In fact, 80-100% of people diagnosed with a dissociative disorder also have a secondary diagnosis of PTSD. The personal and societal cost of trauma disorders is extremely high.

Recent research suggests the risk of suicide attempts among people with trauma disorders may be even higher than among people who have major depression. In addition, there is evidence that people with trauma disorders have higher rates of alcoholism, chronic medical illnesses, and abusiveness in succeeding generations.