When you hear the diagnosis dissociative identity disorder or DID, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it a movie or TV show that you’ve seen?
Is this what you thought of when hearing DID? Someone who is violent and dangerous, someone that you should be afraid of.
Or is this what you imagined when thinking about someone who has DID? Someone who can easily switch between personalities on command. Someone who uses their diagnosis as a party trick.
What is Dissociative Identity Disorder?
It was previously known as multiple personality disorder, and is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personalities. Someone who has experienced some type of trauma or conflict can start to dissociate or develop a different personality as a way to cope (Patrichi et al., 2021). The truth about those with dissociative identity disorder is
- they are more likely to self harm than be dangerous (Nester et al., 2022)
- they are victimized by others
- they often abuse drugs and alcohol
- they are isolated and oftentimes avoided by others
- the differences in each personality can be subtle that others may not be able to notice a personality change
The media often dramatizes situations or in this case a diagnosis to offer better entertainment. They offer perceptions of dangerousness, social distancing, and use stigmatizing language to make a TV show or movie more interesting (Dillinger, 2021). However, misrepresentations in the media creates a stigma and can be dangerous. What if you know nothing about DID and the only thing you’ve seen or heard about it is from a TV show or movie? You might believe that what is portrayed in the media is true.
This clip is a great example of how the media can misrepresent a diagnosis. If this is all you knew about DID then you might be scared of someone with this disorder. There is already such a stigma surrounding mental illness, let’s not add to it. Think about what these individuals must be feeling, seeing themselves represented as dangerous and violent. It can make it hard for them to share their diagnosis with anyone because of the stigma attached to it thanks to the media (Davis, 2021).
Ending the Misrepresentations
It’s time as a society that we try and end the stigma that surrounds mental illness. This is not something that will happen easily or quickly because of all the misinformation out there, however let’s not be part of the problem. The next time you see something on TV or in a movie, do some research before blindly accepting what is portrayed. It’s important to remember not to believe everything you hear or see on TV. Let’s form our own opinion on a situation and keep an open mind and heart. It could mean the world to someone to know that they are not being misjudged based solely on a disorder that they have. The research conducted helped to debunk and discredit the media’s claims and portrayals of dissociative identity disorder.
References
Davis , S. (2021). Dissociative identity disorder: A misrepresented diagnosis. NAMI. https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/June-2021/Dissociative-Identity-Disorder-A-Misrepresented-Diagnosis
Dillinger, R. L. (2021). Addressing the Stigma Surrounding Serious Mental Illness in Adolescents: a Brief Intervention. Psychiatric Quarterly, 92(1), 161–167. https://doi-org.ezproxy.neit.edu/10.1007/s11126-020-09787-6
Nester, M. S., Boi, C., Brand, B. L., & Schielke, H. J. (2022). The reasons dissociative disorder patients self-injure. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 13(1), 1–10. https://doi-org.ezproxy.neit.edu/10.1080/20008198.2022.2026738
Patrichi, B. E., Ene, C., Rîndaşu, C., & Trifu, A. C. (2021). Dissociative Amnesia and Dissociative Identity Disorder. Journal of Educational Sciences & Psychology, 11(1), 207–216. https://doi-org.ezproxy.neit.edu/10.51865/JESP.2021.1.18