What Causes MPD/DID?
It is generally thought that MPD/DID is caused by extreme and prolonged trauma in childhood, such as childhood physical and/or sexual abuse. Some psychiatrists feel that other extreme and prolonged trauma such as being subject to combat, natural disasters, or severe emotional abuse can cause MPD/DID. The theory is that in order to deal with such extreme and prolonged trauma, a child will create alternative personalities to compartmentalize and thus deal with the ongoing trauma.According to experts in the field, the original personality of a person with MPD/DID is often unaware of the other distinct, alternative personalities. Control of the individual is switched to an alternative personality by triggers that are often related in some way, at least in the patient’s mind, to the underlying trauma that caused the disorder. When control switches back to the original personality, some patients do not recall any of the time when they were under the control of one of the alternative personal
