What is Multiple Personality Disorder and its Symptoms?
Dissociative identity disorder, formerly called multiple personality disorder, is characterized by 2 or more identities or personalities that alternate and by an inability to recall important personal information relating to some of the identities. The cause is typically overwhelming childhood trauma. Diagnosis is based on history, sometimes supplemented by hypnosis or drug-facilitated interviewing. Treatment is psychotherapy, sometimes combined with drug therapy. Individuals with Dissociative identity disorder (DID) demonstrate a variety of symptoms with wide fluctuations across time; functioning can vary from severe impairment in daily functioning to normal or high abilities. Symptoms can include: * multiple mannerisms, attitudes and beliefs that are dissimilar to each other * headaches and other body pains * distortion or loss of subjective time * depersonalization * amnesia * depression Patients may experience an extremely narrow array of other symptoms that resemble epilepsy, schi
