Multiple Personality Disorder / Dissociative Identity Disorder

This is a random one, but something I find really interesting.

The video above (and I hope she doesn't mind me embedding this) is the first episode in a series of vlogs from Jess, a university student with Dissociative Identity Disorder, or 'DID' for short.

I heard about her story from the BBC Three Documentary 'Diaries of a Broken Mind' which aired last July. It follows the lives of several individuals who all have a sort of 'mental health problem', from the likes of bi-polar disorder, to agoraphobia, to DID. When watching, I found it both fascinating and saddening how slight alters to one's brain or mind frame can cause such an overbearing impact on their lives.

Jess' story was the one that intrigued me the most, partly because she mentioned in the programme that she had an online vlog about her disorder. From watching her videos and doing a smidgen of research on DID, I've decided that it needs wider coverage.

DID is an issue caused predominantly through experiencing some kind of trauma. This can come in many forms and wikipedia (most trustful source on the internet... or not) states "people diagnosed with DID often report that they have experienced severe physical and sexual abuse". This trauma is too extreme for the brain to handle, and so it creates another identity, or 'alter', who irregularly or frequently 'switches' with the host (for lack of a better word) and brings forth a whole new personality into the same body. A quote from Jess - When you switch with an alter, 'You can either be co-conscious (means you can see/hear things that are going on but can't necessarily do anything) or not co-conscious at all, meaning the personality does whatever without you being able to see what it's doing.'

DID is a condition that is hard to prove. Imagine your friend having 'mood swings' and personality changes frequently and then telling you she has two (or more!) people living inside their body. I can bet you wouldn't be able to comprehend it.

What fascinates me about DID is the idea of several people sharing one body. I think it's amazing that the brain can create multiple identities inside one body, it just shows how powerful the brain is, and how we definitely don't use its full potential. But at the same time as being fascinating, I feel both happy and sad for people with DID. Happy, because they get to experience something only a few people ever will, and they're never alone - technically - they have their alters by their side for a long while. But I also sympathise with these people, as some have as many as 200 (or more!) alters living in their mind, arising at any moment and taking over their body. Imagine fighting to be able to control your hands, a battle you will most probably lose. Also, alters are entirely new people, stuck in a body that is not theirs. This is a sad truth, as they'll never be able to fully live their own life. Also, not all alters are kind and sweet. Since they are born through experiencing a trauma, some can be nasty and cause a person to be suicidal; or they may be suicidal themselves. As you can imagine, lots of problems are caused here.

I am not an expert on DID, but from what little I do know about it, I know we need to raise awareness so that people aren't singled out or bullied because they have an undiagnosed case of it. Mention it to a friend, have a discussion about it, share Jess' story. It's an important part of her life and needs to be known.

Jess' youtube: [x]
Jess' second youtube: [x]