Split Personality Disorders - Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments

Introduction

A split personality disorder is a mental disorder where a person has two or more personalities, actions, and thoughts, and the behaviors are completely different. The condition is more common after traumatic events with two or more personality disorders. They do not present as traits or moods. It has problems with memory, emotion, perception, and sense of self. They disrupt normal mental functioning. It is characterized as detachment or feeling outside of one’s body. The person has two or three or an indefinite number of personalities. These personalities control a person’s behavior at different points in time. Various types of psychotherapy help people manage their symptoms. It is a mental health condition with two or more separate identities.

What Is Dissociative Identity Disorder?

Dissociative identity disorder is another term for split personality disorder. There are significant differences between the personalities. These personalities are different from each other. Each personality is unaware of the other personality. Each personality has a different history, behavior, and identity. There is no continuity between memories, thoughts, actions, and surroundings. The personalities can vary in age, gender, moods, memories, and vocabulary. The instant switch from one personality to another happens due to changes in the surroundings that induce stress and trigger and make the change happen.

What Are the Causes of Split Personality Disorder?

The condition does not have an exact cause. There is a significant link between the past traumatic event and the condition. It is particularly associated with trauma or abuse during childhood. Split personality disorders are associated with traumatic events, overwhelming past experiences, and abuse that occurred in childhood. Affected individuals have a history of physical or sexual abuse, increasing the risk of dissociative identity disorder.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Split Personality Disorder?

The signs and symptoms of split personality disorder include:

• Split personality disorders are a way to cope with trauma. The disorders occur in children who are subjected to sexual or emotional abuse. Natural disasters or any traumatic events that strongly affect a person’s mentality could be a triggering factor for split personality disorder. The affected individuals use this as a coping mechanism to overcome the traumatic or previous stress.

• Dissociative identity disorder is also called multiple personality disorder. The affected individuals feel the presence of more people living inside their heads, and the identities might possess the person. Each identity has a voice and mannerisms that are distinct. Depersonalization-derealization disorder is an ongoing sense of detachment or observing thoughts, feelings, and actions from a distance.

• Being detached from one’s own emotions and feelings.

• A perception of the people and things around the individual is distorted and unreal.

• There is a blurred sense of reality.

• Significant stress or problems in relationships, work, and other important areas of life.

• Inability to cope with emotional stress.

• They have depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.

• They have self-injurious thoughts and behavior.

• More than 80 percent of outpatients who have split personality disorder attempt for suicide due to their thought processes. Suicidal thoughts are very common in split personality disorder.

• Not being able to recall the events that happened a few moments ago is called dissociative amnesia. It can be classified as selective, localized, and generalized. Selective amnesia includes specific events within a period. Generalized amnesia includes full loss of life history and identity. Localized amnesia is unable to remember a particular event.

• Dissociated amnesia is associated with childhood trauma and emotional neglect.

Who Are at Risk for Split Personality Disorders?

People who have had trauma in childhood are at risk of developing split personality disorders. The risk factors are:

• No proper emotional support from childhood.

• People who seek alternative identities cope with the stress of the environment.

• Those who try to detach themselves from friends and society.

• Long-term sexual, physical, or mental abuse in childhood increases the risk of developing the disorder.

• Torture, kidnap, early life surgeries, or any childhood traumatic events can stimulate these behaviors.

What Are the Complications Associated With the Disorders?

The complications of the affected persons are responses to trauma that triggers the chemical change in the brain.

• Personality disorders.

• Sexual dysfunction.

• Depression and anxiety.

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (occurs due to perceived threat to danger and history of the traumatic event).

• Significant issues in personal and work relationships.

• Eating disorders.

• Suicidal thoughts and insomnia (inability to sleep and nightmares).

• Permanent amnesia.

What Are the Diagnosis for the Split Personality Disorder?

The doctors have to see the personality differences that affect the person. It takes time to make the diagnosis. Before accurate diagnosis, the individuals spend seven to eight years of mental health problems. Many people with dissociative disorders have coexisting personality disorders such as anxiety and depression.

What Is the Treatment for Split Personality Disorder?

Medications help to treat split personality disorder. Psychotherapy is the most effective treatment of all. The therapy focuses on merging distinct identities into one identity. Working on past trauma and abuse. Since there is a discontinuity in the person’s thoughts and memory, it causes significant stress in daily life. The following techniques are followed to cope with the stress:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy is based on dysfunctional thoughts, behavioral thoughts, and emotions. It is a form of psychological treatment, and the strategies used here are:

• Using problem-solving methods to face a stressful situation or to cope with the triggers that cause the situation. Teach the individual to believe in one’s sense of confidence and abilities.

• CBT therapists emphasize what is going on in one’s life, and the focus is on moving forward to develop effective ways to cope with life stress.

• Dialectical behavior therapy focuses on change in behavior and accepting the new behavior. The key focus is mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotion regulation.

• Psychodynamic psychotherapy focuses on how to make people understand the past and their role in current behaviors.

• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing - It reduces the stress associated with past childhood trauma.

• Schema therapy focuses on the identification and healing of negative schema, help them gain control over their triggers, and removes the power from memories.

• The anti-depressants given for the condition are:

• Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors like Effexor and Cymbalta.

• Monoamine oxidase inhibitors such as Nardil and Marplan.

• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as Prozac and Lexapro.

• Anti-psychotic medications such as Risperdal and Abilify.

• Anti-anxiety medications like Klonopin, Valium, and Ativan.

• The other lifestyle modifications include exercising, maintaining a healthy diet, and getting enough sleep.

Conclusion

A split personality disorder is a mental condition that can be treated using medications, psychotherapy, and lifestyle modifications. The life quality is improved by positive coping strategies. This condition affects every aspect of life and it prevents the person from working and having good relationships, There are many resources to help the individual from recovering from the disease.