Dissociative Identity Disorder?
Stacey Skidmore
Though great controversy exists over the integrity of
dissociative identity disorder (DID), many researchers and clinicians continue
to search for its cause (Kazdin et al, 2000).
Resulting from this search was the emergence of four distinct causal views: the
Psychodynamic view, Behavioral view, State-dependent learning view, and the
Self-hypnosis view (Comer, 2002).
Psychodynamic View
Founded on the principal of
repression, the psychodynamic view stresses the impact of traumatic memories
that cause great emotional pain and stress within an individual (Jorn, 1982; Martinez-Taboas,
1996,). Psychodynamic theorists argue that the inability to face these memories
leads to repression. Because repression is a common defense mechanism amongst
people who do not suffer from DID, psychodynamic theorists argue that it is the
continuous use of repression over a lifetime, usually “motivated by very
traumatic childhood events, particularly abusive parenting” (Comer, 2002), that
causes DID.
Psychodynamic formula for DID:
Traumatic childhood abuse → repression over a lifetime →
DID
Behavioral View
Like psychodynamic
theorists, behaviorists attribute the cause of DID too traumatic and/or
horrifying experiences. However, they do not believe that these events cause
repression, which in turn leads to DID. Rather behaviorists “believe that
dissociation is a response learned through operant conditioning.” In other
words, an individual that experiences a traumatic event might let their mind
“drift to another subject” (Comer, 2002) to find psychological relief. In
thinking about something else, the anxiety and fear are forgotten, and the
person feels better. This positive outcome of forgetting encourages the
individual to keep forgetting, and DID emerges.
Behavioral formula for DID:
Traumatic event → dissociation
→ feel good →
traumatic event 2 → dissociation
→ feel good →
DID
State-dependent Learning View
Research has
indicated that when people learn something while they are in a “particular
situation or state of mind, they are likely to remember it best when they are
again in that same condition” (Overton, 1966). In particular, studies have
shown that moods affect memory recall. That is, if you were sad when you
learned a task, you are likely to recall what you have learned again when you
are sad. (Eich 1995; Bower, 1981). This phenomena is
called state-dependent learning
In regards to DID,
advocates of this view suggest that people that suffer from DID have
“state-to-state memory links that are extremely rigid and narrow” (Comer,
2002). Their memories could be recalled only if they are in a particular state,
and different states may evoke different “thoughts, and abilities—that is,
different subpersonalities (Comer, 2002).
State-dependent learning formula:
Memories, thoughts, and abilities are grouped by mood → multiple personalities
Self-hypnosis View
Proponents of
the self-hypnosis view argue that DID is a result of people hypnotizing
themselves to forget traumatic events (Bliss, 1985, 1980; Mulhern,
1994). In the process of forgetting, individuals might “forget fact, events,
and even their personal identities—an effect called hypnotic amnesia” (Comer, 2002). Several theorists have suggested
that “children are generally very suggestible and excellent hypnotic subjects”
from age 4 through age 6 (Comer, 2002). Therefore, these theorists believe that
children develop DID at a young age to escape the, often scary, world around
them.
Self-hypnosis formula:
Scary event
→ self-hypnosis to
escape threat → DID
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For more
information regarding DID click here
References
Bliss, E.L. (1980). Multiple personalities: A report of 14 cases with implications for schizophrenia and hysteria.
Archives of General Psychiatry, 37(12), 1388-1397.
Bliss, E.L.
(1985). How prevalent is multiple personality? American Journal of Psychiatry, 142(12), 1527.
Bower,
G.H. (1981). Mood and memory. The
American Psychologist, 36(2), 129-148.
Comer, R.J. ( 2002). Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology.
Eich,
E. (1995). Mood as a mediator of place dependent memory.
Journal of Experimental Psychology,
124(3), 293-308.
Jorn,
N. (1982). Repression in a case of multiple personality
disorder. Perspectives in
Psychiatric Care, 20(3), pp.
105-110.
Kazdin,
A. E. et al (Eds.). (2000). The Encyclopedia of
Psychology (Vols. 1-8).
Martinez-Taboas, A. (1996). Repressed memories: Some clinical data
contributing toward its
elucidation.
American Journal of Psychotherapy, 50(2),
pp. 217-230.
Mulhern, S.
(1994).
Satanism, ritual abuse, and multiple personality disorder: A sociohistorical
perspective. International Journal of Clinical &
Experimental Hypnosis, 42(4), pp.
265-288.
Overton, D. (1966). State-dependent
learning produced by depressant and atropine-like drugs.
Psychopharmacologia, 10, 6-31.