Reading Room
Dissociative Identity Disorder/
Multiple Personality Disorder
FAQ (frequently asked questions)
What is MPD?
MPD is a survival tactic. It is the creative attempt of
highly traumatized children to protect themselves from the trauma and abuse
(e.g.: "It isn't happening to me.") When these children dissociate
(block) trauma, their "compartments" of trauma become "separate
personalities/parts within their one self". Only children have sufficient
flexibility (and vulnerability) to adapt to trauma by means of creating alter
personalities.
I thought MPD and Schizophrenia were the same thing.
MPD is NOT schizophrenia! Most people thing that schizophrenia means
"split personality." Actually, this is totally incorrect. "Split
Personality" is MPD, not schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a chronic form of
psychosis due to a biochemical/genetic disorder of the brain. SCHIZOPHRENICS DO
NOT HAVE OTHER PERSONALITIES. Schizophrenia is not caused by trauma, and does
not involve amnesia and flashbacks.
When can a person get MPD?
MPD arises in childhood, mostly ages 3 to 9 years. There is juvenile
diabetes and adult onset diabetes, but there is no adult onset MPD. Only
children have sufficient flexibility (and vulnerability) to respond to trauma
by breaking their "still-coalescing" self into different, dissociated
parts. Adults do not have the capacity to adapt to trauma by forming alter
personalities. (The exception is that adults who became "multiples"
in childhood can continue to make more alters during adulthood.)
Isn't MPD really just a way for people to get attention?
It is often thought that MPD is a sham, a bizarre form of
"play-acting" that is perpetrated by manipulative, attention-seeking
individuals. It is not. MPD is a "disorder of hiddeness" wherein
80-90% of MPD patients do not have a clue that they are "multiple."
Most know that there is something wrong with them; many fear that they are
crazy-- but few know that they are multiple.
Isn't MPD just an exaggeration of the different parts of our personality;
aren't we all really "multiple"?
This is an enticing question. "Yes," we all have different parts
to our personalities. "No," MPD is not "just an
exaggeration" of these parts.
Why?
At least 6 reasons:
- Because we all don't have a dissociative disorder;
- Because we all don't suffer from severe and chronic child abuse or trauma;
- Because we all do not have amnesia for what we are doing when a different
part of our personality comes to the fore;
- Because the "raison d'être" of the different sides to our
personality is not to hide from ourselves information or feelings about trauma;
- Because we all do not posses the ability to be "highly"
hypnotic; and,
- Because we all do not develop POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER when we begin
to pay attention to our parts.
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