What is Dissociative Identity Disorder?
Have you ever found yourself day dreaming or becoming so engrossed in a movie that you felt like one of the characters living in the story? When you're reading a book, are you carried away by the descriptive world the author paints and as a result you get "lost" in the narrative. These are healthy, normal dissociative moments that most of us experience from day to day. During these snatches of dissociation, you will not remember what happened in the present day because you were lost in deep contemplation, a fantasy or imagination.
The experience of dissociation is on a continuum. If you were to look at "temperatures" of dissociation on a thermometer, most people will dissociate up to 10 degrees. Towards the midpoint, 50 or 60 degrees, is where you find dissociative disorders and the closer you get to the hottest point on a thermometer you would find dissociative identity disorder.
Little children are apt in creating worlds in their mind, imagination and creating imaginary friends. "When under extreme stress, young children may call on this special ability to develop a 'character' or 'role' into which they can escape when feeling threatened. One therapist described this as nothing more than a little girl imagining herself on a swing in the sunshine instead of at the hands of her abuser." When severe abuse, neglect and trauma happen to a child under the age of eight years of age repetitively and goes unnoticed by parents, caretakers, educators - extreme dissociation occurs in order for the child to survive the trauma.
To avoid and compartmentalize the pain, a child will dissociate their thoughts, feelings and memories inside their mind. As dissociation becomes repetitive, it can result in the creation of separate identities inside the mind of the child. Each identity takes on multiple roles internally and helps with handling overwhelming emotions, life circumstances, going to school, living at home, enduring the abuse, being the happy kid on the playground, being a wise helper to the child and a fierce protector for the child. In order that the child can live a somewhat normal life under extreme duress particularly when they switch into the best suited internal identity for a given situation. For educational links you can visit our DID Education page and find some helpful articles when searching Dissociative Identity Disorder on google.
The experience of dissociation is on a continuum. If you were to look at "temperatures" of dissociation on a thermometer, most people will dissociate up to 10 degrees. Towards the midpoint, 50 or 60 degrees, is where you find dissociative disorders and the closer you get to the hottest point on a thermometer you would find dissociative identity disorder.
Little children are apt in creating worlds in their mind, imagination and creating imaginary friends. "When under extreme stress, young children may call on this special ability to develop a 'character' or 'role' into which they can escape when feeling threatened. One therapist described this as nothing more than a little girl imagining herself on a swing in the sunshine instead of at the hands of her abuser." When severe abuse, neglect and trauma happen to a child under the age of eight years of age repetitively and goes unnoticed by parents, caretakers, educators - extreme dissociation occurs in order for the child to survive the trauma.
To avoid and compartmentalize the pain, a child will dissociate their thoughts, feelings and memories inside their mind. As dissociation becomes repetitive, it can result in the creation of separate identities inside the mind of the child. Each identity takes on multiple roles internally and helps with handling overwhelming emotions, life circumstances, going to school, living at home, enduring the abuse, being the happy kid on the playground, being a wise helper to the child and a fierce protector for the child. In order that the child can live a somewhat normal life under extreme duress particularly when they switch into the best suited internal identity for a given situation. For educational links you can visit our DID Education page and find some helpful articles when searching Dissociative Identity Disorder on google.