If you are a big fan of K-Drama then you must have watched this drama, called Kill Me, Heal Me. The story revolves around a guy named Cha Do Hyun (Ji Sung) that was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder (used to be known as multiple personality disorder). He began to develop the multiple personality as a result of going through some traumatic incidents in his life. However, can dissociative identity disorder (DID) really happen in real life?
Actually, it can. DID does happen in real life. Dissociative identity disorder can occur when someone had gone through some chilhood trauma or any traumatic incidents. A good example of DID would be Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Basically those who are diagnosed with DID is going through a state where they will possess at least two clear personality states, called alters which may have different emotions and body functioning. A study also said that DID is most likely to happen to women than men!
Types of Dissociative Disorder
There are three types of dissociative disorder:
- Dissociative Amnesia
This is the most common type of dissociative disorder. The primary symptoms are extensive forgetfulness and loss of time, which cannot be explained by general forgetfulness, substance abuse, or a medical condition. This is a blank spot in the individual’s memory, during which they cannot remember events that occurred or conversations they had.
2. Depersonalization/ Derealization Disorder
This condition is characterized by consistent, ongoing, or episodic emotional and experiential detachment from events in a person’s life. People who struggle with this disorder describe the sensation as watching their feelings, thoughts, and actions from outside themselves, as though watching a movie. Other people describe the experience as feeling like they were in a foggy, dreamlike state and that the world around them was not real. Symptoms can last anywhere from minutes to years.
3. Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
Although all dissociative conditions were at one time lumped together as multiple personality disorder (MPD) and can be part of MPD, dissociative identity disorder is the current term used when referring to classic symptoms of multiple personality disorder. Dissociative identify disorder involves the formation of at least one other personality, originally referred to as split personality disorder, but involves on average of 3-16 “alters.” Some documented cases have involved over 100 alternate personalities.
What are the symptoms?
- Trouble remembering certain events, people and personal information
- Blurry sense of identity
- Unable to cope well with stress and emotional state
- Mental health problems such as suicidal, depression and anxiety
- Feeling like more than one person
- Blackouts
There have been several portrayal of DID in the media. In movies, somehow the person who has DID is often described as dangerous and violent as some of their alter are unpredictable. For example the movie Split. However, not all persons who was diagnosed with DID possess violent acts. In fact, some of them do manage to recover from it by going through therapy and seeks medical helps from the psychiatrist.
Here is a list of famous cases of dissociative identity disorder in real life. Enjoy your reading!
