Dissociative identity disorder

Epic card · No. 9052

Dissociative identity disorder (DID), previously known as multiple personality disorder (MPD), is a dissociative disorder characterized by the presence of at least two personality states or "alters". The diagnosis is controversial and remains disputed. Proponents of DID support the trauma model, viewing the disorder as an organic response to severe childhood trauma. Critics of the trauma model support the sociogenic model of DID as a societal construct and learned behavior used to express distress; developed through iatrogenesis in therapy, cultural beliefs, and exposure to the behavior in media or online. Public perceptions of the disorder were popularized by allegedly true stories in the 20th century; Sybil influenced many elements of the diagnosis, but was later found to be fraudulent. After multiple personality disorder (MPD) was recognized as a diagnosis in DSM-III in 1975, an epidemic of the disorder spread across North America, closely tied to the satanic panic. Therapists began...

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