1. DID is a diagnosis that it can be difficult to find a therapy for. Trauma therapists are most likely. It is long term and emotionally taxing work for a therapist and many do not feel they have the skills to manage or dont want to commit to the time involved. Studies have shown the vast majority of therapists and counsellors do believe that DID exists - psychiatrists are more skeptical and since there is not an easy medication to offer they arent as helpful as psychotherapists/therapists (most psychiatrists dont do talking therapy). Lists of therapists who have an interest in DID is on isst-d.org but many others who work with DID arent on the list. 2. DID isnt new. It a psychiatric diagnosis and it has been included in the key diagnostic manuals for at least 60 years, extensive research has been done on it. The name has changed but the disorder hasnt. Over 100 years ago Morton Prince wrote the dissociation of the personality and a number of studies were done in split personality double/doublement of the personality and multiple personality especially in France, Sigmund Freud and Pierre Janet worked on it. The names of many of the professionals are recognized in the ISST-Ds prize list for outstanding work. History info dissociative-identity-disorder.net/wiki/History of DID. 3. It is normal to get stuck with working through DID. Accepting all your alters is not the only thing you need to do - accepting them is great, but they need to accept you too, and you need to work through horrific trauma in order to heal. For many people this involves learning for the first time about horrendous abuse at the hands of people you love the most. This is both painful and extremely difficult to accept. It also often involves having to cut ties with people you are still in contact with (incest is very common). Trust in your therapist, between you and your alters (hosts are alters by the way) and between alters and your therapist takes time and is very difficult. 4. You and other alters/hosts will often not agree, this is normal. Some alters may attempt to get rid of you and believe they will be unharmed, etc. Part of working on safety and stability is trying to get everyone to understand about the shared body and not harming one another. 5. Most people with DID have repeated suicide attempts and many self injure/self harm, eating disorders and substance abuse (including overuse/abuse of medication) is very common and may be carried out by anyone in the system - including alters.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 03:23:55 +0000