How to determine if a person has a split personality. Split personality - fiction or real disease? Group of dissociative disorders

The psychological term "split personality" arose a long time ago, so its signs are already known and studied. AT modern life such a phenomenon is observed more and more often, and the reason for this is the hectic pace of life, a plurality of stresses and emotional stress. But not everyone knows the features of this state, therefore most of people simply do not fully understand what a split personality is.

General description of the disease

Split personality is a phenomenon in psychiatry, which is expressed in its owner by the presence of two personalities at the same time, and in especially severe cases, large quantity. All those patients who have encountered this kind of phenomenon are diagnosed by doctors with Dissociative Identity Disorder, which in most cases determines the state of splitting.

Dissociative disorders are a group mental disorders, which characterizes violations and changes in certain three mental functions inherent in a person:

  1. Personal identity;
  2. Consciousness;
  3. Memory and awareness of the fact of the continuity of personal identity.

These functions are built into the human psyche, but when dissociated, some of them are separated from the stream of consciousness and become somewhat independent. So there is a possibility of loss of personal identity and the emergence of its new kind. During this period of time, some memories may become inaccessible, as in psychogenic amnesia.

Causes of Multiple Personality

Multiple personality, or its dissociation, is the whole mechanism by which the mind is able to be divided into several specific memories or thoughts that are inherent in ordinary consciousness. The thoughts of the subconscious, which are divided in this way, are not subject to erasure, they can spontaneously reappear in the mind of a person. They come to life when exposed to the appropriate trigger mechanisms - triggers. Triggers can be objects surrounding a person during the appearance of a traumatic event.

Multiple personality disorder is believed to be triggered by a combination of factors such as large-scale stress, the ability to separate personal memories and a dissociative state, and the inclusion defensive reaction in the process of development of an organism with a certain set of factors.

The process of bifurcation itself, in its essence, is quite lengthy and serious, a wide range actions. The definition of a dissociative disorder in a patient is not yet an indicator of the fact that he has a mental illness.

A moderate degree of dissociation occurs under stress, or in those people who, due to circumstances, have been deprived of healthy sleep for a long time. Dissociative identity disorder occurs even when receiving a certain dose of nitric oxide (laughing gas in the common people), during dental anesthesia, or after minor emergencies.

Also, in a moderate, and sometimes quite complex form, dissociation manifests itself in people who have suffered childhood abuse, the loss of parents at an early age, participants in hostilities and robbery attacks, victims, survivors of a plane crash or natural disaster.

The main symptoms and manifestations of a split personality

Split personality is the most severe form of dissociative disorder, which has the corresponding symptoms. Both mild, moderate, and severe form, manifested in a patient with marked disorders, occurs for a number of different reasons:

  • Predisposition to dissociation from birth
  • A chain of episodes of mental and sexual abuse in young years
  • Cruel attitude of persons from outside
  • Exposure to a family member with symptoms of a dissociative disorder

A detailed examination of the symptoms of a dissociative disorder can distinguish six main manifestations:

  1. Dissociative psychogenic amnesia is a sudden loss of memory caused by a traumatic event or severe stress. In this state, the ability to assimilate new information. Consciousness is not disturbed, the patient is aware of his own memory loss.
  2. Dissociative fugue is a psychogenic reaction to flight. Manifestations are expressed in a sudden departure from home or place of work, the so-called affective narrowing of consciousness with the consequences of a complete or partial loss of memory. At the same time, the patient can consider himself a different person and do things that he had not even heard of before.
  3. Dissociative identity disorder is a disorder of multiple personality. The patient identifies himself with several simultaneous personalities living in him. Periodically, one of these personalities begins to dominate, which is reflected in the patient's behavior, in his gaze and attitude towards himself. As a rule, the transition between personalities is carried out abruptly.
  4. Depersonalization disorder is a constant or periodic experience of alienation of the personal body and mental processes, as if the patient himself is watching everything from the outside. This state is similar to experiences in a dream, when temporal and spatial barriers are not felt.
  5. Ganser's syndrome - manifestations in the form of deliberate production of mental disorders, identified in a severe degree. In many cases, the state can be described in passing, when elementary questions cannot be answered. Most diagnoses of the syndrome are found in men who are in prison.
  6. Dissociative disorder in the form of trance - a disorder of consciousness with a synchronous decrease in the ability to respond external stimuli. Most often observed in mediums conducting a seance, and in pilots on long flights. The reason for this is the monotony of movements in an environment of considerable speed and monotonous impressions.

Treatment for split personality

A split personality disorder is a disease that is treated with psychotherapy or medication, often combined. But it is worth considering the fact that antidepressants and special tranquilizers that are attributed to patients are addictive. It is required to draw up an individual schedule for taking medications for the patient.

Hypnosis is also one of the treatment options, as it is directly related to the dissociative state. In many cases, hypnosis successfully closes non-existent personalities. But still, in general, such a disease is chronic and requires continuous treatment for several years.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), or split personality disorder, manifests itself in the splitting of a person's personality into several personalities that live in one body. DID often develops as a result of emotional trauma in childhood. This disorder causes discomfort and confusion for both the patient and those around him. If you suspect that you may have DID, pay attention to the symptoms and warning signs, learn more about DID, put aside common misconceptions about this disorder, and see a specialist who can make an accurate diagnosis.

Steps

Part 1

Identifying Symptoms

    Analyze your self-awareness. People with DID have several separate personal states. These conditions exist in one person and appear alternately, and the patient may not remember separate periods of time. The existence of multiple personalities can create confusion and confusion in the patient's self-identity.

    Notice the dramatic changes in emotional state and behavior. DID sufferers often experience dramatic changes in their emotional state (expressed emotions), behavior, self-awareness, memory, perception, thinking, and sensorimotor skills.

    Look for memory impairments. DID is accompanied by significant memory problems: it can be difficult for patients to remember everyday events, important personal data, or traumatic events.

    • The type of memory problems in DID is different from ordinary forgetfulness. If you have lost your keys or forgotten where you parked your car, this alone cannot be a sign of DID. People with DID have severe memory lapses - for example, they often cannot remember very recent events.
  1. Pay attention to the degree of disorder. DID is diagnosed only when the symptoms lead to significant impairment in social, professional and other areas of daily activities.

    • Do the symptoms you are experiencing (various personality conditions, memory problems) cause serious difficulties and suffering?
    • Are you experiencing serious problems at school, at work, or at home because of your symptoms?
    • Do the symptoms make it difficult to communicate and make friends with others?

Part 4

Basic information about the disease
  1. Learn about the specific criteria required for a diagnosis of DID. Knowing the exact criteria for the disease will help you determine if you need a psychological evaluation to confirm your concerns. According to the DSM-5 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which serves as one of the main diagnostic tools for psychologists, five criteria must be met to be diagnosed with DID. Before making a diagnosis of DID, all five of the following criteria should be tested:

    • One person must have two or more separate personality states, which goes beyond social and cultural norms.
    • The patient must experience recurring memory problems: memory lapses and inability to recall mundane events, impaired memory of self or past traumatic events.
    • Symptoms greatly complicate daily activities (at school, at work, at home, in relationships with other people).
    • The disorder is not associated with religious or cultural practices in the broadest sense.
    • Symptoms are not due to abuse psychoactive substances or other disease.
  2. Keep in mind that DID is not uncommon. Usually, DID is considered a very rare mental illness that only a few suffer from. However, recent studies have shown that this disorder actually occurs in 1-3 percent of people, which is much more often than commonly thought. It should be remembered that the severity of the disorder can vary quite widely.

Dissociative Identity Disorder is what experts call a split personality disorder. In their opinion, such a definition is more suitable for describing this phenomenon: a person is divided into identities that cannot be considered complete.

Symptoms of the disorder can manifest themselves at any age. The cause is often a serious injury, both physical and mental, the traces of which, even with time, are difficult to erase. Most often, a person receives such a trauma in childhood. Although he may not remember her, the defense mechanism kicks in when the situation calls for it.

The main symptoms of the disorder include:

  • At least two states coexist in a person, in each of which he has his own pattern of behavior, values ​​and worldview.
  • At least two identities alternately take power over consciousness, which leads to a loss of connection with reality.
  • Man forgets important information about himself, and this goes beyond the usual absent-mindedness.
  • The cause of the condition cannot be considered the use of toxic substances, such as alcohol or drugs, or a disease.

    Despite the emergence of new personalities, the main one does not disappear anywhere. The number of identities may increase over time. This is due to the fact that a person creates for himself new states in which he could better cope with this or that situation.

    Split personality

    Psychological illnesses are among the most difficult, they often respond poorly to treatment and in some cases remain with a person forever. Split personality or dissociative syndrome belongs to such a group of diseases, has similar symptoms to schizophrenia, identity disorders become signs of this pathology. The condition has its own characteristics, which are not known to everyone, so there is a misinterpretation of this disease.

    What is split personality

    This is a mental phenomenon, which is expressed in the presence of two or more personalities in a patient, who replace each other with a certain periodicity or exist simultaneously. Patients who are faced with this problem, doctors diagnose "dissociation of personality", which is as close as possible to a split personality. This is general description pathologies, there are subspecies of this condition, which are characterized by certain features.

    Dissociative disorder - concept and manifestation factors

    This is a whole group of disorders psychological type, which have the characteristic features of the violation of psychological functions that are characteristic of a person. Dissociative identity disorder affects memory, awareness of the personality factor, behavior. All affected functions. As a rule, they are integrated and are part of the psyche, but when dissociated, some streams separate from consciousness, gaining a certain independence. This may appear in the following moments:

    • loss of identity;
    • loss of access to certain memories;
    • emergence of a new "I".

    Behavioral Features

    A patient with this diagnosis will have an extremely unbalanced character, will often lose touch with reality, and will not always be aware of what is happening around him. The dual personality is characterized by large and short memory lapses. To typical manifestations Pathologies include the following symptoms:

    • frequent and severe sweating;
    • insomnia;
    • severe headaches;
    • impaired ability to think logically;
    • inability to recognize one's condition;
    • mood mobility, a person first enjoys life, laughs, and after a few minutes he will sit in a corner and cry;
    • conflicting feelings about everything around you.

    Reasons

    Mental disorders of this type can manifest themselves in several forms: mild, moderate, complex. Psychologists have developed a special test that helps to identify the signs and causes that caused a split personality. There are also common factors that provoked the disease:

    • the influence of other family members who have their own dissociative type disorders;
    • hereditary predisposition;
    • childhood memories of mental or sexual abuse;
    • lack of support from loved ones in a situation of severe emotional stress.

    Symptoms of the disease

    Identity disorders in some cases have symptoms similar to other mental illnesses. You can suspect a split personality in the presence of a whole group of signs, which include the following options:

    • patient's imbalance - a sharp change in mood, an inadequate reaction to what is happening around;
    • the appearance of one or more new incarnations within oneself - a person calls himself different names, behavior is radically different (modest and aggressive personalities), does not remember what he did at the time of the dominance of the second "I".
    • loss of connection with the environment - an inadequate reaction to reality, hallucinations;
    • speech disorder - stuttering, long pauses between words, slurred speech;
    • memory impairment - short-term or extensive lapses;
    • the ability to connect thoughts into a logical chain is lost;
    • inconsistency, inconsistency of actions;
    • sudden, noticeable mood swings;
    • insomnia;
    • profuse sweating;
    • severe headaches.

    auditory hallucinations

    One of the common abnormalities in the disorder, which may be an independent symptom or one of several. Functional disturbances human brain create false auditory signals that the patient perceives as speech that does not have a sound source, sounds inside his head. Often these voices say what needs to be done, they can only be drowned out with medications.

    Depersonalization and Derealization

    This deviation is characterized by a constant or periodic feeling of alienation from one's own body, mental processes, as if a person is an outside observer of everything that happens. These sensations can be compared with those that many of the people experience in a dream, when there is a distortion of the sensation of temporal, spatial barriers, disproportion of the limbs. Derealization is a feeling of the unreality of the world around, some patients say that they are a robot, often accompanied by depressive, anxiety states.

    Trance-like states

    This form is characterized by a simultaneous disorder of consciousness and a decrease in the ability to adequately and modernly respond to stimuli from the outside world. The trance state can be observed in mediums who use it for séances and in pilots who perform long flights at high speed and with monotonous movements, monotonous impressions (sky and clouds).

    In children, this condition manifests itself as a result of physical trauma, violence. The peculiarity of this form lies in the possession, which is found in some regions and cultures. For example, amok - in Malays, this condition is manifested by a sudden fit of rage, followed by amnesia. A man runs and destroys everything that comes his way, he continues until he cripple himself or die. The Eskimos call the same condition piblokto: the patient tears off his clothes, screams, imitates the sounds of animals, after which amnesia sets in.

    Change in self-perception

    The patient fully or partially experiences alienation from his own body, on the mental side it can be expressed by a feeling of observation from the side of himself. The state of derealization is very similar, in which mental, temporary barriers are broken and a person loses a sense of the reality of what is happening around. A person may experience false feelings of hunger, anxiety, the size of his own body.

    In children

    Toddlers are also prone to splitting personalities, it happens in a somewhat peculiar way. The child will still respond to the name given by the parents, but at the same time there will be signs of the presence of other "Selves", which partially capture his consciousness. The following manifestations of pathology are characteristic for children:

    • different manner of speaking;
    • amnesia;
    • food habits are constantly changing;
    • amnesia;
    • mood lability;
    • self-talk;
    • glassy look and aggressiveness;
    • inability to explain their actions.

    How to recognize dissociative identity disorder

    Only a specialist who evaluates the patient according to certain criteria can diagnose this condition. The main task is to exclude herpes infection and tumor processes in the brain, epilepsy, schizophrenia, amnesia due to physical or psychological trauma, mental fatigue. A doctor is able to recognize a mental illness by the following signs:

    • the patient shows signs of two or more personalities who have an individual relationship to the world as a whole and certain situations;
    • a person is unable to remember important personal information;
    • disorder occurs not under the influence of drugs, alcohol, toxic substances.

    Criteria for the splitting of consciousness

    There are a number common symptoms that indicate the development of this form of pathology. These symptoms include memory lapses, events that cannot be logically explained and indicate the development of another personality, alienation from one's own body, derealization and depersonalization. All this happens when many personalities coexist in one person. Be sure the doctor takes an anamnesis, talks with the alter ego, and monitors the patient's behavior. The following factors are indicated in the handbook as criteria for determining the splitting of consciousness:

    • there are several alter egos in a person, which have their own attitude towards outside world, thinking, perception;
    • capture of consciousness by another person, behavior change;
    • the patient cannot remember important information about himself, which is difficult to explain by simple forgetfulness;
    • all the above signs did not become a consequence of drug, alcohol intoxication, exposure to toxic substances, other diseases (complex seizures of epilepsy).

    Differential Analysis

    This concept means the exclusion of other pathological conditions that can cause symptoms similar to the manifestation of a splitting of consciousness. If studies have shown signs of the following pathologies, then the diagnosis will not be confirmed:

    • delirium;
    • infectious diseases (herpes);
    • brain tumors that affect the temporal lobe;
    • schizophrenia;
    • amnestic syndrome;
    • disorders resulting from the use of psychoactive substances;
    • mental fatigue;
    • temporal epilepsy;
    • dementia;
    • bipolar disorder;
    • somatoform disorders;
    • post-traumatic amnesia;
    • simulation of the considered state.

    How to exclude the diagnosis of "organic brain damage"

    This is one of the mandatory stages of differential analysis, because the pathology has many similar symptoms. A person is sent for verification based on the result of the anamnesis collected by the doctor. A neurologist conducts a study, which will give a direction for the following tests:

    • computed tomography - helps to obtain information about the functional state of the brain, allows you to detect structural changes;
    • neurosonography - used to detect neoplasms in the brain, helps to examine the cerebrospinal fluid spaces;
    • rheoencephalogram - examination of the vessels of the brain;
    • ultrasound examination of the brain cavities;
    • MRI - is performed to detect structural changes in brain tissues, nerve fibers, blood vessels, the stage of pathology, the degree of damage.

    How to treat a split personality

    The process of patient therapy is usually complex and lengthy. In most cases, follow-up is required for the rest of a person's life. You can get a positive and desired result from the treatment only with the right medication. Drugs, dosages should be prescribed exclusively by a doctor on the basis of studies and analyzes. Modern treatment regimens include the following types of drugs:

    In addition to medications, other methods of therapy are used, which are aimed at solving the problems of splitting consciousness. Not all of them have a quick effect, but are part of a comprehensive treatment:

    • electroconvulsive therapy;
    • psychotherapy, which can only be carried out by doctors who have completed specialized additional practice after graduating from a medical institute;
    • hypnosis is allowed;
    • part of the responsibility for treatment lies on the shoulders of others, they should not talk to a person as if they are sick.

    Psychotherapeutic treatment

    Dissociative disorder requires psychotherapeutic therapy. It should be carried out by specialists who have experience in this field and have passed extra education. This direction is used to achieve two main goals:

    • relief of symptoms;
    • reintegration of all human alter egos into one fully functioning identity.

    To achieve these goals, two main methods are used:

    1. Cognitive psychotherapy. The doctor's work is aimed at correcting stereotypes of thinking, inappropriate thoughts with the help of structured learning persuasion, behavior training, mental state, experiment.
    2. Family psychotherapy. It consists in working with the family to optimize their interaction with the person in order to reduce the dysfunctional impact on all members.

    Electroconvulsive therapy

    For the first time, the method of treatment was applied in the 30s of the 20th century, then the doctrine of schizophrenia was actively developing. The rationale for this treatment was the idea that the brain could not produce localized bursts of electrical potentials, so they had to be created artificially to achieve remission. The procedure is as follows:

    1. Two electrodes were attached to the patient's head.
    2. Voltage was applied through them.
    3. The device started up the current for a fraction of a second, which was enough to affect the human brain.
    4. The manipulation was carried out 2-3 times a week for 2-3 months.

    As a therapy for schizophrenia, this method has not taken root, but in the field of multiple split consciousness therapy it can be used. For the body, the degree of risk from the technique is reduced due to constant monitoring by doctors, anesthesia, and muscle relaxation. This helps to avoid all the unpleasant sensations that could arise when creating nerve impulses in the substance of the brain.

    Application of hypnosis

    People who experience multiple splits in consciousness are not always aware of the presence of other alter egos. Clinical hypnosis helps to achieve integration for the patient, to alleviate the manifestations of the disease, which contributes to changing the character of the patient. This direction is very different from conventional treatments, because the hypnotic state itself can provoke the appearance of a multiple personality. The practice is aimed at achieving the following goals:

    • ego strengthening;
    • relief of symptoms;
    • reduced anxiety;
    • creation of rapport (contact with the conducting hypnosis).

    How to treat multiple personality syndrome

    The basis of therapy is medications, which are aimed at relieving symptoms, restoring the full functioning of a person as a person. A course is selected, dosage only by a doctor, a severe form of bifurcation requires stronger drugs than a mild one. Three groups of medicines are used for this:

    Antipsychotics

    This group of drugs is used to treat schizophrenia, but with the development of a split personality, they can also be prescribed to eliminate a manic state, delusional disorders. The following options can be assigned:

    1. Haloperedol. This is a pharmaceutical name, so this medicinal substance can be part of various medicines. It is used to suppress delusional, manic states. Contraindicated in patients with disorders of the central nervous system, angina pectoris, dysfunction of the liver, kidneys, epilepsy, active alcoholism.
    2. Azaleptin. It has a powerful effect and belongs to the group of atypical antipsychotics. Used more to suppress feelings of anxiety, strong arousal, has a strong hypnotic effect.
    3. Sonapax. It is used for the same purposes as the above means: suppression of feelings of anxiety, manic state, delusional ideas.

    Antidepressant

    Often a split personality occurs due to a psychogenic reaction to the loss of a loved one, in a child this often occurs against the backdrop of a lack of attention from parents and in early childhood it does not manifest itself, but in the adult period leads to psychiatry. Dissociative experience is manifested as a consequence of a long depressed state, severe stress. For the treatment of such causes, the doctor prescribes a course of antidepressants to eliminate all symptoms of depression, apathy for planning one's future. Of the drugs prescribed:

    • Prozac;
    • Porgal;
    • fluoxetine.

    tranquilizers

    These drugs are strictly forbidden to use independently without a doctor's prescription. These potent drugs can cause significant harm to health and aggravate the patient's situation. The doctor, after a general examination, may prescribe these drugs to achieve an anxiolytic effect. Do not take tranquilizers if you are suicidal or prolonged depression. AT medical practice personality disorder is usually treated with clonazepam.

    Video

    The information presented on the site is for informational purposes only. The materials of the site do not call for self-treatment. Only a qualified doctor can make a diagnosis and give recommendations for treatment based on the individual characteristics of a particular patient.

    Personality - one, personality - two ...

    A rare mental phenomenon known as "split personality", in contrast to most diseases in this area, is of interest not only to psychiatrists.

    The mysterious essence of this pathology attracts attention huge amount people, and many books and films have been written on the topic of split personality. Dissociative disorder is the medical term for this condition.

    Of course, people with such deviations in the psyche met at all times, and if in ancient times such inadequate behavior was attributed to the intrigues of demons, then as psychiatry developed, true reason this ailment. It turned out that the origins of a split personality sometimes originate at the moment of a person’s birth or even before his birth, when a schizoid character is formed.

    In the event that a child with such a risk factor grows up in unfavorable conditions (is subjected to violence and bullying), then the stream of consciousness begins to change, and then either subpersonalities or personalities come to light.

    Moreover, there is a significant difference between them: a subpersonality can obey the true “I” of a person, and the “I” itself is aware that someone else lives inside it. But with personality it is more difficult - even if the “I” knows that it is no longer the only one, then it is simply not able to influence the personality.

    The division of "I" into personalities is a kind of protective mechanism when the child's psyche creates another "character" in response to a strong emotional shock. With the help of the created phantom personality, the true “I” of the child forgets about the experienced psychic trauma, and therefore, when the second personality subsequently comes out, the “I” of the present does not remember anything about what his other half did.

    The famous Paracelsus, who lived in the 16th century, described in his writings the case of a woman who constantly lost money. As it turned out, she herself took and hid them, only to put it this way, in another incarnation, and when her real “I” returned, she did not remember anything about it. Of course, more often it happened that people suffering from a split personality fell not to doctors, but to the hot embrace of the Inquisition, which did not stand on ceremony with them.

    But since the XVIII century, doctors began to offer ways to treat bifurcation. good results managed to achieve the French doctor Mesmer, who cured such patients with the help of animal magnetism. The doctor believed that every living object has some kind of energy that can be transferred to other objects by magnetization.

    It is precisely because of the incorrect distribution of animal magnetism (or fluid) that the body can malfunction - hence all diseases. To normalize the flow of animal magnetism, Mesmer used the technique of touch and magnetic passes, with the help of which the fluids of the doctor passed to the patient. In those days, little was known about hypnosis, but Mesmer's sessions produced just such an effect, which contributed to the revival of the forgotten ancient method of treatment - hypnosis.

    Although cases of true split personality are very rare, even rarer are patients who "contain" several "doubles" in themselves. In 1915, an article by the American doctor Henry Prince, “The Case of the Multiple Personality of Doris,” was published, which described the case history of a girl named Doris Fisher, whose “I” contained five personalities at once.

    The first of them appeared when a drunken father threw a three-year-old girl to the floor with force. It was then that “bad Margaret” came out, who is scolded and punished, subsequently three more were formed. In the end, Doris ended up in an asylum for the mentally ill.

    Since it was not possible to cure her by traditional methods, the doctors decided that demons had moved into the girl, and therefore they called for help from a medium who managed to combine all the girl’s personalities into one whole “I” using the same magnetism and hypnosis.

    In 1887, the neighbors of a certain Mr. Brown, who arrived a few months ago in the town of Norristown, were awakened by his screams. Poor Mr. Brown ran around in a state of extreme excitement and begged everyone to tell where he was and what was happening to him. He refused to call himself Brown, insisting that he was a preacher named Bern, and he lived in Greene, and he did not know about this town!

    In Norristown, Mr. Brown-Burn was in the stationery business. As it turned out, Preacher Bern had indeed disappeared from the Green, and his family had been looking for him for two weeks. This incident became interested in Professor James, who persuaded Berne, who returned to the family, to conduct a hypnosis session on him, which ended not entirely successfully.

    After the hypnosis, Bern became Brown again, did not recognize his wife, and said that he had never heard of any Mr. Bern. Further fate this person is unknown.

    An interesting case of a split personality was described in the early twentieth century. The young Frenchwoman Felida united girls in completely different characters: one was cheerful and cheerful, the second - notorious and shy.

    The transition of one personality into another was preceded by a faint, after which one half of the "I" remembered absolutely nothing about the second. Once again, after such a transition, Felida found herself in her ninth month of pregnancy.

    Personalities (multiplets), into which the true "I" of a person is divided, in 75% of cases are felt by the subconscious as children under 12 years old, which is associated with traumatic factors in childhood. In half of the cases, in people suffering from a split personality, personalities take on the appearance of the opposite sex, and can also differ in nationality, have completely opposite views, abilities and skills. Often individuals hate each other.

    People with paranormal abilities, as well as mediums, shamans, etc., are able to independently plunge into a state of trance, that is, they master the technique of self-hypnosis. In people with a split consciousness, this ability is also present, and among different cultures and regions, these states are even highlighted.

    For example, among the Eskimos, this is piblokto - a state of extreme excitement, accompanied by inappropriate human behavior, in which he screams with the voices of animals, tears clothes. Usually, after a seizure, a person does not remember anything.

    But among the Malays, sudden attacks of rage are called amok - people who have fallen into this state are able to harm themselves and others, but subsequently the memories of this are not preserved. According to anthropologists L.K. Suryani and Gordon Jensen, the nature of split personality can become widespread.

    For example, this is typical for shamanic cultures on the island of Bali, where the plurality of personalities in a person is normal phenomenon, because people are sure that they are not a product of the subconscious of the person himself, but the infusion of souls or spirits into a person.

    The most unusual case of split personality can be called the case history of William Stanley Mulligan, whose consciousness contained 24 mental subjects! Mulligan repeatedly committed crimes of varying severity, but the court was forced to acquit him, as it was possible to prove that the crimes were committed by a completely different person, although he lives in Mulligan.

    Mulligan's personalities, who periodically broke free, were of different sexes, ages, nationalities, possessed varying degrees intelligence and spoke different languages.

    Cases of actual multiple personality disorder are quite rare, and over the past 80 years, only about 150 patients with such a diagnosis have been described. Spiritualists believe that spirits or "demons" that occupy the human body are to blame.

    Psychiatrists are sure that the reason lies in mental illness, in which the integral "I" is broken into fragments. The impetus for this can be unfulfilled desires, suppressed ambitions.

    People often coexist with antagonistic traits: kindness and evil, good nature and aggression, optimism and pessimism. In the event of a psychic breakdown, all these traits are combined into separate personalities, and thus one person becomes the habitat of his mental unrealized counterparts.

    It turns out that the same set of DNA can be in several people, only in one body! This means that under certain circumstances, completely opposite people in moral principles can be raised from the same child.

    Modern specialists-psychocoders have techniques that allow them to “settle” several personalities into the subconscious of a person, with their own own characters and memories.

    Such zombie people can be programmed to certain word- an anchor, after the pronunciation of which one or another person begins to dominate. And doesn't this mean that a person is just a biocomputer, which can be easily "rewritten" to execute a particular program.

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    What is a split personality: symptoms

    The term "split personality" is familiar to everyone. This topic is widely covered thanks to the efforts of Hollywood filmmakers and contemporary writers. However, in most cases, art films and the literature misrepresents the whole essence of this phenomenon. Many people mistakenly believe that multiple personality disorder is one of the manifestations of schizophrenia or drug-related complications. In this article, we propose to consider how a split personality manifests itself, the symptoms and signs of the development of this pathology.

    Split personality - a disease that is expressed by the appearance of a second personality in an individual

    The nature of the disease

    The name of the disease is a split personality in medical terminology- dissociative identity disorder. This disease is considered quite rare and belongs to the group of mental conversion disorders. Many scientists have devoted their lives to studying this phenomenon. Over many decades, the disease in question has changed many names. Terms such as "split personality", "multiple personality disorder" and "identity conversion disorder" are synonymous with the pathology in question.

    Just a few decades ago, people in this condition could have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Currently, most specialists in the field of psychiatry are inclined to believe that the correct term for this disease is "dissociative identity disorder".

    The fact is that during the process of splitting consciousness, in such patients, there is a merger in one body of several personalities. These individuals are not considered independent or complete. In fact, the split consciousness is broken into small fragments, each of which has its own uniqueness. That is why the term used today most correctly characterizes the whole essence of the disease. Mental disorders lead to human body run by several individuals. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that when one of the personalities controls the body, the second one is in a kind of suspended animation, and does not record what is happening.

    Patients with this diagnosis often suffer from memory loss, as the main personality does not remember what is happening at the moment of "switching".

    It should be noted that several personalities may be present in the body of a sick person. They can have different sex, religion, character and even age. Depending on the type of personality, the behavior of the patient and his worldview change.

    How to understand the term "dissociative disorder"

    Having dealt with what a split personality is called scientifically, let's move on to the term "conversion disorder". The diseases included in this group have one distinguishing feature - changes in mental performance, which are accompanied by failures in consciousness, memory and identity.

    A disease such as "split personality" can manifest itself at any age.

    Various failures in the continuous streams of consciousness lead to the fact that certain branches of the psyche gain independence. Exactly this process characterized by the term "dissociation". The result of such disruptions in the streams of consciousness is psychogenic amnesia, conversion fugue, and split personality. The term under consideration has been used in psychology for more than a hundred years, but the phenomenon of dissociative disorders has been known for more than several hundred years.

    Many specialists in the field of psychiatry believe that medieval rites of exorcism from the human body are one of the manifestations of the fight against split personality syndrome. In their opinion, the abilities of mediums and clairvoyants also belong to dissociative disorders, which manifest themselves in the form of the ability to plunge into a trance. Modern medicine says that such disorders are manifested under the influence of severe emotional upheavals.

    The mechanism of the development of the disease

    The splitting of personality has such a varied degree of severity that it is rather problematic to notice the signs of the development of the disease on your own. Some people do not attach due importance to the first symptoms of the development of pathology, which can greatly complicate further therapy. Dissociation manifests itself in modern life in the form of daydreaming and absent-mindedness, during the performance of actions memorized to automatism.

    In some cultures, the state of trance, when shamans (mediums or clairvoyants) perform their mysterious rites, is not perceived as a manifestation of illness. Split personality, in which a person's consciousness is divided into several independent individuals, is one of the most striking manifestations of dissociative disorders.

    To date, experts have not yet decided on the degree of danger of this pathology. Multiple personality disorder, according to some psychotherapists, is much less common than this diagnosis is recorded. According to statistics, in the nineteenth century, only a few dozen cases of patients with a similar disease were registered. The same statistics show that in the modern world more than forty thousand people have this diagnosis. Researchers on this issue say that from the end of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth, such patients were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Modern medicine has the ability to make a clear distinction between these diseases, which reduces the risk of misdiagnosis.

    Despite this, true split personality is observed quite rarely. It is simply impossible to cope with this disease on your own, therefore it is very important that the patient seeks qualified medical help.

    The cause of the disease, most often, is a serious psychological shock.

    Clinical manifestations of a split personality

    The syndrome of multiple personality has such a characteristic feature as the presence of several "I" in the patient, which have clear differences in the perception of the surrounding world. It should be noted that this disease in most cases is accompanied by such complication as psychogenic amnesia. Memory lapses are one of the manifestations of the protective mechanisms of consciousness, with the help of which the psyche smooths out negative emotional turmoil. People with multiple personality syndrome this mechanism is a kind of personality shift trigger. There are several main signs of the development of this disease:

    1. A sharp change in mood, prolonged depression and suicidal tendencies.
    2. Feelings of anxiety, sleep disturbances, causeless fear, nightmares, insomnia.
    3. Loss of appetite, refusal to eat, distraction, confusion, depersonalization.
    4. Frequent changes in tastes, frequent changes in intonation and timbre of the voice, an attempt to talk to oneself.

    One example of a prominent symptom of having a dissociative identity disorder is panic attacks and various phobias. The similarity between schizophrenia and dissociative disorder lies not only in the above symptoms, but also in the fact that the patient may experience hallucinatory attacks. It is this manifestation of the disease that greatly complicates the correct diagnosis. It is important to note here that both diseases have a different nature and are in no way related to each other.

    The root cause of the development of pathology

    When analyzing the topic of what a split personality is, the symptoms and causes of the development of the disease, one should pay attention to Special attention psychogenic factors that entail the formation of a dissociative disorder. According to experts, the splitting of consciousness contributes to whole line certain circumstances. This process can be catalyzed by nervous disorders and shocks that a person is not able to survive without support. According to psychotherapists, multiple personality is a kind of attempt by the psyche to protect itself from experiences that bring pain.

    A person who suffers from this disease often enough may be lost in space and not feel reality.

    People with a split personality have the ability to block unpleasant memories for them. Often, the presence of such abilities, combined with the ability to "fall into a trance" is a kind of impetus for the development of a split identity. Most often the reasons this disease associated with traumatic childhood memories. The inability to protect oneself from the negative impact of various circumstances in the future can serve as a kind of impetus for the development of the disease. According to experts involved in the study of this issue, the main reason for the development of this pathology is physical abuse suffered in childhood.

    American researchers came to the conclusion that in more than ninety percent of cases, it was violence that caused the development of conversion disorder. In less than ten percent of cases, such mental disorders develop against the background of the presence of serious diseases or the fact of the loss of loved ones. A natural disaster, emergency, and even war can also serve as an impetus for a split personality.

    How to make a diagnosis

    Let's look at how to understand that in front of you is a person with an identity split. This disease is so rare that correct setting diagnosis using the method of differential diagnosis. The main task of the specialist, during the examination, is to exclude diseases with similar clinical symptoms. These diseases include organic brain damage, bipolar disorder, dementia and amnesia. In addition, the possible influence of toxic and hallucinogenic substances should be excluded.

    It should also be mentioned that a disease such as schizophrenia has a certain similarity with dissociative identity disorder. Based on all of the above, with a lack of certain knowledge, it is very easy to confuse the disease in question with other types of mental illness. During the diagnosis, the doctor must take into account the fact that a split personality has many different manifestations. The difference between schizophrenia and split personality lies in the fact that the latter is accompanied by the appearance of almost independent personalities. And schizophrenia itself is characterized by the splitting off of only certain functions of the psyche.

    The splitting of the personality occurs in stages, creating the opportunity to identify the disease on initial phase its development

    Knowing how you can get a split personality, the doctor will be able to make the correct diagnosis based on the following symptoms:

    1. Lack of influence on the consciousness of drug or alcohol addiction, toxic substances and complex pathologies.
    2. The presence of memory problems that do not have common features with simple distraction.
    3. The presence of two or more personalities with clear boundaries in the perception of the surrounding reality and differences in worldview.
    4. The presence of at least one additional personality capable of controlling the patient's behavior.

    Treatment Method

    Is there a cure for split personality? It is rather difficult to answer this question, but, without a doubt, this mental disorder should be treated. Having found signs of a splitting of consciousness, you need to visit a specialist as soon as possible. After conducting a differential examination, the main task of the doctor is to combine separate identities into one personality with increased stability and adaptability.

    For this purpose, they use various techniques psychotherapy. cognitive method, family therapy, introduction to a hypnotic state and conservative drug treatment to achieve a positive result. It is important to note that medications are used only to relieve symptoms that disturb the patient. The main task of a specialist is to help in overcoming the various consequences of psychological trauma.

    On the early stages therapy, it is necessary to identify the cause that has become the trigger for the splitting of consciousness.

    Unfortunately, to achieve a stable result and be able to combine various personalities one, not everyone succeeds. Because of this, one of the goals of therapy becomes an attempt to establish a peaceful coexistence of different identities in one body. The desire of the patient to cope with his problem and improve his life is the key to achieving a positive result.

  • There are mental disorders when two different personalities coexist in a person at once. This disorder is called split personality disorder. Often it greatly spoils a person's life, as he is able to commit a crime and even suicide.

    In the modern world, often the cause of a split personality is people's addiction to computer games. A person gets used to the role of his character so much that sometimes it becomes a second personality of a person. Gambling addiction has become quite common problem especially among young people. Along with it, there is also Internet addiction. At the same time, a person lives in an imaginary world and has virtual friends. Sometimes even such an indispensable part of life as a family also exists in virtual reality. In addition, this disorder may appear after severe nervous shocks, such as injury, illness, or death of loved ones.

    People with multiple personalities are more likely to suffer from weak character who have no opinion of their own. These people subconsciously seek protection for themselves, and this protection becomes the second person of the person.

    Split personality symptoms

    A split personality is manifested primarily by the loss of communication between a person and other people. A person behaves strangely for others and people stop understanding him. Memory problems occur, a person cannot remember where he was the other day and what he did. A common symptom is sleep disturbance, anxiety and severe headaches. Logic in the actions of a person is not observed, his actions are chaotic and spontaneous. Mood swings and conflicting feelings, characteristic of a split personality, introduce native people into a stupor.

    The most unusual symptom of a split personality is the appearance of a second personality. That is, a person begins to feel in himself two people at once. He can take two opposite different solutions one task. Thinking depends on which of the personalities is stronger in this moment. That is, one person performs different actions as two different people.

    How to treat this disorder

    Scientists have scanned the brains of people with multiple personalities to see if the disorder is a disease. People were divided into two groups and asked to remember unpleasant moments from the past. People with multiple personalities had more brain activity than normal people. At the same time, ordinary people were asked to think, as it were, for two. Studies have found that bifurcation most often occurs in people who had a shock in childhood.

    Without the help of a specialist, it is almost impossible to cure a split personality, since often a person himself may not notice his illness. Psychotherapy is selected by the doctor individually for a particular patient. In some cases, hypnosis and medications are used for treatment. And even after the elimination of symptoms, observation by a doctor is recommended.

    Split personality is a protective process of the body. A person renounces his personality, thereby moving away from life problems. If you have similar symptoms, you should contact a specialist.

    Source -

    A split personality is a rough psychological constructor, the presence of which is manifested by a special phenomenon of thinking, when the owner has two or more personalities at the same time. There are severe isolated cases when the number of individuals exceeds a dozen.

    First of all, there is a violation of mental functions in the most various fields. Consciousness and identity, the continuity of memory - all these functions and their anomaly form the basis of this phenomenon, which is subject to careful study.

    In the average person, all these functions are unified and work smoothly without presenting any significant discomfort. The stream of consciousness is smooth, consistent, typical. In patients with the disease in question, on the contrary, a certain part of their own identification is separated from the stream of consciousness.

    Perhaps this internal withdrawal allows them to acquire a new identity, become independent of traumatic memories, or idealize their selves. Some of the memory fragments are simply blocked by the patient's brain, which is very similar to the well-known condition as psychogenic amnesia.

    Causes

    First of all, it should be noted that this ailment is a rather difficult mechanism to understand, when the patient's mind gets the opportunity of some kind of deep division into several parts of thoughts and fragments of memory.

    Separated in this way, they cease to communicate with each other, due to which the illusion of having many personalities is created. These thoughts are not erased, which is clearly seen when the patient encounters the so-called "triggers", that is, people, environmental objects, smells, and even musical compositions from the "erased memory".

    It is believed that this condition occurs only as a result of a combination of a number of factors. First of all, it is an intolerable, transcendental level of stress, which is superimposed on the ability of the patient's brain to dissociate. In part, dissociation here acts as a protective mechanism, but another kind of mechanisms are also possible, which have so firmly hidden memories in the farthest chamber of memory. In addition, the endogenous predisposition of the patient to this kind of mental processes. Many of the roots of the disease come from childhood itself, since even at such a young age, the patients already experienced a lack of identity as such, withdrawal into the inner world due to various kinds of traumatic experiences. The lack of parental attention and care at the time of receiving such a disastrous experience, in many ways, only served to develop the disease. In some cases, the dissociation process is inherent and quite healthy people. The reasons may be different: the use of NMD antagonists during anesthesia, sleep deprivation, or severe traumatic brain damage during an accident. But this dissociative experience is only temporary. While a split personality is a persistent mental phenomenon. As a predisposition to this kind of state, they note extreme enthusiasm for some monotonous occupation. A person is so absorbed in reading a book, playing games or watching videos that the world around him seems to lose reality for him. In part, this is similar to the states that arise under the influence of hypnosis. It is known that people experience dissociative experiences during religious ceremonies. A person puts himself into a state of trance, in no small measure, with the help of specially used incense, music and rhythmic actions. Similar states are also caused by meditation and complete sensory deprivation. Dissociative identity disorder in moderate and complex forms of the course correlates with such predisposition factors as the presence of robbery, torture, rape and other examples of extremely abuse. This includes car accidents and natural disasters. In differential diagnosis, attention is often paid to the similarity of symptoms with patients with post-traumatic stress disorder. The condition under consideration, in addition, is associated with strong somatization, when a person subconsciously associates the level of his mental well-being with a disease or unpleasant sensations in one or another part of the body.

    Studies by American colleagues indicate that 98% of adults experiencing symptoms of dissociation showed signs of physical and mental abuse in childhood. Moreover, 85% have documented evidence.

    With a high degree of certainty, it can be argued that it is violence that causes the subsequent dissociation in its most bizarre forms. Even among those who did not have such obvious reasons, there were always all kinds of stressors, such as the loss of a loved one, a breadwinner parent, and so on. All this triggered a further cascade of dissociative reactions, causing a split personality.

    Group of dissociative disorders

    Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), now defined as dissociative identity disorder, is considered the most severe form of the disease, with all the associated symptoms.
    The following factors contribute to the emergence and exacerbation of forms of dissociation.

    The group of dissociative disorders includes:

      psychogenic dissociative amnesia; dissociative fugue (a person disappears from home and returns after a long time, remembering nothing); dissociative identity disorder; depersonalization disorder; Ganser's syndrome; trance dissociation disorder.

    Symptoms

    The main symptoms to consider are listed below.

    The presence in the mental sphere of the patient of more than one personality. They usually have the most different characteristics down to gender, name, age, and even century of residence. They replace each other with a certain frequency. The patient himself is not aware of the abnormality of what is happening. Signs similar to somnambulism - often the patient is not aware of his own body. Speech disorders - the patient gives inadequate answers to banal questions. The presence of mental imbalance, lability of the mental state. The patient loses touch with reality, it is impossible to understand him. Migraine. Increased sweating. Insomnia Partial loss of memory that occurs during a stressful event. Newly acquired information is assimilated in the normal order. Sometimes the patient may even realize that this or that memory is "carefully blocked by his brain." In the same place, during the “attacks”, orientation in space, the so-called “fugue”, is lost. The difference is that this is not an isolated case. Lack of a holistic worldview.

    A patient in absolutely similar situations can behave in a radically opposite way, as if two or more personalities coexist in him, one of which displaces the other at the current moment. It is this factor that is dominant in the diagnosis.

    The bifurcation of identity in children takes place in a peculiar way: they, as a rule, readily respond to the names given to them at birth, but at the same time, they show signs of an alternative personality, which often captures their consciousness.

    Children have the following symptoms:

      constantly changing food habits; different manner of speaking; mood lability; aggressiveness with a "glassy look"; amnesia; voices in the head; self-talk; inability to explain their own actions.

    All these elements can only be a consequence of the protracted game process of a normal child, which should be taken into account when making a diagnosis. For many kids, this kind of reasoning (one of the types of thought disorders) is a variant of the norm. Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder due to stress also experience mild dissociative symptoms.

    Diagnostics

    The diagnosis is based on the compliance of the patient's condition with the following symptoms:

    The presence of two or more clearly distinguishable identities or personal states, each of which has its own worldview, attitudes towards reality, memory and model of the world. Each of the identities periodically replaces each other. The patient is not able to remember significant information about himself, and the nature of forgetfulness does not allow it to be classified as ordinary. The condition did not occur under the influence of various kinds of narcotic and medicinal substances. It is also important not to confuse children's games with an imaginary friend when they are clearly aware of the absence of such in reality. In other words, it is worth taking into account that the child, in this way, may simply be trying to attract attention to himself.

    Scientists say that this is just a particular manifestation of a disorder more general. Studies are subjected to massive criticism: ignoring important features of the disease, poor statistical base, unconvincing conclusions.

    That is why it is recommended to use polyetiological diagnostic criteria - more flexible and implying various reasons origin based on an endogenous base. First of all, it is recommended to exclude the possibility of organic brain damage using special highly functional scanning techniques ( different kinds MRI).

    Differential diagnosis means the exclusion of similar conditions of a different etiology:

      infectious diseases, brain tumors with lesions predominantly of the temporal lobe; delirium; schizophrenia; amnestic syndrome; temporal epilepsy; mental retardation; disorders caused by drug use; post-traumatic amnesia; dementia; somatosensory disorders; borderline personality disorders; bipolar disorder, characterized by the speed of alternation of episodes in it; PTSD; simulation.

    Treatment

    The ailment in question is an extremely confusing mental phenomenon that is poorly treatable. The process of treating patients suffering from such a severe disorder is unusually complex and delayed for long periods, sometimes it lasts throughout the patient's life.

    The standard treatment plan includes:

      psychotherapeutic techniques; drug treatment; a combination of approaches.

    Most often, the third approach is used, although even in this case, the vast majority of patients do not achieve at least a short-term remission.

    Medical treatment

    Split identity, as a disease reacts rather weakly to medications, erasing only part of the symptoms. Their set is determined by the attending physician based on his opinion about current state patient under observation.

    Actual use of the following drugs.

      antidepressants - Prozac, amitriptyline, paroxetine, sertraline; antipsychotics, including atypical ones: haloperidol, clopixol, abilify, quetiapine, chlorpromazine;
      tranquilizers - clonazepam.

    Electroconvulsive therapy is also used, but only those doctors who have completed a course of special postgraduate training and practice are allowed to conduct it.

    In addition, psychotherapy also plays a role in relieving the symptoms of the disease. The support of the patient's relatives and friends is extremely important. The possibility of using hypnosis is also being considered, often because it is directly related to the introduction into such a state.

    Factors to be taken into account drug addiction. At some point, the manifestations of the patient's well-being due to the use of heavy psychotropic drugs can no longer be distinguished from the course of the disease itself.

    Forecast

    The prospects for recovery are twofold. Partial cases of dissociation, such as dissociative flight or dissociative amnesia, are treated more or less successfully, but sometimes, however, the latter becomes chronic. In general, this is an extremely serious chronic condition, the treatment of which lasts from 5 years and up to the entire life of the patient.

    In the late 70s of the last century, American society was stirred up by the story of Billy Milligan, who was arrested on suspicion of robbery and rape. During the investigation, it turned out that the young man was suffering from personality disintegration. In it, as in apartment building, different 24 alter personalities live - from 3-year-old girl Kristin from England to 30-year-old Yugoslav communist Reigen.

    Inability to remember any significant event from your life - this is a serious failure in the work of human consciousness. This phenomenon is called dissociative amnesia, and it is expressed in the most high degree than the usual forgetfulness that is common to everyone. As a rule, such a failure is formed due to mental trauma, in addition, dissociative amnesia can occur on.

    Dissociative anesthesia (loss of sensory perception) is a conversion disorder in which the sensitivity of one or more sensory spheres is lost, but CNS lesions are not objectively recorded. The loss of sensory perception is accompanied by patient complaints of paresthesia, hyperesthesia, anesthesia, decreased visual acuity and clarity, blindness and deafness. paresthesia - a distortion of the sensitivity of the skin, in which.

    The concept of dissociative stupor in psychiatry is considered as immobilization of a person through refusal motor functions which can last from two minutes to several hours. To diagnose this pathology, examinations and a range of studies are provided, which gives a complete clinical picture and presence of symptoms. The prerequisites for a dissociative disorder are mental trauma, stressful situations and.

    Ganser syndrome is a disease that belongs to the category of artificial mental disorders. This kind of deviation is characterized by a special behavior of the patient, as in the presence of some physical / mental illness, which is actually absent. In many cases, the symptoms of the pathology under consideration are similar to schizophrenia. AT medical environment this ailment is also known under the informal name "prison psychosis", because.

    The concept of depersonalization is interpreted as a violation of the function of self-consciousness, a disorder of perception. At the same time, a person does not perceive his actions from the outside and cannot control them. The primary disorder can be classified as dissociative, the awareness of oneself as an individual is lost. Depersonalization disorder acts as a symptom of such mental disorders as bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia. Being a symptom.