Felicity Lee/Pat Goodwin and Ivory Garden Plagued by Stalker

Stalker plagues Felicity Lee / Pat Goodwin – President Ivory Garden – Statement.
Recently, Felicity Lee aka Pat Goodwin has been plagued by a known stalker – David Shurter.
This man has been known to stalk other prominent organizations and people.  He presents as crazed and psychopathic as he attacks with falsehoods and threats.
Ivory Garden is taking the necessary legal steps to address this problem.  Felicity Lee / Pat Goodwin and Ivory Garden are also taking out a restraining order to assure the safety of members of Ivory Garden DID Support Group and attendees of the upcoming Trauma and Dissociation conference being held in October of 2014.
We assure all members that he has no access to the support board and will have no access to the upcoming conference.  If you receive emails from this person, we advise that you block further contact with him.  He has been known to also hack emails accounts, as he is obsessed with harming those who not only support Ivory Garden and our efforts to succeed, but other prominent organization and individuals within the survivor community.
We are looking forward to the upcoming conference event being held October 2-5th 2014 in Seattle, WA and appreciate the support that we have received from so many wonderful folks who do support survivors and their healing.
If you have questions concerning this matter, please contact me for more clarification or more information.
Best,
Heather Fields
Secretary, Ivory Garden
mysticmirror31@yahoo.com

Living with Dissociative Identity Disorder

Formerly Known as Multiple Personality Disorder

Charlene Collins, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Mar 29, 2007 

What is Dissociative Identity Disorder? Dissociative identity disorder is a new name for an old illness. The illness is what is commonly called "multiple personality disorder" (MPD). This is a psychological disorder characterized by having one or more  alter personalities (alters). The alters are fragments of the person's inner-self or ego.

Do you know a person with this disorder? I do. A person with Dissociative identity disorder may admit to feeling he/she is sharing his/her body with other people who live inside.

I have a friend who suffers from Dissociative identity disorder. For this article, I am calling her "Mary". I asked her to explain to me what it is like when she dissociates. She said, "When I switch, I am aware that I am switching from myself to a 7 year old little girl".

What stands out to me about Mary is that she is very highly functioning. She has a business and takes care of it. She is a sole proprietor of a printing shop. She takes care of customers and no one knows she has a problem with her identity. I stayed around the shop as customers came and went, and when there was a lull in the flow of customers, she felt safe to let "Janie" come out to play.

Dissociation is a defense mechanism a person manifests to deal with trauma they are not ready to deal with. "Switching" or dissociation is not something that should be ignored. In time the "alter" can overtake the main personality.

Many years ago Mary went away with a man from the Internet. He wasn't who he portrayed himself to be. He was very abusive, and she shared to me that he used her up for all of her finances and threw her away. I don't  know everything that happened to her, but I know some of the awful details. As a friend, I helped her get back on her feet, but something was very different about Mary. She was not the same person she was just a few months earlier.

"I feel like a broken mirror", she said to me one day. Dissociation is so complex that a person can totally function as fragments of the whole being. It is like the alter personalities share and cooperate within the one being.

Mary described her Dissociative disorder to me. She showed me a broken mirror and asked me to look into it. When I did I saw many facets of me. In every jagged piece of the mirror there was an image of me. Then she said to me, "Now imagine that mirror as being able to think. Each piece of the mirror has its own thoughts, feelings and emotions."
Many people who have Dissociative identity disorder tend to be very highly functioning individuals with high stress jobs. They will only 'switch" with people whom they are comfortable.

It made sense to me that Mary's alter, "Janie" only came out tome or a few other people, and that she would retreat back into Mary's mind when a customer came into the shop. No one was ever aware of the switching except me. I've seen her switch into more than one alter before. One is "Janie", who I have just mentioned, and another is "Boo" who is 12. Boo mainly comes out with another of her friends and not so much to me. I am Janie's friend, and another associate of mine is Boo's friend.
I have had to do some reading on this subject to be able to digest how Mary can keep up with so many personas. But as I am beginning to understand, she doesn't "keep up" with them, but they are who they are. Boo has her thoughts, emotions and memories, just as Janie has hers, as well as Marie has hers. All pieces of the broken mirror have their own reflection of who they are.
What are the causes of DID?
Some of the causes of Dissociative identity disorder include:

Overwhelming stress 

Lack of nurturing
"Child abuse What are the signs and symptoms?
Some patients have different symptoms that can resemble neurological, psychiatric, and anxiety disorders. Some of the symptoms include:"

Anxiety
Depression
Panic attacks
Phobias
Time distortions
Eating disorders
Sexual dysfunctions
Episodes of self-harm
Post traumatic stress syndrome

Other symptoms include depersonalization, which refers to a feeling of being removed away from the self. It is a feeling of detachment from the physical and mental self. The person feels more like an observer, as if they are watching a movie unfold before their eyes.

Diagnosis and Treatment
To be diagnosed, the patient is evaluated with a complete physical, lab work and x-rays. If no physical illness is found the patient may be referred to a mental health practitioner. Most patients with DID respond well to treatment. Treatment may involve seeing a psychiatrist, as well as a therapist, and taking prescribed medications. They respond well providing they don't have other underlying psychiatric conditions that are more difficult to treat. The most common approach to treatment is to relieve the symptoms and to help the patient to re-integrate the fragmented personalities into one whole well functioning identity. People with this disorder can and do become well. When the personas merge into one being, the person no longer feels like pieces of a broken mirror. They are free to experience life through his or her intellect without the filters of the other personas.

10 Tips For Living With Dissociative Identiny Disorder

10 Tips For Living with Dissociative Identity Disorder

Posted on March 22, 2009 by servngu

~By: Jess Mei
Here are some tips on reducing the headache of living with dissociative identity disorder (DID). There really are no hard and fast rules for ‘dealing’ with it unfortunately, since what worked well yesterday might not today and what works for one personality, might not work for the others. So, knowing all that – here are 10 general tips for living with DID on a daily basis. The number one thing to remember with all this is – Be Flexible.
1. If you drive, get yourself a GPS (global positioning system)
Depending on how fragmented you are, which of the alters drive, and what’s going on inside the ‘system’ (is it chaotic? calm? is everyone mostly working together?) sometimes, the body ends up across town – or worse halfway across the state (or further) before you realize it. Here’s how it goes – one minute you’re standing in your kitchen cooking dinner or talking to your significant other; *blink your eyes* and the next minute you’re behind the wheel of your car without a CLUE as to where you are going, why you’re there, or how to get back. Program the GPS for home first thing. Just last week this [psychogenic fugue] happened to me, and I ended up near the Canadian border!
2. Put up an internal whiteboard or keep an external notebook.
One of the most important things you can do to try to keep some sort conscious continuity between your parts is to make it mandatory that all of you keep notes in some central notebook or internal whiteboard. Because we tend to lose time due to personalities switching, it is vital that detailed notes are kept. Some people are able to keep an internal ‘whiteboard’ where the alters write notes of important things they’ve done or committed to (doctor’s appointments, dates, exams); others keep an external notebook that everyone writes in. I’ve been able to make both available though the whiteboard gets neglected.

3. Let people around you know how to call out your more cooperative personalities – just in case.
Sometimes when the system is in chaos or is having a panic attack, it is helpful that someone around you that you trust is able to call out a calming personality – one that will get things under control for the system. But only do this if you’re comfortable and trust the person; otherwise, the ‘shout out’ won’t do any good. In fact, it might trigger a protector [potentially violent alter].

4. Secure your funds.
Understand that there are more than just you spending your money and wanting to spend your money. So, if you have bills to pay, pay them first as soon as you have money. Better yet – have the bills on autopay or try to pre-pay them so that you don’t have as much debt. That way – the bills get paid whether you remember or not. Make sure that your financial responsibilities and living requirements are taken care of straight away, so that if someone spends your money, it won’t effect your lifestyle. Try to never have your ATM card on you and see if you can set up a two-signature check writing arrangement with your bank. Just going into knowing that there is a big chance that someone will drain your bank account by purchasing things you personally don’t need or want, but they may take a fancy to.
5. Have a place for important papers or unexpected documents (traffic tickets, IRS notices, etc.) and make sure that everyone in the system knows to have a look at that place when they are out.
This falls in line with trying to keep as close to a continuous consciousness as possible. Not all alters are considerate or care to cooperate with the others; Some are extremely reckless, in fact. Make sure you keep all your documents in one place; here’s a real life example of why. Imagine you’re in your car and for whatever reason, you get pulled over and find out you have outstanding tickets and a warrant. That would annoy even the most gentlest of people. Something similar to this happened to me. So, make sure you keep your papers in the one place – no matter how horrible (I’ve had some alters hide documents from the rest of us). This is a tough tip to adhere to as you’ll have to get the others to agree and not hide stuff. Be willing to be a mediator.
6. Keep an emergency contact phone number (next of kin) in your purse, wallet, and/or cellphone.
Even people without DID should have this information handy. For those of us with DID though, it is also important that we have the contact information of our psychiatrist and/or therapist or treatment facility.

7. Set up a safety network for yourself in case of a panic attack or similar emergency. It is so important to have a support team when you have DID.
Your team might include your significant other, understanding friends, your therapist, even your child. It is also important for me to say that it isn’t always necessary that any of these people know that you have DID, either. People that care about you will assist you anyway they can and most times – without asking a lot of questions. Seek out those people you can trust and build your safety network from there.

8. Keep all prescription drugs secure and keep a journal of when you take them.
Unfortunately, there are alters who are suicidal and who hate the body in general and hate all the other personalities as well. At some point, these alters do come out and sometimes harm the body either by putting it in dangerous situations, by self-mutilating, or attempted drug overdose. So, it is best to keep the drugs in a location that these alters don’t know about. It is also a very good idea to keep a log of when you take your medication. Otherwise, if an alter comes out and doesn’t know you’ve already taken your required dose, that alter may take another dose as well.
9. Become a good actor/actress.
Learn how to ‘play it off’ when someone comes up to you that you’ve never met and acts as if you two are good friends. These people may be strangers to you, but could be best friends with one of your alters. You simply do not know because you did not have co-consciousness during the interaction with that person. So, become a good actor and/or actress when this occurs. Use your judgment with this one – I mean – you know a creeper when you see one, right? There’s a difference. Just be careful.

10. Be prepared to have your child alters come out at Toys -R-Us and other places.
If you have child alters, be kind to them and have some things for them to play with around the house. I learned this the hard way when while at Toys-R-Us, one of my child alters came out, grabbed a toy and went running down the aisle with it – footloose and fancy free (at least that is what I was told later). Mind you – I’m a 42 year old woman. I don’t have stuffed animals. I don’t even have board games – yet there was the body running and playing. So, now I have a few toys at home and I have ‘the talk’ with my child alters before I go out to the mail or to the grocery store as I got really tired of finding sweet cereal and toys in the shopping cart at checkout time.

Depersonalization Disorder

(Also Called 'Depersonalization Disorder', 'DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder)', 'Dissociative Amnesia', 'Dissociative Fugue', 'Dissociative Identity Disorder', 'Multiple Personality Disorder', 'Psychogenic Amnesia', 'Psychogenic Fugue')

Depersonalization disorder is marked by periods of feeling disconnected or detached from one’s body and thoughts (depersonalization). The disorder is sometimes described as feeling like you are observing yourself from outside your body or like being in a dream. However, people with this disorder do not lose contact with reality; they realize that things are not as they appear. An episode of depersonalization can last anywhere from a few minutes to many years. Depersonalization also might be a symptom of other disorders, including brain disease and seizure disorders.
Depersonalization disorder is one of a group of conditions called dissociative disorders. Dissociative disorders are mental illnesses that involve disruptions or breakdowns of memory, consciousness or awareness, identity and/or perception—mental functions that normally operate smoothly. When one or more of these functions is disrupted, symptoms can result. These symptoms can interfere with a person’s general functioning, including social and work activities, and relationships.

What are the symptoms of depersonalization disorder?

The primary symptom of depersonalization disorder is a distorted perception of the body. The person might feel like he or she is a robot or in a dream. Some people might fear they are going crazy and might become depressed, anxious, or panicky. For some people, the symptoms are mild and last for just a short time. For others, however, symptoms can be chronic (ongoing) and last or recur for many years, leading to problems with daily functioning or even to disability.

What causes depersonalization disorder?

Little is known about the causes of depersonalization disorder, but biological and environmental factors might play a role. Like other dissociative disorders, depersonalization disorder often is triggered by intense stress or a traumatic event—such as war, abuse, accidents, disasters, or extreme violence—that the person has experienced or witnessed.

How common is depersonalization disorder?

Depersonalization is a common symptom of many psychiatric disorders and often occurs in dangerous situations, such as assaults, accidents or serious illnesses. Depersonalization as a separate disorder is quite rare.

How is depersonalization disorder diagnosed?

If symptoms are present, the doctor will begin an evaluation by performing a complete medical history and physical examination. Although there are no laboratory tests to specifically diagnose dissociative disorders, the doctor might use various diagnostic tests—such as X-rays and blood tests—to rule out physical illness or medication side effects as the cause of the symptoms.
If no physical illness is found, the person might be referred to a psychiatrist or psychologist, health care professionals who are specially trained to diagnose and treat mental illnesses. Psychiatrists and psychologists use specially designed interview and assessment tools to evaluate a person for a dissociative disorder.

How is depersonalization disorder treated?

Most people with depersonalization disorder who seek treatment are concerned about symptoms such as depression or anxiety, rather than the disorder itself. In many cases, the symptoms will go away over time. Treatment usually is needed only when the disorder is lasting or recurrent, or if the symptoms are particularly distressing to the person.
The goal of treatment, when needed, is to address all stresses associated with the onset of the disorder. The best treatment approach depends on the individual and the severity of his or her symptoms, but most likely will include some combination of the following treatment methods:

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy, a type of counseling, is the main treatment for dissociative disorders.

Cognitive therapy

This type of therapy focuses on changing dysfunctional thinking patterns and resulting feelings and behaviors.

Medication

There is no medication to treat the dissociative disorders themselves. However, a person with a dissociative disorder who also suffers from depression or anxiety might benefit from treatment with a medication such as an antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication.

Family therapy

This helps to teach the family about the disorder and its causes, as well as to help family members recognize symptoms of a recurrence.

Creative therapies (art therapy, music therapy)

These therapies allow the patient to explore and express his or her thoughts and feelings in a safe and creative way.

Clinical hypnosis

This is a treatment method that uses intense relaxation, concentration and focused attention to achieve an altered state of consciousness, allowing people to explore thoughts, feelings and memories they might have hidden from their conscious minds. The use of hypnosis for treating dissociative disorders is controversial due to the risk of creating false memories.

What is the outlook for people with depersonalization disorder?

Complete recovery is possible for many patients. The symptoms associated with this disorder often go away on their own or after treatment to help the person deal with the stress or trauma that triggered the symptoms. However, without treatment to work out the underlying problems, additional episodes of depersonalization can occur.

Can depersonalization disorder be prevented?

Although it might not be possible to prevent depersonalization disorder, it might be helpful to begin treatment in people as soon as they begin to show symptoms. Further, quick intervention following a traumatic event or emotionally distressing experience might help reduce the risk of developing dissociative disorders.
© Copyright 1995-2009 The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. All rights reserved.

This information is provided by the Cleveland Clinic and is not intended to replace the medical advice of your doctor or health care provider. Please consult your health care provider for advice about a specific medical condition. This document was last reviewed on: 5/11/2005...#979

Advice for Coping with Chronic Depression

By Jane Collingwood

What is it?
Chronic depression, also known as dysthymia or dysthymic disorder, is a form of low-grade depression which can last for several years. If you, or someone you are close to, are experiencing dysthymia then you may be on the look-out for more information on coping with the condition.
Briefly, dysthymia is a depression lasting at least two years without any substantial remission. It is said to affect roughly six in every hundred people. In contrast to clinical depression, dysthymia does not prevent a person from functioning normally. It does, however, prevent full enjoyment of life. People with dysthymia feel continuously disheartened and in a state of despair.
The definition of dysthymia also includes at least two of these symptoms: poor appetite or overeating; insomnia or excessive sleep; low energy or fatigue; low self-esteem; poor concentration or indecisiveness; and hopelessness. Dysthymia and major depression can occur together, and this is known as double depression.
So what can be done?
Family doctors often fail to recognize dysthymia, so most sufferers are undertreated. But once it is diagnosed, dysthymia is usually treated with psychotherapy and/or drugs. However, there are many lifestyle changes which can also help.
Is psychotherapy best?
Due to the long-term nature of dysthymia, a non-drug treatment is ideal. Many forms of psychotherapy can be considered, and while the therapist must remain patient, short-term goals should be set in order to improve daily functioning. Cognitive therapy, interpersonal therapy, and solution-focused therapy can be tried, as well as family, couples and group therapy.
How about medication?
Research studies have suggested a significant reduction in dysthymia symptoms with antidepressants. But this is not a straightforward matter – other studies have found no improvement, so the pros and cons must be weighed up on an individual basis.
A review in 2003 found tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to be equally effective for dysthymia. While cheaper, TCAs such as imipramine (Tofranil) were more likely to cause side-effects than SSRIs like fluoxetine (Prozac) and sertraline (Zoloft).
What alternatives are available?
A range of alternative treatments exist which may benefit dysthymia. Extracts of St John’s wort have been found as effective as antidepressants for treating mild to moderate depression. Overall, though, the evidence is “inconsistent and confusing”, according to a 2005 review.
Some favourable results have been found for omega-3 fatty acids, either consumed as oily fish or as a supplement. It’s possible that future studies will show a definitive benefit, and in the meantime, oily fish has no known side-effects and can certainly be recommended for physical health.
Lifestyle changes
Other dietary supplements which may help include the B vitamins, potassium, and zinc. Of course, a healthy balanced diet is always a good idea, and making food look and smell appealing may encourage a suppressed appetite. Cutting down on, or avoiding, caffeine, alcohol and nicotine is a step in the right direction as they all have a bearing on physical and mental well-being. Seek professional help if necessary.
The herb valerian may be useful to combat the insomnia sometimes caused by dysthymia, and ginseng may benefit low energy levels. Aromatherapy, acupuncture, and other complementary therapies could also be tried.
Regular exercise is important for everyone, but can be particularly beneficial to people with dysthymia. Exercising releases the ‘happy’ chemicals called endorphins, and increases self-esteem. It will also help counteract overeating and promote good sleep.
Social support
For many people, the support of friends and family is invaluable in learning to cope with their dysthymia. Nevertheless, help and support from strangers can sometimes be easier to receive, and this is where support groups come in. Community-based support groups help many people to share their feelings, find friendship, and develop coping skills. Belonging to a dysthymia support group, together with psychotherapy, can substantially improve the chances of recovery.
Can dysthymia affect children?
Dysthymia is present in up to five per cent of children and eight per cent of adolescents. While the main symptom in adults is sadness, children and adolescents often display anger or irritable mood. It can have consequences on children’s social skills and education, later impacting on professional life and setting in place a vicious circle which may later trigger major depression.
As children with dysthymia often have multiple problems, treatment should involve a range of measures together with adequate support for the parents or caregivers.
Hopes for recovery
A full recovery from dysthymia is slow and not guaranteed, but around 70 per cent of patients do recover after four years. Of these, 50 per cent are likely to have a recurrence, so it may be sensible to continue with the successful measures which led to recovery.
A final word
Although depression can be devastating to all areas of a person’s everyday life, many people still believe that they should be able to shake off the symptoms by themselves. Because of this, people with dysthymia may not recognize that they have a treatable disorder or may avoid seeking treatment because of feeling shame or stigma. But, even if it takes several months, the majority of people can be helped to feel better.
Lastly, do call your doctor if your symptoms worsen or don’t improve despite treatment, or if you have thoughts of death or suicide.

Dissociative Identitty Disorder

Most commonly known as multiple personality disorder, dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a condition that can arise when a person suffers severe trauma early in life.  The trauma is typically severe and may involve repeated physical, emotional and sexual abuse. 
The mental illness involves the diagnosed experience at least two personality states which are referred to as alters.  Some sufferers of DID experience more than two alters.  The condition is more easily identified in females than males, which could reveal while more women are documented as suffering from dissociative identity disorder than men.
Dissociative identity disorder is an extreme form daydreaming.  Most people have experienced a minor form of dissociating with reality.  There are times when you may find yourself drifting off into a warm and fuzzy daydream, but DID involves a false sense of reality where there is a lack of connection within the sufferer’s thoughts, feelings and consequently their emotions and actions that result from a traumatic root cause.
The dissociative portion of the identity disorder allows the sufferer cope with the trauma.  The individual actually dissociates themselves from the painful experience that is too severe to deal with.  In order to think about the traumatic experience the person must separate from the pain and assimilate with a false reality.

Common Symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder

While dissociative identity disorder is commonly characterized by two or more personality states which control the person’s actions and behavior there are a number of sub-symptoms that sufferers may experience.  The following are some of the most commonly seen symptoms.

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Thoughts of suicide
• Sleep disorders
• Eating disorders
• Alcohol and/or drug abuse

Some sufferers of DID experience severe headaches, time loss and memory loss.  It is not uncommon for people with dissociative identity disorder to encounter times of trance and out of body experiences.  Most people with DID claim to do things during their altered state that they would not normally do.  For example, drinking and driving, visiting a prostitute or stealing money from relatives or close friends.

Who is affected by Dissociative Identity Disorder?

The precise cause of dissociative identity disorder is not known but studies have shown that as many as 98% of all sufferers have experienced a traumatic experience or repetitive abuse at one point or another during their lifetime.  Most individuals who develop this condition recall a history of life threatening abuse and experiences usually before the age of nine years old.
Children who have been emotionally neglected and endured severe abuse may be more prone to develop dissociative identity disorder.  Children who have been raised in a home where the parents were unpredictable and scary often become dissociative in behavior.

How to be Properly Diagnosed?

Time is of the essence when properly diagnosing dissociative identity disorder.  Due to the number of symptoms that accompany this disorder a precise diagnosis can take years to determine.  Secondary diagnoses often cause confusion or provide indicators of false disorders.
According to the DSM-IV there are four sets of criteria to be examined when diagnosing this disorder.  The first is that the individual must exhibit at least two personality states aside from their own.  The second set of criteria involves the personality states taking over the individual’s behavior and causing them to conduct themselves in a manner that is out of character.  The third indicator for diagnosis is that the person has a difficult time remembering anything personal.  The severe forgetfulness is often characterized as amnesia.  The last indicator for diagnosis is that the person suffers from substance abuse but the occasional blackouts or forgetfulness cannot be related to this abuse.
Patients are often seen for years by a psychotherapist or psychiatrist before being properly diagnosed.  People suffering from this disorder may spend years in mental health treatment before finding out that they are victims of this condition.  Once diagnosis is determined the proper treatment plan can be established.  Ongoing care is recommended even after the diagnosis has been made.

Constructing the Best Treatment Plan

There is no cure for dissociative identity disorder but there is at least a light at the end of the tunnel.  The best remedies for treating DID involve long term planning.  According to physicians and psychiatrists at the Mayo Clinic, effective treatment involves lengthy therapy sessions that have proven to be highly successful.
The best treatment plan for DID may include the following:

• Hypnotherapy
• Talk therapy
• Medication
• Movement therapy
• Psychotherapy

Since the condition often accompanies other disorders or issues, oftentimes individuals with DID are treated routinely for depression, anxiety or mood enhancement with much success in curbing the symptoms involved with dissociative identity disorder.  Many times people suffering from this condition benefit by the use of antidepressants or medication to treat anxiety.
Author: njewell
Publish Date: Tue, 03/08/2011 - 12:44
Categories: Dissociative Identity Disorder, Mental Health, Health

Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)

Dissociative identity disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder) is a fairly common effect of severe trauma during early childhood, usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse.

What Is Dissociative Identity Disorder?

Most of us have experienced mild dissociation, which is like daydreaming or getting lost in the moment while working on a project. However, dissociative identity disorder is a severe form of dissociation, a mental process, which produces a lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity. Dissociative identity disorder is thought to stem from trauma experienced by the person with the disorder. The dissociative aspect is thought to be a coping mechanism -- the person literally dissociates himself from a situation or experience that's too violent, traumatic, or painful to assimilate with his conscious self.

Is Dissociative Identity Disorder Real?

You may wonder if dissociative identity disorder is real. After all, understanding the development of multiple personalities is difficult, even for highly trained experts. But dissociative identity disorder does exist. It is the most severe and chronic manifestation of the dissociative disorders that cause multiple personalities.
Other types of dissociative disorders defined in the DSM-IV, the main psychiatry manual used to classify mental illnesses, include dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue, and depersonalization disorder.

What Are the Symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder?

Dissociative identity disorder is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct or split identities or personality states that continually have power over the person's behavior. With dissociative identity disorder, there's also an inability to recall key personal information that is too far-reaching to be explained as mere forgetfulness. With dissociative identity disorder, there are also highly distinct memory variations, which fluctuate with the person's split personality.
The "alters" or different identities have their own age, sex, or race. Each has his or her own postures, gestures, and distinct way of talking. Sometimes the alters are imaginary people; sometimes they are animals. As each personality reveals itself and controls the individuals' behavior and thoughts, it's called "switching." Switching can take seconds to minutes to days. When under hypnosis, the person's different "alters" or identities may be very responsive to the therapist's requests.
Along with the dissociation and multiple or split personalities, people with dissociative disorders may experience any of the following symptoms:

• Depression
• Mood swings
• Suicidal tendencies
• Sleep disorders (insomnia, night terrors, and sleep walking)
• Anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias (flashbacks, reactions to stimuli or "triggers")
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• Compulsions and rituals
• Psychotic-like symptoms (including auditory and visual hallucinations)
• Eating disorders

Other symptoms of dissociative identity disorder may include headache, amnesia, time loss, trances, and "out of body experiences." Some people with dissociative disorders have a tendency toward self-persecution, self-sabotage, and even violence (both self-inflicted and outwardly directed). As an example, someone with dissociative identity disorder may find themselves doing things they wouldn't normally do such as speeding, reckless driving, or stealing money from their employer or friend, yet they feel they are being compelled to do it. Some describe this feeling as being a passenger in their body rather than the driver. In other words, they truly believe they have no choice.

What's the Difference Between Dissociative Identity Disorder and Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder are often confused, but they are very different.
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness involving chronic (or recurrent) psychosis, characterized mainly by hearing or seeing things that aren't real (hallucinations) and thinking or believing things with no basis in reality (delusions). People with schizophrenia do not have multiple personalities. Delusions are the most common psychotic symptom in schizophrenia; hallucinations, particularly hearing voices, are apparent in about half of people.
Suicide is a risk with both schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder, although patients with multiple personalities have a history of suicide attempt more often than other psychiatric patients.

How Does Dissociation Change the Way a Person Experiences Life?

There are several main ways in which the psychological processes of dissociative identity disorder change the way a person experiences living, including the following:

• Depersonalization. This is a sense of being detached from one's body and is often referred to as an "out-of-body" experience.
• Derealization. This is the feeling that the world is not real or looking foggy or far away.
• Amnesia. This is the failure to recall significant personal information that is so extensive it cannot be blamed on ordinary forgetfulness. There can also be micro-amnesias where the discussion engaged in is not remembered, or the content of a meaningful conversation is forgotten from one second to the next.
• Identity confusion or identity alteration. Both of these involve a sense of confusion about who a person is. An example of identity confusion is when a person sometimes feels a thrill while engaged in an activity (such as reckless driving, DUI, alcohol or drug abuse) which at other times would be revolting. In addition to these apparent alterations, the person may experience distortions in time, place, and situation.

It is now acknowledged that these dissociated states are not fully-mature personalities, but rather they represent a disjointed sense of identity. With the amnesia typically associated with dissociative identity disorder, different identity states remember different aspects of autobiographical information. There is usually a host personality within the individual, who identifies with the person's real name. Ironically, the host personality is usually unaware of the presence of other personalities.

What Roles Do the Different Personalities Play?

The distinct personalities may serve diverse roles in helping the individual cope with life's dilemmas. For instance, there's an average of two to four personalities present when the patient is initially diagnosed. Then there's an average of 13 to 15 personalities that can become known over the course of treatment. While unusual, there have been instances of dissociative identity disorder with more than 100 personalities. Environmental triggers or life events cause a sudden shift from one alter or personality to another.

Who Gets Dissociative Identity Disorder?

While the causes of dissociative identity disorder are still vague, research indicates that a combination of environmental and biological factors work together to cause it. As many as 98% to 99% of individuals who develop dissociative disorders have recognized personal histories of recurring, overpowering, and often life-threatening disturbances at a sensitive developmental stage of childhood (usually before age 9). Dissociation may also happen when there has been insistent neglect or emotional abuse, even when there has been no overt physical or sexual abuse. Findings show that in families where parents are frightening and unpredictable, the children may become dissociative.

How Is Dissociative Identity Disorder Diagnosed?

Making the diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder takes time. It's estimated that individuals with dissociative disorders have spent seven years in the mental health system prior to accurate diagnosis. This is common, because the list of symptoms that cause a person with a dissociative disorder to seek treatment is very similar to those of many other psychiatric diagnoses. In fact, many people who have dissociative disorders also have secondary diagnoses of depression, anxiety, or panic disorders.
The DSM-IV provides the following criteria to diagnose dissociative identity disorder:

1. Two or more distinct identities or personality states are present, each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self.
2. At least two of these identities or personality states recurrently take control of the person's behavior.
3. The person has an inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.
4. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (such as blackouts or chaotic behavior during alcohol intoxication) or a general medical condition (such as complex partial seizures).

Are There Famous People With Dissociative Identity Disorder?

Famous people with dissociative identity disorder include retired NFL star Herschel Walker, who says he's struggled with dissociative identity disorder for years but has only been treated for the past eight years.
Walker recently published a book about his struggles with dissociative identity disorder, along with his suicide attempts. Walker talks about a feeling of disconnect from childhood to the professional leagues. To cope, he developed a tough personality that didn't feel loneliness, one that was fearless and wanted to act out the anger he always suppressed. These "alters" could withstand the abuse he felt; other alters came to help him rise to national fame. Today, Walker realizes that these alternate personalities are part of dissociative identity disorder, which he was diagnosed with in adulthood.

How Common Is Dissociative Identity Disorder?

Statistics show the rate of dissociative identity disorder is .01% to 1% of the general population. Still, more than 1/3 of people say they feel as if they're watching themselves in a movie at times, and 7% percent of the population may have undiagnosed dissociative disorder.

What's the Recommended Treatment Plan for Dissociative Identity Disorder?

While there's no "cure" for dissociative identity disorder, long-term treatment is very successful, if the patient stays committed. Effective treatment includes talk therapy or psychotherapy, medications, hypnotherapy, and adjunctive therapies such as art or movement therapy.
Because oftentimes the symptoms of dissociative disorders occur with other disorders, such as anxiety and depression, dissociative disorder may be treated using the same drugs prescribed for those disorders. A person in treatment for a dissociative disorder might benefit from antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication.

article found on WebMD