Almost all of us know about Dissociative Identity Disorder through movies and stories. It is basically a mental disorder in which two or more independent and distinct personality systems develop in the same individual. From the humorous to the utterly tragic, these artworks made us wonder about the dividing line between fact and fiction.
The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a famous novella published in the 19th century that has become synonymous with Dissociative Identity Disorder. If you are not familiar with it, it is about a person who has two different personalities, featuring the two sides of human nature: the good and the evil. Other artworks, such as the movie Me, Myself, and Irene, have also featured characters that have two distinct personalities. However, this is not always the case; this Disorder can indeed be characterized by two or more—for purposes of accuracy let me use the term—personality states.
A more recent movie, Split, puts a new spin on the Disorder, taking it to the extreme, depicting a person with 23 different personality states. While in most movies and stories, the person normally displays distinct changes in behavior, Split sheds light on changes in the body chemistry. Leaving fiction aside, let us find out what science has to say about this curious condition and whether the movies have depicted the truth or widened the gap between facts and misconceptions.
Dissociative Identity Disorder was previously referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder; the term has been updated to shift the focus on the changes that occur to the personality. Unlike what movies suggest, patients who suffer from this condition do not have different personalities; they have different personality states. It is the fragmentation of one personality rather than the development of separate ones.
The Disorder is also marked by severe memory loss due to the person’s inability to form a multidimensional self with different aspects of identity and memory. As a result, patients dissociate from reality and form different realities with different memories; sometimes, they are unable to recall what they have done or said in different situations. In other words, the patients experience reality through various moods and memories, and as a result do not remember what has exactly taken place.
Many misconceptions have stemmed from the exaggerated portrayal of this condition in popular culture. According to neuroscientist Simone Reinders, movies have created a negative image about it, and mistakenly depicted those suffering from it as violent. Alternatively, he explains, they feel stigmatized by these movies and try to hide their case. He adds that diagnosing somebody with Dissociative Identity Disorder is not easy; it is a process that can take several years.
So, are movies completely out of touch with reality? In Split, Kevin’s body chemistry changes with every different personality. Research reveals that changes in body chemistry do occur; Reinders observes that her patients’ blood flow to the brain changes when their personality state changes. More interestingly, some findings reveal that the need to wear glasses or change which hand to write with may arise with different personality states.
In order to sympathize with sufferers of the Dissociative Identity Disorder, people need to understand, and you only understand when you are aware of the facts. As it is an interesting condition, it lends itself well to writers’ imagination; however, artworks usually spice up fact with fiction, but they should also maintain their role in educating the society. Writers and directors should be more considerate to the misconceptions they might create. The responsibility also falls on the spectators. After all, movies are made to entertain people and if we seek the truth, we have to investigate the real science behind the ideas they tackle. The depiction of this particular condition acts as a reminder that we should not consider movies as references.
References
psychcentral.com
theguardian.com
psychologytoday.com