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Definition of DID And Other Disorders in This Category

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder,(MPD) is a psychiatric diagnosis, which according to the DSM-IV- TR multiaxial system, falls under the "Axis I Clinical Disorders and other conditions that may be a focus on clinical attention". (DSM-IV-TR, 2000, p.28).

DID comes under the category of Dissociative Disorders, along with Dissociative Amnesia, Dissociative Fugue, and Depersonalization Disorder (DSM-IV-TR, 2000). Dissociative Disorder was for the first time added to the DSM-111 in 1987, as separate category, and diagnostic criteria for Multiple Personality Disorder was outlined (Greaves, 1993). DID is a Psychiatric disorder that describes a condition in which an individual displays multiple distinct identities, each having its own pattern of perception and interaction with the environment (DSM-IV-TR, 2000). A diagnosis of DID is based on the patient's self-reported experiences, behavior reported by relatives or friends, and their current mental state. There is no laboratory test although physicians generally request tests for physical condition that may cause similar symptoms.

History of Dissociative Identity Disorder

There is some historical evidence that suggests that DID is as old as humankind. In ancient cave paintings of the upper Paleolithic Era, 100,000 years ago, the theme of transformation of shamans into animals, as well as reports of demonic possessions, although once thought to be bizarre disease or phenomenon, is by some considered possible evidence of the disorder throughout time.

This disorder is referred to by many titles including Gmelin's syndrome, exchanged personality, double consciousness, dual consciousness, alternating personality, split personality, multiple personality and currently dissociative identity disorder (Greaves, 1993). One of the first individuals to study and discuss this disorder in the public forum was Eberhardt Gmelin in 1791, when he published the case of a German woman who began to speak French, as well as German with a French accent, and behave as a "highborn French lady"(Greaves, 1993, p.355). In 1812, Benjamin Rush, an American historical figure and prominent army surgeon, collected case histories regarding what he referred to as double consciousness, and in his publication Medical Inquiries and Observations Upon Diseases of the Mind, speculated that the "cause for the doubling of consciousness is related to a disconnection between the two hemispheres of the brain" (Greaves, 1993, p 357). During the 1970s, numerous researchers and clinicians made progress toward defining and establishing the legitimacy of the disorder. Later, Cornelia Wilbur treated Sybil Isabel Dorsett, and this case become popular in the 1980's after the release of the best selling book Sybil: The true story of a woman possessed by sixteen separate personalities by Flora Rheta Schreiber, and made for television movie entitled Sybil .

Currently the DSM-IV-TR refers to dissociative identity disorder, as one of the disorders in the Dissociative Disorders category.