Evidence that Dissociative Identity Disorder (MPD) is caused by Childhood
Trauma
Conclusive evidence that Dissociative
Identity Disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD) is
caused by extensive childhood trauma and not iatrogenically (resulting from the
activity of physicians) or socially. Individual identities have been shown to
have clear physiological differences. These are only a few of the many studies
available in professional journals and research books.
Child Abuse
Wiki - Dissociative Identity Disorder
Dissociative identity disorder
(formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD) is defined in the
DSM-IV-TR as the presence of two or more personality states or distinct
identities that repeatedly take control of one’s behavior. The patient has an
inability to recall personal information. The extent of this lack of recall is
too great to be explained by normal forgetfulness. The disorder cannot be due to
the direct physical effects of a general medical condition or
substance.
DID entails a failure to integrate certain aspects of memory,
consciousness and identity. Patients experience frequent gaps in their memory
for their personal history, past and present. Patients with DID report having
severe physical and sexual abuse, especially during childhood. The reports of
patients with DID are often validated by objective
evidence.
CausesThe causes of dissociative identity
disorder are theoretically linked with the interaction of overwhelming stress,
traumatic antecedents, insufficient childhood nurturing, and an innate ability
to dissociate memories or experiences from consciousness. Prolonged child abuse
is frequently a factor, with a very high percentage of patients reporting
documented abuse often confirmed by objective evidence.
The Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders states that patients with DID often
report having a history of severe physical and sexual abuse. The reports of
patients suffering from DID are "often confirmed by objective evidence," and
the DSM notes that the abusers in those situations may be inclined to "deny or
distort” these acts. Research has consistently shown that DID is characterized
by reports of extensive childhood trauma, usually child abuse. Dissociation is
recognized as a symptomatic presentation in response to psychological trauma,
extreme emotional stress, and in association with emotional dysregulation and
borderline personality disorder. A study of 12 murderers established the
connection between early severe abuse and DID. A recent psychobiological study
shows that dissociative identity disorder (DID) sufferers' "origins of their
ailment stem more likely from trauma" than sociogenic or iatrogenic origins.
There is strong evidence that DID is not a culture bound phenomenon.
Dissociative disorders have been found in more than a dozen countries. DID
has been found in China and Turkey.
Physiological
EvidencePhysiological evidence has provided additional evidence to
back the existence of DID. One review of the literature found "physiologic and
ocular differences across alter personalities." Additional studies have been
found showing optical differences in DID cases. One study found that "eight of
the nine MPD subjects consistently manifested physiologically distinct alter
personality states." Other reviews have found additional physiological
differences. Brain mapping has also found physiological differences in alternate
personalities. A variety of psychiatric rating scales found that multiple
personality is strongly related to childhood trauma rather than to an underlying
electrophysiological dysfunction. Dissociative identity disorder patients have
been found to have smaller hippocampal and amygdalar volumes than healthy
subjects. The involvement of the orbitalfrontal cortex has been proposed
in the development of DID, suggesting a possible neurodevelopmental mechanism
that would be responsible for the development of "multiple representations of
self." More recent research presents psychobiological evidence indicating actual
physical alter states not found in controls.
with permission from
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Dissociative_Identity_Disorder
Research Evidence showing a connection between Dissociative
Identity Disorder and TraumaObjective Documentation of Child Abuse
and Dissociation in 12 Murderers With Dissociative Identity Disorder
"Signs
and symptoms of dissociative identity disorder in childhood and adulthood were
corroborated independently and from several sources in all 12 cases; objective
evidence of severe abuse was obtained in 11 cases. The subjects had amnesia for
most of the abuse and underreported it. Marked changes in writing style and/or
signatures were documented in 10 cases. CONCLUSIONS:
This study establishes,
once and for all, the linkage between early severe abuse and dissociative
identity disorder."http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/ajp.154.12.1703
Multiple personality disorder in The Netherlands: a clinical
investigation of 71 patients.
The presenting characteristics of the patients
showed a striking resemblance to those in several large North American series.
Patients had spent an average of 8.2 years in the mental health system prior to
correct diagnosis. Patients presented with many different symptoms and
frequently received other psychiatric or neurological diagnoses.
A history of
childhood physical and/or sexual abuse was reported by 94.4% of the subjects,
and 80.6% met criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder.Patients with
multiple personality disorder have a stable set of core symptoms throughout
North America as well as in Europe.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8434668?dopt=Abstract
Abuse histories in 102 cases of multiple personality disorder.
The
authors interviewed 102 individuals with clinical diagnoses of multiple
personality disorder at four centres using the Dissociative Disorders Interview
Schedule. The patients reported high rates of childhood trauma: 90.2% had been
sexually abused, 82.4% physically abused, and 95.1% subjected to one or both
forms of child abuse. Over 50% of subjects reported initial physical and sexual
abuse before age five. The average duration of both types of abuse was ten
years, and numerous different perpetrators were identified. Subjects were
equally likely to be physically abused by their mothers or fathers. Sexual
abusers were more often male than female, but a substantial amount of sexual
abuse was perpetrated by mothers, female relatives, and other females.
Multiple personality disorder appears to be a response to chronic trauma
originating during a vulnerable period in childhood.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2044042?dopt=Abstract
Evidence Against Iatrogenic and Sociocognitive Models of
Dissociative Identity DisorderEvidence against the iatrogenesis of
multiple personality disorder
The authors present data which argue against
the iatrogenesis of multiple personality disorder (MPD). Twenty-two cases
reported by one Canadian psychiatrist, 23 cases reported by a second Canadian
psychiatrist, 48 cases seen by 44 American psychiatrists specializing in MPD,
and 44 cases seen by 40 Canadian general psychiatrists without a special
interest in MPD are compared. The Canadian general psychiatrists had seen an
average of 2.2 cases of MPD, while the Americans had seen an average of 160.
There were no differences between these groups on the diagnostic criteria, for
MPD or the number of personalities identified.
Specialists in MPD are not
influencing their patients to create an increased number of personalities or to
endorse more diagnostic criteria. Exposure to hypnosis does not appear to
influence the phenomenology of MPD.https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/1424
Iatrogenic DID-An Evaluation of the Scientific Evidence: D. Brown, E.
Frischholz & A. Scheflin” from The fall-winter 1999 issue of “The Journal of
Psychiatry & Law – “Conclusions…At present the scientific evidence is
insufficient and inadequate to support plaintiffs’ complaints that suggestive
influences allegedly operative in psychotherapy can create a major psychiatric
disorder like MPD per se…
there is virtually no support for the unique
contribution of hypnosis to the alleged iatrogenic creation of MPD in
appropriately controlled research.….alter shaping is not to be confused with
alter creation.” p. 624
The sociocognitive model of dissociative
identity disorder: A reexamination of the evidence.
According to the
sociocognitive model of dissociative identity disorder (DID; formerly, multiple
personality disorder), DID is not a valid psychiatric disorder of posttraumatic
origin; rather, it is a creation of psychotherapy and the media....
No reason
exists to doubt the connection between DID and childhood trauma. Treatment
recommendations that follow from the sociocognitive model may be harmful because
they involve ignoring the posttraumatic symptomatology of persons with DID.
http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&uid=1996-01403-003
Fact or Factitious? A Psychobiological Study of Authentic and Simulated
Dissociative Identity States
The findings are at odds with the idea that
differences among different types of dissociative identity states in DID can be
explained by high fantasy proneness, motivated role-enactment, and suggestion.
They indicate that DID does not have a sociocultural (e.g., iatrogenic) origin.
For the first time, it is shown using brain imaging that neither high nor low
fantasy prone healthy women, who enacted two different types of dissociative
identity states, were able to substantially simulate these identity states in
psychobiological terms.
These results do not support the idea of a
sociogenic origin for DID.”http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0039279
Physiological Evidence Showing Physical Differences Between
Dissociative Identity Disorder Identity States
Multiple personality
disorder. A clinical investigation of 50 cases.
To study the clinical
phenomenology of multiple personality, 50 consecutive patients with DSM-III
multiple personality disorder were assessed using clinical history, psychiatric
interview, neurological examination, electroencephalogram, MMPI, intelligence
testing, and a variety of psychiatric rating scales. Results revealed that
patients with multiple personality are usually women who present with
depression, suicide attempts, repeated amnesic episodes, and a history of
childhood trauma, particularly sexual abuse. Also common were headaches,
hysterical conversion, and sexual dysfunction. Intellectual level varied from
borderline to superior. The MMPI reflected underlying character pathology in
addition to depression and dissociation. Significant neurological or
electroencephalographical abnormalities were infrequent.
These data suggest
that the etiology of multiple personality is strongly related to childhood
trauma rather than to an underlying electrophysiological dysfunction.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3418321
Psychobiological characteristics of dissociative identity disorder: a
symptom provocation study.
Dissociative identity disorder (DID) patients
function as two or more identities or dissociative identity states (DIS),
categorized as 'neutral identity states' (NIS) and 'traumatic identity states'
(TIS). NIS inhibit access to traumatic memories thereby enabling daily life
functioning. TIS have access and responses to these memories. We tested whether
these DIS show different psychobiological reactions to trauma-related
memory.
RESULTS:
Psychobiological differences were found for the different
DIS. Subjective and cardiovascular reactions revealed significant main and
interactions effects. Regional cerebral blood flow data revealed different
neural networks to be associated with different processing of the neutral and
trauma-related memory script by NIS and TIS.
CONCLUSIONS:
Patients with
DID encompass at least two different DIS. These identities involve different
subjective reactions, cardiovascular responses and cerebral activation patterns
to a trauma-related memory script.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17008145
One Brain, Two SelvesOur findings reveal the existence of
different regional cerebral blood flow patterns for different senses of self. We
present evidence for the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and the posterior
associative cortices to have an integral role in conscious experience.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14683715
Research Articles and Books about Dissociative Identity Disorder
and MPDOvercoming Multiple Personality Disorder By Anne
Underwood
Multiple personality disorder is a perplexing phenomenon to outside
observers, believed to be brought on by persistent childhood abuse. What is it
like living with MPD? And how does a sufferer function, with so many alternate
personalities—or "alters"—some of them adults and some children? NEWSWEEK's Anne
Underwood spoke with Karen Overhill—a former sufferer and the subject of a new
book, "Switching Time," by Dr. Richard Baer.
http://www.newsweek.com/overcoming-multiple-personality-disorder-103403
Multiple personality and dissociation, 1791-1992: a complete
bibliography http://boundless.uoregon.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/diss&CISOPTR=38
The official journal of the International Society for the Study of
Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), published between 1988 and 1997
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/1129
Forensic Aspects of Dissociative Identity DisorderThis
ground-breaking book examines the role of crime in the lives of people with
Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder,
a condition which appears to be caused by prolonged trauma in infancy and
childhood. This trauma may be linked with crimes committed against them, crimes
they have witnessed, and crimes they have committed under duress.
http://www.karnacbooks.com/product/forensic-aspects-of-dissociative-identity-disorder/25876/
Trauma And Dissociation in a Cross-cultural Perspective: Not Just a
North American Phenomenon An international look at the similarities and
differences of long-lasting trauma – Trauma and Dissociation in a Cross-Cultural
Perspective examines the psychological, sociological, political, economic, and
cultural aspects of trauma and its consequences on people around the world.
Dispelling the myth that trauma-related dissociative disorders are a North
American phenomenon, this unique book travels through more than a dozen
countries to analyze the effects of long-lasting traumatization-both natural and
man-made-on adults and children.
http://www.amazon.com/Trauma-Dissociation-Cross-cultural-Perspective-Phenomenon/dp/0789034077
Sybil in Her Own Words Patrick Suraci Psychologisthttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-suraci/post_2699_b_1152241.html
Sybil and Multiple Personality Disorderhttp://sybilandmpd.blogspot.com/
Review of "Sybil in her own words" http://sybilandmpd.blogspot.com/2011/11/review-of-sybil-in-her-own-words-by.html
Twenty-Two Faces – Inside the Extraordinary Life of Jenny Hill
and Her Twenty-Two Multiple Personalities Judy Byington
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/twenty-two-faces-inside-the-extraordinary-life-of-jenny-hill-and-her-twenty-two-multiple-personalities-judy-byington-msw-lcsw/
Open Letter to Dr. Phil From Jenny Hillhttp://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/open-letter-to-dr-phil-from-jenny-hill/
Basic Information on DIDBasic Information on Dissociative
Identity Disorder with sections on Basic Information on DID from the DSM-IV-TR,
The History of DID/MPD, Diagnosing DID, Responses to those that state that DID
is iatrogenic or a social construct, MPD/DID connection to severe abuse,
Recent information and DID resources,
Physiological studies showing
differences between DID patients and non-DID patients
https://ritualabuse.us/research/did/basic-information-on-didmpd/
Research and Information on Dissociative Identity Disorder
(formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder)
http://ritualabuse.us/research/did/
Disinformation and DID: the Politics of Memory – Brian Moss, MA,
MFT
Information on the False Memory Syndrome, Mind Control, Dissociative
Identity Disorder, The Media, Ritual Abuse, The Nazis and Programming.
http://ritualabuse.us/research/did/disinformation-and-did-the-politics-of-memory/
Secret Weapons – Two Sisters’ Terrifying True Story of Sex, Spies
and Sabotage by Cheryl and Lynn Hersha with Dale Griffis, Ph D. and Ted
Schwartz. New Horizon Press ISBN 0-88282-196-2 Is a well-documented, verifiable
account of not one, but two childrens’ long untold stories of being CHILD
subjects of Project MKUltra. Quotes from the book: “By the time Cheryl Hersha
came to the facility,
knowledge of multiple personality was so complete that
doctors understood how the mind separated into distinct ego states,each unaware
of the other. First, the person traumatized had to be both extremely
intelligent and under the age of seven, two conditions not yet understood though
remaining consistent as factors. The trauma was almost always of a sexual
nature…” p. 52
“The government researchers,aware of the information in the
professional journals, decided to reverse the process (of healing from hysteric
dissociation). They decided to use selective trauma on healthy children to
create personalities capable of committing acts desired for national security
and defense.” p. 53 – 54 0