Case Study: Dissociative Identity Disorder | Differentiating from Malingering
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- Опубліковано 29 тра 2024
- This video answers the questions: Can I review a case study related to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)? How can counselors differentiate Dissociative Identity Disorder from malingering?
Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is an official mental disorder in the DSM and the criteria for DID are listed there. We see a disruption of identity characterized by two or more distinct personality states (in some cultures these distinct personality states may be referred to as possession), we see a marked discontinuity of self and alterations in affect, behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and sensory motor functions. These different personality states may be observed by other individuals and reported to the individual who has this disorder. We also see recurrent gaps in recall of everyday events, personal information, or traumatic events. These gaps in recall can't be attributed to normal forgetfulness. There must be clinically significant distress or impairment and it cannot be a normal part of cultural or religious practices, substance use, or a medical condition. The prevalence of dissociative identity disorder is thought to be between 1 and 1.6% of the general population. DID is associated with a great deal of comorbidity, meaning it tends to co-occur with other mental disorders like borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, somatic symptom disorder, eating disorders, sleep disorders, conversion disorder, and substance use disorder. Also, self-harm behaviors and suicidal behaviors have been associated with dissociative identity disorder.
Boysen, G. A., & VanBergen, A. (2014). Simulation of multiple personalities: A review of research comparing diagnosed and simulated dissociative identity disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 34(1), 14-28.
Brand, B. L., Sar, V., Stavropoulos, P., Krüger, C., Korzekwa, M., Martínez-Taboas, A., & Middleton, W. (2016). Separating Fact from Fiction: An Empirical Examination of Six Myths About Dissociative Identity Disorder. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 24(4), 257-270.
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Diane was so excited to finally have a case of DID that she rationalized all behavior into her framework rather than being objective.
I'm a licensed psychologist in California. When I was in my MA program at Pepperdine University from 2002-2004, I had a professor who brought one of his patients to class who reportedly had DID. He said that she developed DID due to experiencing severe trauma by a Satanic cult as a child. During the presentation, the professor had the woman go into her alters. At the time, I was mesmerized, as were all of my colleagues. The woman's demeanor, voice, and body language changed quite markedly when her alters came out - one was a young girl, another was a mature older woman. Now I am very skeptical about the whole thing - not that the patient was deceiving people about her illness, like I said she seemed very genuine, of course I could be wrong, but I've learned that the whole 'Satanic Panic' of the 80s/90s was a ridiculous fraud (e.g. see The Memphis Three). Also, now that I am a clinician, I can't imagine bringing a patient to a class I'm teaching to demonstrate their symptoms like it's a circus act. Seems wildly unethical, especially if the patient is a survivor of serious trauma and therefore particularly vulnerable.
You "heard"? The Satanic Panic in the Media occurred after many of us started reporting abuse in the early 1980's.
As a person who has DID, I appreciate this video so much. I do not relate to Tammy at all. Memory loss is one of the biggest and most troubling symptoms. It does not occur just when convenient. Years ago, before my diagnosis, I "woke up" in my car to find my youngest daughter was no longer in the car. I didn't want to scare my older daughter, but I had to find a creative way to ask her where her sister was. Apparently I had dropped her off at a friends house. Had my daughter not been with me, I don't know how I would have known where my other daughter was. So the memory loss is incredibly frightening and unpredictable. I am so glad the psychiatrist who I first met with was nothing like Diane. I was checked for seizures to see if that was causing the memory loss and it took quite a while to be diagnosed after getting input from other doctors. It is not "fun" having DID. Everything is chaotic. I did find relief in finally having a diagnosis as it explained so much about all the memory gaps and other weird things I had experienced my whole life. For example my husband would often claim he told me things which I agreed to and I wouldn't remember the conversation. The chaos nearly ended our marriage. It is exhausting and the depression crippling. I have been in therapy for 8 years now and I am doing a lot better and lose less time and switch less. With the amount of trauma I went through and I imagine others with DID go through, I can't imagine being cured in 2 years. I believe processing trauma memories in therapy was the most helpful. Even though I "switched" in therapy, it has never been the main focus. I have watched youtubers with DID who present nothing like me and so it was refreshing to see your video stressing how people with DID suffer from depression etc. The alters may be fascinating to people but I don't think people understand the horror a child lives through for their mind to split this way. It's too often presented as something you'd find in a freakshow. It's not fun. I survived hell and I am grateful my mind found a way to survive, but when you are older it really is no longer needed and gets in the way of relationships and even holding a job. With a lot of hard work it, it does get easier... but it has taken me so long to get here. Diane sounds as though she needs help recognizing her role in creating the appearance of an illness that was never there so she doesn't make this a pattern. She could certainly damage a person making them believe they have something they don't. Again, thank you for this video!
@_Persephone_ I'm sorry to hear that you have suffered through abuse. I can never understand how people can be so cruel to other people. It sounds as though your memory gaps are really upsetting to you. For me, the memory loss was the worst part. I do hope you are able to see a Dr. soon who can figure out what is going on and you get a proper diagnosis and treatment. Even if it isn't DID, it sounds like these experiences have been very challenging and upsetting to you and I hope a Dr. is able to help you heal. It was really nice to read you have a supportive partner, I'm glad you have them in your life!
Yes, I can imagine. I'm sorry it's so difficult. I worked for a woman who had it. I took care of and tutored her kids a few years back so she could more easily focus on getting well. Her personalities were merged when I met her but she was dealing with CPTSD and it was still hard for her to function. I never saw/met any alters. She talked about it at times. She was a Christian and one of her alters was anything but, she said. I'm not a Christian, fyi.
@@cynthiaallen9225 I am so happy to hear she had you to help her. My alters are mostly integrated as well but I am finding since that happened I can remember things much more clearer now and my ptsd symptoms are the thing holding me back from being able to work etc. I had one very religious alter and the rest weren't. I also had vegan alters and others that ate meat. When you have alters with two very different set of values, it can be hard to navigate.
@@sierrarose5751 I hope I helped. She was surprisingly open sometimes. I think you must be really strong and courageous to navigate your way through it. I know it can't be easy. I think I was in therapy for about 4 years total just working thru 'regular' abuse, emotional, physical, etc., gaslighting. The denial of others can be crippling as well. I'm so glad you have a decent support system. It's a really big deal. Thanks for the response. I'm wishing the best for you but something tells me you're more than almost there.
@@cynthiaallen9225 You are such a sweet soul. Thank you for all your kind words. And please don't minimize your own experience. There is no such thing as "regular" abuse. Abuse is horrible in whatever form it comes in. Emotional abuse and especially gaslighting are the parts of the abuse I experienced that are still the hardest to work through. I think it takes great strength for anyone to be willing to face themselves in therapy and do the hard work to overcome any hardships. You should be very proud of yourself! Thank you again for being so kind.
Usually a therapist would ask questions as a way to diagnose. Diane instead, started with a diagnosis and went looking for proof. All that time wasted. Diane's naivete hurt her client in the long run. Even Diane's knowledge of DID is lacking, as you pointed out. Honestly, the whole thing seems a perfect recipe for a therapeutic train wreck.
The fun thing about being a psychiatrist is that you can create a disease without even needing an expensive lab and without breaking someone's bones.
I have a BIG question for Dr. Grande ,Im just starting to get informed on D.I.D. & BPD etc. Is it possible for someone Who was diagnosed Schizophrenic many years ago & being treated for it with meds, have a personality disirder or d.i.d. ?
I think what was at play here is a basic truth about modern humans: the most painful thing in the world is to admit that you were conned, and people with make up any explanation at all to "prove" that they have not been conned. In this case, the patient could have walked in with a sandwich board saying "I am conning a naive counselor" and the counselor would have thought the patient was referring to a different counselor.
"Tammy didn't quite put it that politely"! No, I bet she didn't.
I am surprised Tammy was allowed to continue to receive services without paying her portion. It looks to me that the therapist was over her head with this patient & should have had Tammy placed in a inpatient situation after the jail term, at least until a clear diagnosis was found . 3 years of resources wasted without any actual help for Tammy's illness. Yes, I think she had severe problems with theft, but I think it's just too convenient to blame an alternate personality for doing all the bad behaviors. Also by giving Tammy the book the therapist gave her a recipe on how to create new personas .I would give this therapist a thumbs down. Thank you for bringing us this very interesting case.
Blaze Fairchild i agree!
This 'case study' of the light-fingered borderline was comical.
I loved the deadpan delivery.
I agree. Dr. Grande's initial description of Tammy's symptoms screamed borderline personality traits (if not the disorder) to me.
@@crispmom with ASPD comorbidity???
Yes. I just love the manner in which Dr Grande delivers his opinions! He is remarkably knowledgeable get extremely funny, too.😊
From within the limits of my experience and understanding, I think your interpretation is clearly accurate.
Edit: I don't mean to give offense, but the counselor, "Diane," seems surprisingly, even alarmingly gullible.
Your descriptions of how DID really is vs malingering is spot on. It's definitely NOT fun. It wrecks your life, really.
Diane is the type of counsellor none of us deserve. Diane needs to be liked and needed.
A good therapist will have a therapist themselves. Keeps them in check.
I'm sure DID exists, but I think some people want DID to be real and talked about so much that they start shoving everything under that label, which hurts the credibility of the very disorder they claim to understand.
the stealing is just not explained by DID, even if the "main" personality has nothing else wrong with them the entire system is definetly in need of another diagnosis.
I would want to examine/create sth like that, but I also think that 90% of what's under the label is compulsive performance art and people sort of disassociating with certain memories.
It would be cool if you could totally lock away some memories and access them at strategic points. That would also have interesting military applications.
@@MrCmon113 DID isn't a choice. In fact, no mental illness is. You cannot "lock away" memories for later use. That's just called someone who avoids responsibility.
I'm only partway through, but as someone with DID who has also worked as a counselor, there are so many red flags in this case study to me. She may have DID but I'm seeing borderline personality disorder and kleptomania. It's unfortunate to see because, as you stated up front, DID is already a diagnosis that many struggle to believe and accept. I can't fathom why anyone would want to fake DID. It's exhausting and debilitating. Sure, "Tammy" could have DID, and sometimes alters can sabotage therapy, but not like this. I've got malingering alarm bells. I think "Diane" has confirmation bias in this case. I'm interested to see what you say at the end of this video!
Edited once finished: I agree with your assessment. Spot on.
Yes. As I was watching this I thought of Borderline personality disorder as well. Even the fact that she was likely faking DID is something someone with BPD might do. As I a mental health professional, I don't understand how Diane could not see that something was not quite right and Tammy likely did not have DID. It baffles me this went on so long without Diane bringing it to the attention of her supervisor or colleagues and without considering PTSD or BPD both of with are also caused by trauma. I don't know anyone who genuinely has a mental health condition would describe their condition as fun especially one with as my life long affects as DID. It's insulting to others with the disorder
I agree that a diagnosis of DID is not a pleasant thing. It’s often terrifying. The anxiety. The missing time. Changing and not understanding what’s going on.
julie wisley I have a good question when someone switches do they remember what their alter did ?
@@Tyrone-ro6ii usually not
@Tyrone 517328 No. Sometimes, at the end when they come back to consciousness. Like when they come to they hear themselves taking in an abnormal way. Sometimes you can switch and be totally conscious the entire time.
@@sr2291interesting that I’m almost every documented alleged case of DID, they pick and choose which personality “remembers” events. Because they’re just very adept at manipulating and more often present as actually having BPD symptoms.
@@Tsumami__ I don't understand what you mean? Are you a therapist?
After being raped as a young pre-teen/teen, I went to a rape crisis counselor at the Y. She wasn't all bad, but I found it alarming then and horrifying now that she seemed to jump to a diagnosis of MPD (this was before it was changed to DID) in addition to PTSD. Worse yet, she said she thought I had been the victim of SRA. Looking back, this was definitely during the height of the "satanic panic". I dropped out of therapy because of this, and I didn't tell my parents for well over a decade what had happened.
I believe DID exists, but therapists like the one I saw definitely muddied the waters.
that’s genuinely one of the most horrifying experiences with a counselor i’ve ever heard. so sorry, it’s not ok to fuck with someone’s mind like that right after a traumatic event
This was a long video.
I had to watch it separately.
The work of a counselor is like that of a detective.
You have to pay close attention to people's words and actions.
Difficult. We cannot see into their hearts to know if they are telling the truth.
As always highly professionally presented.
Wow.... seems like "Diane" had some issues of her own!🤦🏾♂️ It seems like she was too preoccupied with obtaining evidence to support her own professional agenda and sadly it resulted in her being a terrible counselor to "Tammy." A messed up situation in general. I hope "Diane" schedules an appointment with a mental health professional herself! Very interesting and almost mind-blowing. Thanks for sharing Doc!
I understand the argument that only a limited group of professionals seem to diagnose DID. However, from my personal experience, this issue works both ways. I have had severe issues related to childhood trauma, depression, and dissociation/derealisation/depersonalisation for years. I've been trying to find a place for treatment (the Netherlands) for years as well. But with my symptoms, no place wants to treat me. They want to refer me to a TRTC centre, which specialises in DID and other trauma related dissociative disorders. But without being diagnosed with DID, I am very hesitant to go to such a place, *because* I don't want to be diagnosed with something before being thoroughly examined first. (also these centres have a waiting list of over a year).
So at the moment, I am receiving *no* treatment at all.
Even though I think that putting a diagnosis of DID on people can be problematic, this is not helped if no other professional wants to even take someone in as a patient, when they have symptoms that may or not be signs of DID.
I’ve been to a TRTC this year, they did several interviews/tests with several different psychologists who would discuss their results and come to a diagnosis together. In my case DID/OSDD was ruled out, so I’m back at my regular therapists. I think they’re one of the few places that can actually diagnose you in the first place.
After my psychiatrist fired me d/t a pharmacist calling to complain about my prescription that the pharmacist didn't agree with or want to fill, I too found that no other psychiatrist in my urban area that would take me on. Luckily I have a counselor that I can trust and share with. But she hasn't got the power to prescribe for me....so my PCP now makes sure that I get the medication that I need PRN. I hope you get the help you need.
tammy found a hobby and some attention. Diane needed a lot more supervision. she was out of her depth.
I couldn't stop thinking how did her supervisor didn't pointed out all these clear sings of malingering.
She really needs to find a new profession since she can’t seem to leave behind her own arrogance in diagnosing someone with an absolutely absurd alternative to ptsd. It’s like a gambler losing his home to the casino and going “ahhh but I’ll win it back, put it all on black”. Diane was literally smacked in the face with video graphic proof that she was being lied to and scammed and she still went “oh this is just actual manifestations of DID”
I recently admitted someone with pmh of DID, currently being admitted for MDD with psychotic features. Initial presentation was more in line with your definition of DID. Absolutely nothing like the pt presented in the case study. Great video, I agree with your analysis.
Thank you!
updates?
Interesting case, especially the Diane character, how her interest in the disorder seemed to cloud her judgement and end up leaving Tammy in worse place than when she first came in. Extremely difficult profession.
Listening to this, I stopped in my tracks when you said Tammy said “sometimes I feel like a child” because at the moment I’m having quite severe dissociation, with a bit of amnesia and I keep saying to my nurse “I feel like a fragile child” but not because I have a child alter, because I feel so fragile, dissociated and unable to function and scared to be alone. It’s scary because that along with my dissociation, a misguided professional could inappropriately guide me into thinking I have DID. I am not saying this is the case for everyone with DID, I do believe it is real and I’m not invalidating people who have it. But I do think it’s possible there are people who have been lead to believe they have it when they don’t.
God, okay I’m only halfway through the video but I wanna comment now before I know all the details, but dang Diane, you may wanna shift your focus on DID over to BPD-it kind of amazes me that clinicians seek diagnoses like these and end up giving years of inappropriate treatment.
Can you please start putting your case studies into a playlist? thank you!
I agree with your analysis. It is essential that a person suspected of having DID see a clinician that is highly trained in this field. It’s a very difficult diagnosis to make and must be done carefully. Testing must be done. The ISSTD sets out very clear guidelines for diagnosis and treatment.
Very interesting video! I didn't know D.I.D. was still so unaccepted as a diagnosis these days. I know someone who believes he has D.I.D. but he has only one alter who is a manipulative jerk. This has only caused him problems in his life, starting at a young age and he would never describe the disorder as "fun" to have. Thankfully his alter only comes out when he's extremely stressed. In six years of knowing him, I've met the alter two times.
Now I understand why he has gone through about five therapists and only one of them brought up D.I.D.
DID as defined is caused by prolonged inescapable childhood trauma. Alters have purposes, so anytime someone describes an alter (especially only one alter) who's just an ass it raises red flags for me because in any abuse situation I can fathom fighting/mouthing off/aggression gets you beat more, so why would your brain split that way? It's nonsensical.
@@wrenbartlett4741 His family is pretty nuts- His father was an abusive meth dealer, his mother an alcoholic, he has memories of being in a high chair seeing his dad throw a cup of coffee at his mom's head because it wasn't hot enough, among other bad memories, he was surrounded by abuse.
He was very passive and I think his alter was a way to keep himself from feeling helpless and weak. It was/is protective of him.
After his father left his mom was very verbally aggressive towards him and I believe his alter got her to back off by making her feel guilty about the things she was saying and doing to him.
I've personally witnessed her screaming at him in a drunken rage, pounding on his door verbally harassing him while he was trying to sleep because he'd had the audacity to ask her to please turn the t.v. volume down so he could sleep...
Elizabeth Rice the human survival mechanism is called fight or flight for a reason. If you fear for your life, you are gonna fight for it. Logically you’re right. But when someone, especially a child, believes they will die, they won’t necessarily act rationally
Sounds like a convenient was to be a jerk and blame someone else???
@@pauladuncanadams1750 Until you become a licensed psychologist and professionally assess him, your ideas don't matter. A therapist he met with honed in on dissociation without him even mentioning DID or his other personality. His alter was created as a reaction to prolonged childhood trauma. It only comes out in times of extreme crisis and stress. As I believe I mentioned before, I've only interacted with the alter twice in our 7 year relationship.
I certainly don’t pretend to have anything even approaching an in-depth level of knowledge or experience regarding this condition: D.I.D. But that being said, whenever a mental healthcare provider ‘hitches their wagon’, so to speak, to someone with one of the more fringe (or “exotic”) psychiatric disorders, & seemingly appears to actually want to AMPLIFY that patient’s condition (for the furtherance of their OWN career, or even ‘fame’?), then I’m seriously concerned for the welfare of the poor individual who’s being exploited (whether it’s incidental OR deliberate) by this supposed “professional.”
Very interesting & thought-provoking video, as always, Doctor G!
[Edit: I think your exploration & summary of the specific “Tammy”/“Diane” case, is spot on though!]
I have DID, and there are elements of this case that seemed real and elements that seemed like malingering. Feeling like DID is fake is pretty common in my experience, but it is rooted in abuse, having your life experience denied for your whole life, and feeling like you aren't real, rather than feeling like it's easy to make up. Also, sure there are elements of DID that are "cool", I guess (like having alters), but mostly it's just a clusterfuck of trying to figure out what's going on and why you're experiencing what you're experiencing. Plus, those alters each have a purpose, and sometimes it's not a fun purpose (example: I have a sexual alter that developed to take all of the sexual abuse). I've been in therapy for years and have reached what I would call "functional integration". Alters and parts are still very much present but we have figured out how to work together. What she said about "coming up with new alters" was troublesome. Yes, "new" alters can and do show up, but it's not usually by way of digging around your internal world. Usually, there is a trigger that brings out an alter that had been dormant, hiding, or the amnesiac walls were still blocking said alter because the whole system wasn't yet ready to process what memories that alter held. Other big symptoms that were not mentioned include somatic symptoms, time distortion, emotion and thought withdrawal/insertion, and body dysmorphia. Anyway, thanks for this video!
brigette burkhardt
Yeah, I also have DID, and I 100% agree. Like when she described DID as fun I was like: hold on a second, what?
I mean, some parts of DID can be fantastical or cool (my system personally has an alter who is a velociraptor which is both really cool and really really weird) but as a whole I don't think I've ever heard a host describe DID as fun.
I think Tammy may have had some other disorders, like BPD or kleptomania, and was afraid her therapist would abandon her if she wasn't "interesting enough" and so she pretended to have DID.
Thank you.
I tell my therapist OMG I wouldn't wish DID on my worse enemy. Its hell. And I have a beautiful 4 yr old 'Princess Alyhia' who loves to play n color n watch cartoons ect but to my fellow DID travers..we know she was created for a reason :( DID is fun is b.s.
but it's common for people with DID to get new alters based on characters in popular media right?
Not fun, from what I can see as an observer! Disorienting, isolating, and very challenging to one's self esteem. Not fun.
So glad my therapist doesn’t jump to conclusions. She is so patient.
Betrayal trauma? It seems like it would be self explanatory, but I'm sure Dr Grande could flesh this out. 💐🤗
I thought the same, actually! Glad you mentioned it!
This was the best video I've watched on D.I.D. Ty for another great video Dr Grande!😊
Thank you so much🙂
Sounds a lot like Tammy had BPD (given the clear BPD symptoms reported) but Diane's suggestion of DID caused Tammy to interpret her different states of identity due to BPD identity confusion and mood changes as different alters.
I was recently diagnosed with DID ,my therapist , who I've been with for seven years, had suspected it for a few years ,and I thank him for not telling me ahead of a thorough examination of the possible differential diagnosis before giving me the diagnosis. I had suspected it for a while but because of the misinformation and controversy I kept thinking I didn't have it based on the extreme presentation I was seeing online . When I got diagnosed with borderline personality disorder it carried no hope, loads of negativity and even more stigma , I was so lost , and nearly gave up several times . The diagnosis of DID is perhaps more severe but it does carry s more positive outlook on prognosis and I found it so much easier to believe I can be helped , can work through it , and there was light sy the end of this tunnel finally . Sympathies to everyone who had to suffer from the amount of UA-cam videos by the likes of Trisha paytos and company . Thank you Todd Grande as always , for the sensible and we'll presented information.
Oh, and that the therapist had the gall to put this case of blatant therapeutic malpractice into a case study is just staggering. People like that have a HIGHLY fragile sense of identity. The harm done to that client by talking her into these new symptoms on top of her already existing ones is immense!
I got diagnosed recently and am trying to sort out my life as I work with this. Doing research and what not. And the more I learned the more of my life (that I can remember) seemed to piece together in ways I could never explain growing up. I'm scared, and honestly (after seeing the kind of ppl on the internet who show off DID) am refusing to tell my parents. How do I even explain something like this? I want help but I feel so stupid and attention seeking about it. Just ashamed... I don't want this, and with this diagnosis comes with the notion that maybe there's a reason I don't remember my orphanage days is even more terrifying.
I appreciate the compassionate interpretations in this comment section. It seems that Diane was in extreme denial and instead of insulting her, people are considering her motives.
I'm diagnosed with DID, it is hard for me to handle. I'm anxious to watch this as I have intrusive OCD thoughts about "what if I'm lying?" About almost everything including my dx. I want to watch but am afraid to trigger that. Ugh
I also have DID. I regularly struggle with feeling like I'm making it all up. I think it's pretty common. After watching this vid, it seems like this client may have been malingering, but they clearly had other disorders (namely BPD). Dr Grande handles this video very well.
I'm the same, diagnosed with it, but I avoid talking about, I self-doubt it, then something happens and I can't explain it. It took me forever to tell my therapist about it and despite them being open to it, I have yet to talk to them in any great detail. The idea that this is attention seeking is ridiculous.
I actually looked up case studies because I think I am causing the symptoms.
Even though I was diagnosed through NIMH 20 years ago. I tell myself that it got planted in my mind by them.
Despite the constant time loss, inner voices, mysterious cuts etc.
It took me that long to recently watch a “Switching” video that people post because of my fear of being Crazy.
Total Control, who made reference of DID as “attention seeking”? Maybe I missed something? Certainly Dr. Grande didn’t say that; maybe you’re referring to a viewer comment I didn’t see yet? Or is this a common misconception you’ve heard people have about those affected with DID? I believe it is real diagnosis, although apparently quite rare. I do think Malingering is an attention-seeking behavior, but I have a feeling that’s not what you were referring to.
updates and treatment? ocd and did?
I think what's going on is the massive problem of falsifiability in the mental health world - it's why accusations of pseudoscience are hard to disprove and why the field is still light years away from the kind of credibility enjoyed by other areas of medicine
Dr. Grande, thank you so much for your work. Please do address the inheritability of PTSD. Thank you!!
I will share this because, after becoming more educated, I realized why this happened, and thought others would find it interesting. I was first diagnosed with PTSD with DID. An other clinician diagnosed me with CPTSD with DD. Turns out, I am borderline personality disorder, and on my way to remission, hopefully! These disorders have so much overlap with Very important differentials. I enjoy when Dr. Grande gives insight on differentials.
I think your case studies videos are quite interesting and easy to understand. I hope that you decide to do more of these case studies videos in the near future. Thank you.
I love when you do case studies !!! You are so right...I hope that"Diane" in this case, sought counseling for herself after this. It sounds like she may need to take a step back from practicing for a time....no judgment ..meant....of course a clinician could get caught up it this. Glamorized in the media for decades...ie...All About Eve...Sybil....Split....are just a few movies about this diagnosis....I believe it's rare to have such pronounced alters....and tend to think that disassociating is possible in severe trauma cases, however, not to the degree depicted in these fictional cases. Not even close...although wouldnt we all like to see actual proof of this ? Not just a clever writer's depiction of it.
You might want to read "I'm Eve" , written by Chris Costner Sizemore. She did not allow the psychiatrists to have any part in telling her story. Why? Because they were the ones who sensationalized her life and the DID. It is an amazing book. MUCH more believable than Sybil. Which gave me nightmares and daymares for ten years. Therapy and hospitalizations helped tremendously.
This analysis is absolutely vital for any mental health practitioner to review, because it shows how fixation upon a chain of conditions can compromise one's ability to diagnose their patients appropriately; "Diane" most certainly caused psychological harm to "Tammy" by asserting her specialization.
This mind has experienced the reality of DID for decades, and if any are interested we're willing to share our analysis of the condition's progression. Trauma was most certainly a present factor from six months of age onward, which led to a complete state of dissociation by age six (courtesy of being drugged and undergoing an unnecessary/unregulated exorcism). For three years a state of passive submission failed to halt the cycle of abuse, so this mind began to rationalize that if it thought/acted differently the abuser's actions would change as a result. The first alter called herself Vivian because she sought to rise above a social class of aggressive individuals, but when she was called fake and annoying those traits became suppressed. The second to attempt an emergence was Roxanne, and her explosion of presence was a direct result of seeing Vivian's failure to be respected. The word irrepressible described her for many months, until teachers and parents alike did an intervention where they insisted Roxanne was an unwelcome figment of our imagination; for three years a sense of there being a wall within the brain, and something looking back out haunted our consciousness every night at bedtime.
The traumatic situations only increased into puberty, and as a coping mechanism we escaped into fantasies about a favourite television show. By age twelve, nine distinct "personas" featured in imaginary wartime adventures that would make cartoon writers drool, but to the mind it was only a distraction from reality. One night in a dream the wall came down, and a new character was introduced with such presence that she was accepted as part of our mind. From that moment forward ten individuals began living in one body, and for a couple of years we failed to notice how the actions/voice of this form would transition almost fluidly. It was at age 14 that we consciously began to integrate as one mind (it should be noted that for 2 years we were heavily over-medicated by a doctor who was getting kickbacks from pharmaceutical studies), after a particularly sobering experience at school. One second we were walking towards a sloping hill where a school-mate was threatening to fight us, and suddenly we were sitting in front of the principal's office as an ambulance drove off with sirens blaring; when we disclosed that we had no idea what happened the staff literally turned pale, and said we could return to class without explaining.
After that day we realized that each of us was a unique individual who had their own psychiatric needs, and within months we had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital where they THANKFULLY detoxed us from an overdose of medication. After four months we were released with the following advisement on our file: the present diagnosis was traumatic stress disorder from living in an unstable situation (which we'd be returning to), we would DEFINITELY develop PTSD if not something far more complex as a result of persistent long-term trauma, but due to the internal coping mechanisms we'd developed the only followup recommended was for depression, and due to the chemical rewiring made even more prevalent by inept psychiatry no medication was ever to be used on this brain again. By age 16 the personas (as we prefer to be called) had begun their first attempt at integration, but without proper guidance had accidentally suppressed themselves by age 21. At 25 small cues to their individual needs began cropping up in everyday life (a hand shooting out to perform a task the conscious mind did not plan, randomly insulting the elderly, etc). For two years we struggled to accept ourselves within this body, and by age 27 we were ready to be admitted for a full assessment. Unfortunately the doctor did not believe in DID or any other form of alter personality, so we earned a related diagnosis of depersonalization disorder (among a slew of other things including PTSD and dysthimea). It took another four years to research DID, and seek out a series of councilors who worked together to confirm the diagnosis.
We are relieved to begin coming out as 1 of 10 alien entities experiencing this human life (after all we've endured did you really think we'd consider ourselves of the same species?), and the question of DID's validity is very important to us. We have always maintained a singular goal of keeping this mind healthy regardless of external threat, and in our opinion those who live with DID developed their "alters" as a means of preserving higher brain functions while processing traumatic information on a subconscious level. To treat us like we're imaginary or fake is to diminish the value of a human brain, and doing so only makes patients more vulnerable to suggestion when a councilor says "this is who you are." We developed with purpose, and each of us is unique in our reason for existing; thank you for reading our insights into DID development.
What a horrible thing for that woman to do!!!! Having DID is NOT fun or a joke!!!!!!
Fascinating!
On the topic of malingering when it comes to mental illness: "Tammy" basically admitted to malingering on tape and all the symptoms she mentioned seemed too... convenient to be real, but is it possible for a patient to believe they have an illness that they don't actually have? In plain terms, can you talk yourself into believing you're mentally ill (for example by excessively consuming media about that illness) or be talked into believing it by a therapist?
Do hypochondriacs exist? Yes.
If one of her alters were trying to sabotage therapy and recovery, there are much simpler ways than through a recording that took weeks for the counselor to see.
Nice bit of forensic analysis here. I've recently come to believe in episodic Dissociation as a real phenomenon. But, I think the Doctor debunked this case. An apparent attempt to willingly hammer a Cluster B cocktail into a DID package for some form of personal gain. Basically, unethical encouragement of malingering, where real treatment for PTSD and/or BPD (& ASD (?)) was pretty clearly in the best interests of the patient. Certainly more to the story than I'll ever know, but the Smell Test has been triggered.
Thanks, Doctor. Loving the Education!!!
After watching this, I am not surprised that the condition is under-diagnosed. Seriously, who would report to a therapist that they are hearing voices, or any of the other experiences if they get a sense that their therapist doubts them or thinks that they are lying or the disorder doesn't exist. As for the small group of vested counsellors with a high number of patients, that goes both ways, maybe they are over diagnosing, but then again, maybe there are those who are under diagnosing cause they have closed minds. I have been diagnosed with this disorder, I was diagnosed with my third therapist but did not get on with him, then I saw some ten therapists before I found someone who talked to me like I wasn't a liar or self-deluded. I would test them each, to see how they would react and if I got a sense that they were not open, I would not talk to them about the others. I'd stay in therapy and try, but eventually, it would fail cause if you can't be honest with your therapist for fear of being judged a moron or liar, there's no use. My study area is psychology, hopefully will be doing a PhD in a couple of years. I'm interested in studying how psychological ideas become dogmatic in science when we should know better. One example is, the idea that there is a 'small vested group'...it's used to discredit an idea or group. We really don't know the numbers of therapists who hold these views, how varied their views are and no one questions the vested interests of the larger group. Then, the next generation of mental health workers/academics go out into the world parroting the same thing without going to original sources, talking to patients or their therapists, etc. I find this repeatedly happening in various subject topics in psychology.
Good evening. 100 % agreement with your analysis. I believe in the existence of DID, but I don't believe Tamy. Have been skeptical from the beginning, too much antisocial behaviour right from the start. I thought of some histrionic traits, too, but not sure. I feel very sorry for Diane, maybe she was at the beginning of her counseling career and an absolute and engaged believer in certain theories. So this might have been for an unexperienced counselor the ideal situation for testing your prefered hypothesis more carefully. Also I think she might wanting to believe in the good in Tamy, and Tamy noticed that with her shrewdness.
Just wanted to add, that people often take every help that might unburden them from taking responsibility for their actions, so this diagnosis was PURE seduction for Tamy.
Just one more thought here. How many disorders, esp. the more severe ones, are, ultimately, partially iatrogenic, just thinking of the rise of bipolar II due to therapy with SSRIs... And just a week ago, I saw a man walking down the street, his body...everything shaking and cramping because of tardive dyskinesia...
Very interesting case, beautifully presented by Dr. Großartig (means Dr. "great", translation made by UA-cam, isn't that cute?), thank you very much! ❤
Dr. Grande, please please please talk about the inheritability of PTSD. My father is a war veteran with PTSD, and I think I inherited his PTSD.
lucy lucy really?
Any follow up news about this?
intergenerational trauma?
Intergenerational trauma seems applicable here. I am the child of someone who suffered abuse as a child. Their baggage carried over into how I was raised. I was not abused, but every therapist I've seen says I present as an abuse survivor. I identified with my parent and learned their responses to triggers. I was also a sensitive child, so witnessing my parent's responses to triggers was terrifying; those were times that I felt unsafe. This intensified my own response to those triggers.
BULLSEYE 👊. Fascinating and so very interesting. I do hope you're having a good vacation doc. You really earned it. Have a wonderful week and thanks again for an excellent video Dr. Grande. Greetings 😃🇳🇱
Diane was so irresponsible, unhelpful, and unscientific during the treatment of this case study that I’m honestly worried about the quality of treatment her other clients are getting.
Thank you for your analysis and insight into spotting malingering. The fact that the practitioner sought outside advice and still came to the conclusion of DID baffles me.
Please do a video on Kam Mcleod and Bryer Schmegelsky! I think Bryer Schmegelsky had borderline personality disorder. On Websleuths it says his mom was afraid of his angry outbursts. BPDers are prone to uncontrollable anger. He was abusing drugs by snorting the crushed Ritalin. He had suicidal ideation, as evidenced by his photo of himself with a gun in his mouth, and how that female classmate of his says he would talk about killing her and her friends and then killing himself. One thing that stands out for me is that he has maintained his friendship with Kam for that many years. People with BPD often have unstable relationships; they'll often sabotage their relationships when they feel they're getting too close because of their fear of intimacy/abandonment, so I think maybe either he doesn't have that particular symptom, since you don't need to have every single symptom of BPD to have BPD, or Kam has never done anything to piss him off, so he's kept idealizing him, so he never got into the cycle of idealization/devaluation. The DSM-IV says that people with BPD have higher rates of divorce in their childhoods, and child abuse and neglect. Bryer was neglected by his mom, according to the book "Red Flagged", as his teeth were filled with cavities. His dad says he never learned how to ride a bike, which makes me wonder if his mom deliberately didn't get him a bike, even a used/2nd-hand bike. I also think the attraction to Communism and Naziism is indicative of BPD, as they are both extreme ideologies, and according to a quiz to see if a person has a weak identity in the book by psychologist Mary Hirschfeld PhD , one of the symptoms is attraction to extreme ideologies that help define a person. If Bryer didn't have a shaky identity, he would just be attracted to middle-of-the-road things, and be a boring, non-descript person.
In addition to the very interresting and educational video I've got a question, why do some people pretent to have a mental illness and lie about symptoms to get medicated?, the reason I ask is because I read medicin and forensics and get information from forensics all around the World and the results are the same, as a lot of mental ill persons die relativ young, either by cardiac arrest or by liver, kidney problems caused by antipsycotic medication making the body shut down. Everytime a brand of medicine cause too many problems it's changed by another brand, but are people uninformed about the risk and side effects since they in some cases make mental illness up 🤔. I have been medicated for 4-5 years for skizofrenia, but revealed a year ago, all the knowledge I had about my family, but it took 4 years to even getting to the point of trusting anyone again, by reading I have concluded, that my diagnose is more like cptsd and anxiety, meaning I needed the medication to calm down and try to figure out, what the problem really was, but many people never know if they had been exposed to mental/emotional or other types of abuse, simply because they don't know all the kinds of abuse and how it's done, only they're confused by their own action and can't explain why they do things the way they do, eccept it's a taught behavior with mental issues. Thanks Dr. Grande for taking your time making educational videos and share knowledge to us 👍😎
We had a case here in Sweden where a man was sentenced to prison (well mental treatment in an institution) for eight murders that he started to confess to in therapy. He was labeled Sweden's worst serial killer. Psychiatrists, psychologists, the police and most members of the public were convinced that he was guilty of the murders. They did re-enactments on the sights where he claimed that the murders had taken place (the re-enactments were filmed). Important to know is that "his" victims did exist, they were people that were either missing or confirmed dead. Many of the murders were infamous and high profile cases. He who claimed to have commited the crimes showed a different raging persona when he re-enacted the crimes. He was incarcerated in a mental institution, the same he'd been living in before the whole thing started, for several years until the scandal was a fact. All the professionals were so "thrilled" to have caught a real serial killer, that they threw all doubt (if they had any) out and interpreted everything in favour of the "offenders" version. When he didn't get the facts right, they "helped" him when he said he had trouble to remember exactly. He could find much information from the articles in the papers, but when he lacked essential information he went creative with the help of the professionals. Eventually he suddenly said that his confessions were false and when the supreme court went through all the material and listened to his explanations - he wanted the drugs he was given, tranquilizers and the more he acted out under the re-enactments, the more drugs he was given - he was aquitted and released. Some of the key figures from the group that were responsible for that he was convicted still claim that he's guilty, that they'd done nothing wrong. He was at the time called Tomas Quick but later on took an other name. I don't know if there're material in English written about it. There are books written about it though. Maybe they've been translated into English. I'm sure you'd find it very fascinating and interesting. How professionals lose their presumed objectivity and only surround themselves with people who share their own perceptions of reality.
Im not a therapist or anything but honestly, I love the stories you tell without being biast and the fact that you state your opinion afterwards. I've learned a lot from your channel. Keep up the good work!!
I'm loving these case studies! So interesting!
Very interesting, Dr. Grande. I admire how kind you are when describing the inappropriate behavior of therapists as well as clients. Terrific analysis.🙏🏻❤️
Wow. I think Diane was way too gullible, especially with a colleague's opinion of malingering being put forth. The Showtime series United States of Tara is one of my favorites and I'd like to hear your opinion on it. It's obviously entertainment, but the damage DID does to Tara's life and her family was well represented, I thought. Thank you for having another rational, informative video.
The damage, maybe. But the alters in the show are disturbingly one dimensional, in my opinion
Jessi Blank I have DID and thought United States of Tara was a ridiculous caricature of what the disorder is like, especially switches between self states. No one in my life, including me, knew I had this disorder until my diagnosis. This is the case for most people. Do you think if you lived with Tara or were married to her you’d notice she had issues? Yup, you would. Most people, including professionals, miss switches and don’t recognize them. Most people don’t trust others enough to have switches happen in front of people. This is a covert disorder, not overt or florid for almost 100% of people diagnosed.
Rather than seeing Diane, the therapist as gullible, I view her as highly empathetic and knowledgeable with respect to the complexities involved. I find your videos clarifying in a field of study that has infinite variables to consider. Thank you.
I'm six minutes into this video and felt compelled to mention the person I was listening to prior to this. His name is Colin A. Ross and in a video from 2016, he was giving a talk at a community college about DID. I didn't listen long to be completely honest, as within the introduction he mentioned stumbling into the 200th case of DID ever known through hypnosis. Then it happened a second time. Then a third time. He says he then became the leading source of information on the subject and that was all before he even received his residency... (well, the last case was 3mos after his residency...) He was in med school and went on to psychiatry.
I mean, that is difficult to believe and I worry if something else may have been going on. Hopefully nothing nefarious.
I totally agree with your analysis. In 30 years, I never saw a case of DID involving multiple personalities that the psychiatrist could not quash. I did have one woman come to the ER by ambulance accompanied by another woman in order to get a prescription refill……both basically inappropriate use of resources and the facility, but she was treated nonetheless. The doctor ordered the refill and I picked it up from our ER pharmacy. When I took it into her, her friend told me that the woman’s deaf mute personality had taken over and if I would give the medication bottle to her, she would sign instructions to the patient. I told the friend to sign to the patient that she needed to get the original verbal and hearing personality back because the meds were for her, not the current personality in control. I left the room. I returned a short time later to find the original verbal and hearing personality present. I gave her the medication with verbal instructions and discharged her.
Fantastic important and informative video for therapists and counselors. Thank you
I'm just now seeing this video. I just wanted to thank you for spreading information about DID. I was recently diagnosed with this disorder and informative videos like these are very helpful and validating. I spent years thinking I was crazy because I was very young and didn't know about DID. Even after researching it a ton, it took three therapists, a psychologist and a psychiatrist a couple of years to diagnose me because they wanted to observe everything and rule out other possibilities. I also have Conversation Disorder. My particular case of Conversion Disorder causes seizure-like episodes as if I were epileptic and my left side is weak and desensitized as if I had a stroke. I remember some awful therepists I had when I was attending college. They absolutely ridiculed me when i wanted them to look into DID. I was still on the fence about it all and I don't want to be someone who self diagnoses themselves without having a professional to confirm it. They literally laughed at me and told me there was no way I had that. I looked at a list of criteria one has to have in order to even possibly develop DID. I can put a check on every single thing on that list.
I tried making videos about this on UA-cam to try and help inform others and share my experiences with them but I had to stop. DID is so stigmatized and tons of people don't believe it's even a real disorder. I struggle enough as it is with mental health and people like that only made it worse.
I apologize for the long comment. It's just really refreshing to hear you give actual true facts about DID. I know I'm not the only one who struggles with hearing people spread misinformation. It's harmful and disheartening. People who pretend to have DID (like Trisha Paytas) because they think it's cool, fun or quirky drive me insane and cause more harm to the community. Because of them, people are going to assume that anyone at all who claims to have DID is lying for attention. I'm going to share this video and the video about Trisha and DissociaDid to help educate others who don't understand DID. Thank you again for going over this disorder and educating people. Your channel is really interesting and informative to watch. I'm glad I came across it a few days ago!
I am studying for my licensure as a mental health counselor. I enjoyed listening to the case study and your thoughts. I am happy to say that I recognized all the symptoms of the other diagnosis🎊🎉🥳 thanks I’m binge watching your videos for test day!
There could be a comedy series based on this doctor and patient. I imagined a laugh track and it fir this perfectly
I can't believe Diane still has a license to practice. It seems as though DID is something Diane found interesting so that's the diagnosis she went with, completely ignoring the symptoms the patient was actually exhibiting. I think Tammy caught on to Diane's interests as well, which is why she asked if she was an interesting patient, and said she'd create more splits. As though she didn't want to be dropped for not being special enough to Diane. I think Diane cared more about having an interesting case then actually helping the patient.
I have a friend who claims to have DID. I don't know if she really does or not, but I truly believe she believes it. She seems to be a good person with a good heart and if her memory is accurate, has suffered a horrendous past of traumatic ritual abuse. Stories like that can be hard to digest at first because we just don't want to believe that kind of evil even happens, let alone that it leaves this kind of fractured and broken life permanently behind. If my friend is acting or making it up, she is damn good at being consistent. I have a hard time understanding how anyone can absolutely rule out something existing if they've never really been up close enough to even observe it. Seems to me, some doctors make up their minds without even meeting one patient claiming to suffer these disorders.
Yes I have this thankyou Dr Grande
WOW. This reminds me of someone on UA-cam.
Sounds like diane needs to seek supervision
So I have been watching a UA-cam channel about DID (The Entropy System) for a while now, because it is an interesting concept, and while I think that DID does exist, I agree on your judgment of the case study. It’s pretty obvious that that woman was faking it. What I find to be so terrible about people like the woman in the case study is that they worsen the stigma surrounding DID quite a lot and are in that way doing significant harm to those who actually have DID.
They don't care they just want attention. Its fairly common for people with bpd (which would make more sense in this case) to do things to make a scene so they can draw attention to themselves.
The mother from the "Entropy system" doesn't believe her either. She has a video where she interviewed her parents.
Some counselors simply don't do a very good job. This case has strong signs that the therapist was forcing his/her worldview and expectations into the patient.
Therapist: Here, study these symptoms before our next sessions.
Tammy: Great doc! Thanks for the tips.
[Hats off to the patient who can pull off 100+ alters😆]
I could lister to all day long. Great video! 😊
Thank you 🙂
I agree with Dr. Grande. While he was explaining the case, the red flags popped up that I couldn’t shake and I did not think it was DID.
Thank you!! My friend is dealing with this.. in a sence. I would really like to know more about this.. but you did a good job being skeptical about this.. i am
Diane seems to be the one dissociated from reality. Imagine thinking that a client suddenly going AWOL means they must be cured!
Good video on this issue Dr. Grande. Appreciate your opinion.
Thank you so much for explaining this! Too much misinformation exists out there. The Toni Collette show TARA certainly dramatized DID. The Tammy person.... omg what a nightmare!!!
True, most people with actual DID would not report or assume that they have DID. Most of their complaint will be thay forget things most of the time and share instances which made them shocked that happened that they did not know they did.
I in fact know it exists personally. Ty Dr Grande!
These case studies are fascinating
I appreciate you Dr. Grande.
I've had DID since a child, with fugue states that have decreased as I got older and have had therapy. I've never recovered memories during fugue states and don't know any alters. I've noticed lately on UA-cam so many are saying they have DID and videos like watch me switch or how they know their alters well. It seems so .... Well it's not like mine. What's your take on the people making videos like this. Are they for real?
I also have CPTSD. but have lived in a war zone (father was military and experienced things I can't even talk about on UA-cam.
It REALLY bothers me how much people online on focusing on the differences of their alters. I have DID, and the most healing thing has been to figure out how to work together, rather than building each alter up as an individual. DID is about concealment and protection. Acting out your alters on purpose just seems...dangerous. Like a slippery slope to retraumatization. Most people who know me would say that they had no idea I have DID. Not like what is shown on UA-cam today.
@@brigetteeeb exactly. I've asked people if they ever noticed and they said no. When I first noticed my biggest clue was one second it was morning and suddenly it was night. I thought I was being drugged. You try to cover it up. Not expose it.
I can't even watch the youtubers after only watching a few. So many promote their videos with *switching on camera*. Switching is definitely something I try to hide. I try to keep an open mind and wonder if it's because the younger generations live their lives openly on social media. I just don't know though. I can't relate to any of the youtubers I've seen either.
@@sierrarose5751 it's so wierd. I know suddenly my niece is saying she has over 70 alters and she "knows" them and can turn them on and off. Also has PTSD after supposively having a perfect life. (my mother's version who is also my abuser) and I don't know whether she's making it up or to call for help. It would certainly be disturbing for two to have the DID and would it not prove the parent had issues? Seems almost like she's provoking me telling me these things. I'm not sure what to make of it. She's denied so much.. some part of me stays away but to find this out blows me away. Or maybe she knows things about me I don't and is saying it's my niece. Idk it makes you feel crazy if you overthink it. You don't make videos about it idk. I did watch at first thinking it would be helpful but I found it more confusing. Hopefully he will give some clarification on this. It took almost 30 years before I trusted anyone to say exactly what all was truly going on with me to get a diagnosis and so it just seems so easy for them i guess.
Diane, are you familiar with confirmation bias?
I would love to see you cover Substance Abuse disorder more.
Diane might need more CEU’s along with more self work in codependency. I really appreciate your insightful wisdom and fascinating observations.
Very interesting. I had not heard about did.
3 years. That's how long I was in Therapy. I then was hospitalized for about 8 weeks under close observation. I suffered horrific night terrors to the extent that I was given thorazine/Stelazine in an attempt to calm my brain. Flashbacks were so intense that I could not care for myself. I managed to hold a full time professional job and I had 3 children. My husband at the time was Not helpful. I was absolutely in shock when the Psychiatrists and psychologists and nurses on staff informed me of their diagnosis. In some ways I was relieved and then I was also ashamed. It took me over 6 months to come to terms with my diagnosis. It did make sense of my huge gaps in memory. I still struggle every single day to hold on to the rope of sanity that I obtained during 25 years of therapy. Sometimes I feel I am hanging on by a thread ands not a rope
I appreciate you and these cases ❤
When I here about something like this, it makes me question the depth of deviousness and "living a lie" that people can engage in.
When confrontation and boldness accompany lying there must be an element of fear accompanied with confronting the liar. I am guessing that is often the case. The bold (low level) criminal can get away with many things for a short period of time because they are threatening.
I am not in the mental health industry. So, as an outsider, that level of lying and additional ramping up of the lies seems obvious.
Finally, it seems like an insurance payment is a tempting reason for a councilor to indulge a liar.
If you are getting paid by a third party to listen to someone lie to you... well not everyone is as scrupulous as Todd Grande.
I’ve personnaly been diagnosed with DID, TDI in french, after 8 years of therapy. She never gave me any diagnosis prior this one, cause I already knew I had PTSD, BPD, ED, depression, and so on... the label wasn’t that important for her, neither for me. One day she told me that she wanted to talk about DID with me, if I knew what it was. I said not really, I know about dissociative disorders because I’m a Moon person. She laughed a bit and asked me if I could reach my planet and see if Nina (she specifically said that name and I was shooked) would be ok to take the front. And she did. And I knew. Suddenly, things started to make a little more sense. Years of my life just... vanished, so many trauma from birth to 26y’o. But now, this diagnosis explain soooo may things, and I’m really lucky to have 3 psychiatrists (for trauma/ eating disorders/& depression). The 3 of them diagnosed me with DID, as it is an evidence for them, but here in Switzerland, I was recently hospitalized and the main Doctor/Schrink-Chieff did not believe DID could be my diagnosis as it is super rare. I felt denied, my head twin was so mad at him, but i guess this is how it is for now... it’s a fight for us to be believed but I’m glad that someone like you believe in it.
Fascinating as always
Thank you!
Malingering... I'm a nonbeliever in this "illness". From my experience it comes from attention seekers and others who are trying to avoid responsibilities. But I don't have my degree yet so what the hell do I know? But I've seen it, and just don't believe it.
Thank you, Dr Grande. 🌹👍
Elisa Mastromarino Hi if you look into the real sufferers of DID instead of stereotypes or people using it to get out of responsibility, you would know that anyone who really has DID would never use their alters as an excuse to break the law or otherwise avoid responsibility. the overwhelming majority of people with DID will stay covert, and will present covertly rather than overtly, and will take responsibility for anything the alters have done.
As a person with diagnosed DID, I can tell you it is the exact opposite of attention seeking or trying to avoid responsibilities. I hide the fact I have DID from everyone except my Dr's and husband and I just recently told my 2 adult daughters. I never leave my house unless I am going to therapy because my PTSD symptoms and depression are so bad. Most people don't go around telling others, although I am seeing a difference in young people who seem to be much more open. But older people I know maybe tell a couple people. We fear it will chase people away so we definitely aren't flaunting it for attention. I am not sure how I would have been able to go to school as a child while suffering extreme abuse for decades. DID allows for memories to be compartmentalized so as an adult I could work, raise children etc. without having flashbacks and other obvious PTSD symptoms. It is only once I was in my late 20's and found photographs of my abuse combined with the death of my father (my main abuser) that I was unable to function properly. So although I had struggled with time loss and depression and other things, it was only when my memories were brought out that I really fell apart. So DID allowed me to be a responsible and contributing person because each part kept the memories so separate from the one who was mainly "out" living day to day. The people who I have met with DID often struggle with relationships and depression. Many often isolate themselves, like me. It is hard to have relationships with memory loss. It's embarrassing. And once the horrific memories start surfacing, all the symptoms of PTSD come with it. I can understand why people may see it as attention seeking from maybe browsing youtube. I cannot relate to the people I've seen on here. I'm not suggesting they are faking, because I don't know any of them personally, however I could understand why someone would watch some of them and see their behaviour as attention seeking. It is quite bizarre to me that people come out with a sweeping judgement that they don't believe in DID. You don't hear that about any other mental illness. I didn't examine and diagnose myself. I had no idea what DID really was even for a long time after my diagnosis. I had a group of symptoms that many Dr's agreed were DID. So when you say you don't believe in it, it confuses me. Are you suggesting my experiences aren't real or I'm just a lying attention seeker or that it is another mental illness that is wrongly diagnosed?
I think an assumption of malingering is a huge, terrible barrier to treatment. So many doctors approach me in a way I perceive as dismissive once they see DID on my charts. When I was inpatient after a suicide attempt there were multiple days I didn't even get to see a doctor because I switched. Presumably because of this perception of malingering, I was denied help when I expressed that I was feeling triggered and I needed an outlet so that I wouldn't dissociate, I asked for headphones to drown out aditory triggers (which other patients were given but I wasn't until end of my stay when a sympathetic nurse finally listened to me sobbing that I don't want to be switching but no one is listening to me when I say what I can use to help stop it), perfume or a stuffed animal my husband brought me to ground myself (they refused to bring me those items despite them not being on the forbidden list), a chance to walk in the yard for a second, and I pleaded and was denied access to anything besides drugs- and those don't prevent switching. A nurse apparently told my mute alter "You need to stop these games and talk to us properly," when he was trying to communicate with sign and writing, and the doctor pressed one of my other alters when she was very confused and disoriented for questions she didn't know how to answer without responding at all to her crying/panicking. I was actively trying to be in a place where I could effectively take part in my treatment, I tried like hell to ground myself enough to not dissociate but none of the doctors would help me and then penalized me for presenting with symptoms of a disorder I'm diagnosed with. I hate noticeable switching in front of anyone, I don't find my disorder "exciting" or even all that interesting, I find it terrifying. I honestly don't care what name my disorder falls under, or whether the description broadens or changes in the future, but my experience is real and it is painful. If you are or are becoming a clinician I plead that you be willing to learn from your patients and listen to their experiences as individuals. If I had just been allowed use of grounding tools which other patients who weren't assumed to be fakers got to use I probably would have been able to be present in treatment. I have an expectation that mental health professionals will be skeptical intellectuals. It is disturbing to me if a professional can't be described in this way. So absolutely question established ideas in the DSM, but likewise, be an intellectual and question your own preconceived notions about your patients and their diagnosis.
@@wrenbartlett4741 This was really well put. I totally agree, I don't care about the name of my diagnosis and as you pointed out... there is absolutely no advantage of having this label. I have been hospitalized once and I purposefully brushed off my diagnosis of DID and said I think I just had PTSD because I know too many medical professionals dismiss any symptoms based on this absolute belief DID doesn't exist. I am so very sorry to hear you were treated so poorly. Clearly you knew what you needed to help yourself. That is the opposite of avoiding taking responsibility or looking for attention. You are a self aware person who knew how to help themselves and were denied the opportunity to do that. I'm just sitting here shaking my head because I really can't believe how often I have heard other people go through similar things and the things I've experienced myself. The Tammy's and Diane's of the world make this so much harder for those of us who are truly suffering. I hope you have found supportive people to help you. It sounds like your husband may be one of those people. Again, you didn't deserve to be treated that way and I'm sorry to hear about your experience.
Your blanket statement makes me trust mental health professionals even less.
And since I see you got a heart like from Dr Grande I find it interesting that out of all the case studies he could have presented. He choose one of a over eager therapist naive therapist.
I learn so much with ur vids... thanku🌞
Thank you. :)
You're welcome!
When I was 70yrs. I realized.for about a year I was doing and saying things, that I thought was real and right, but I did something, then I thought I was crazy and went to my dr. He referred me to a physicist. I told him I thought I had another person in me. My dad was cruel, in order to survive I created a protector in me. But it caused me as I grew up not to know me. So I lived in my own shell.and was unable to learn in school. So therefore I don't recall much of my school days. Now that I'm 79yrs nothing matters but salvation. Wanting to be more & more like Jesus. Forgetting those things behind. Thank you. I believe we all do what we can to survive.
I have cPTSD and so I met several people "having" DID during the last 2 Covid years at the place, where I got my therapy sessions, which was at a hospital. All of them were diagnosed with other personality disorders before they came to this hospital. Prior to the therapist they now had, they were diagnosed with Borderline or Bipolar Personality Disorder. I was so glad, that I did not have to go to the same therapist, because I feared she might change my diagnose as well, which would lead directly to a wrong therapy. My fear was reasonable as one of my dissociative phases is time loss and happens when taking a shower pretty regularly. Another dissociative phase happens seldom and outside, when being triggered by a special type of person, which also results in time loss and me "waking up" at some other place and me not knowing how I got there. Since I have my dog on my side, when going outside, this did not happen anymore. I just want to make clear, that even when having memory problems during dissociative phases, this does not have to be a symptom of DID. I know several people with PTSD or cPTSD, who also have similar dissociative phases with time loss. The difference to DID seems to be, that all of us always know who we are and this is just one single personality. We sort of dissociate from the moment we are in and not from our identity.