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ABOUT D.I.D.
- Ace Helgens
- Jan 16, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 9
DID, often seen as a dangerous disorder that must be shut away, but what if that wasn’t the case? This disorder is commonly seen in horror films where the one who has DID is the villain or implied to be evil in some way. That’s not the case though. In fact, in most cases it’s the exact opposite, the people who have DID are more likely to be victimized. However to understand these harmful and incorrect stereotypes, we have to understand the disorder itself.
DID stands for Dissociative Identity Disorder, previously known as MPD or Multiple Personality Disorder. The name was changed because everyone has different personalities; your serious personality, your personality around your friends, your personality you use at work. However those with DID have multiple identities. The difference is that a personality is just a slight shift in your behavior/mannerisms while an identity includes your name, pronouns, gender, looks, etc.
The myth that people with DID are dangerous is one that has been spread around for many years, it is often associated with possession because of something called switches. Switches are when the different alters change who is in front or who is in control. How this act looks from an outside perspective will be different for every system but it can include spacing off and dissociation. This is a very normal part of DID though.
Every system (or all of the alters in one body) will be different, there is no one kind of system. The memory gaps, personality traits, behaviors, and more can all be different experiences for everyone. Many pieces of media will depict people with this disorder as murderous psychos but that couldn’t be further from the truth. People with DID often hide the fact that they even have this disorder because of the backlash stereotypes garner. People with DID are the same as you or me, they aren’t dangerous or evil, they just want to live their lives.
