Just what is DID or MPD

[A thoughtful view from a friend, of someone who has MPD]

“We don’t suffer from MPD we survive because of it” -Unknown

I'll just put this out there right now. I grew up in a family were I was constantly made to feel like I was crazy. My family is some what religious and pretty right wing. I am also adopted and well an artist, prone to fantasies and sensitivity to the other side. It's pretty clear to say my family and I we just don't get along. I have for the most pert been alright with things not always being able to be explained. Because from a very early age weird things would happen and were never explained to me. This combined with my ever thirst for knowledge led me to the world of Psychology.

When my Ex was diagnosed with Schizophrenia about 6 years into our relationship, I delved into it even deeper. I started reading more on other conditions such as MPD (Multiple personality Disorder) or DID (Dissociation Identity Disorder) as it's known now. From here on in I'm going to refer to it as MPD as some dear ones to me would like me to refer to it as. They find the newer label insulting as do I. At any rate I was researching for Schizophrenia when I came across an old interest of mine, in one of the most fascinating and ironically most misunderstood disorder in the Psychology field.

What is MPD you ask well pull up a chair my friend I will explain.  My explanation comes from first hand experienced, research, and a friend of mine who actually does have it.

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I have heard a lot of misconceptions and assumptions about DID or Dissociative identity disorder formally known as MPD or Multiple personality disorder. Now I am not an expert nor doctor or even psychiatrist, but I do, do a tremendous amount of reading and studding about subjects I find fascinating. Often times when I can’t sleep or even when I’m board I read up on many different complicated subjects. One of them was MPD. Why did it interest me so much you might ask? Not for the reason some of you might think. No I don’t consider these people freaks, I actually was highly interested in the human ability to survive even in the most horrific and abusive circumstances. I have read up on this subject purely for my own interest so it might surprise you when I say I now am a good friend with someone who has MPD. (I don’t say suffers from MPD and you will see why the further you read.)

What I learned from my studding is that when a child is put in a situation that is so shocking and torturous there brain can no longer handle the stress and seems to fragment into different people. These people or alts as they are referred to are set in place to keep the main person safe. They hold on to the memories and actions that were too painful for the child to endure in a box so to speak.  These alters have different assigned functions as well. 

About 90% of the time people who have MPD were horribly sexually abused repeatedly. Out of those people the satanic ritualistic and torture tendencies are very high. This disorder has been proven by medical professionals and has been recognized for years. Yet still there are many people who believe one, that the person is either lying to get attention or two are demon possessed. I have found these people who are making the gross accusations are either Religious fanatics or often times have no medical background what so ever or both. Let me ask you something, if you at a young fragile age had your father and mother repeatedly take turns raping you and then allowed their friends to do whatever they please with you. would you want to be present either? Not to mention the satanic torture most of these poor souls have endure as well.

Now most of you have heard of post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD this is a syndrome often associated with people who suffered a traumatic event during a war period. Now if such a thing could cause a disorder of that magnitude in an adult imagine what would happen to a child who is still developing. If you can understand that then you can hopefully grasp the concept of wanting to get away from a tortuous situation. While knowing all children need to have a healthy environment in which to grow and be nurtured, the sufferers of abuse don’t have a stable environment in which to grow up in. Now take this to another level even worse than PTSD and you can see where the splitting off of personalities and emotions comes from.

Have you ever been in class and the teacher is lecturing one minute you hear him talking about quantum physics the next you are on the African savanna. How in the world did that happen? Well you just experienced disassociation. The lecture the teacher was giving was too boring for your brain to handle so you made up a world more appealing to your mind. Now imagine for a second that you are being tortured on a daily basis and understand how easy it was for you to end up on the savanna from your collage desk. That is exactly what happens to these children. 

Many times they suffer from PTSD as well and if something in their environment reminds them of the abuse they suffered it can do what’s called triggering. Triggering works like this. Let’s say when you were a kid you were asked to do a book report, but you had to do a presentation in front of the class for it. You got everything prepared and there you are standing in front of the class, but forget everything. You completely blank out. Your teacher is standing to the left of you and she is wearing a red sweater. She begins to make fun of you for being stupid then the rest of the class fallows along. This event most likely will be somewhat traumatic for a young child who already is insecure, but imagine that every time you see a red sweater like the one your teacher was wearing you get a sudden flash of that day in the class room. Your palms begin to sweat you get scared you hear the other children laughing at you and you see your teacher the one who called you stupid once more just like it happen yesterday. You are getting physical experiences of a memory long since past. This is because it’s what’s called flash bulb memory.  When an incident is so traumatic it often gets burned into your brains long term memory.

Now can someone explain to me how any of this relates to a person lying or being demon possessed? Before the development of modern science and psychology in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s most people relied on what was mostly known and that was religion. Now I’m not here to discredit any religion as I am quite religious myself, but I think where things get dangerous is when either science or religion doesn’t use their brains in any matter. We must remember the bible was written well before medicine was really developed. In fact many times in the biblical times they were unaware of psychology all together. Abuse wasn’t wildly known or even understood, let alone talked about. If a metal disorder did arise most of the time it was treated as demon possessions. Does this mean every incidence in those days wasn’t, I have no idea.  It wasn’t until philosophers and modern thinkers came into the picture that we started to see an insurgence of the psychology of why people act the way they do. I am not here to discredit the existence of demons; for I have seen pure evil in mankind and I do not personally doubt the existence of real evil. Now that being said, to say a child who was systematically tortured on a daily basis is demon possessed is unfounded, two discrediting what actually happen to the abuse person. It makes it seem as if  they did something wrong instead of the abuser and three has no medical or psychological proof. These people are no more demon possessed then a dyslexic or a diabetic is. If anyone is demons possessed (playing the devils advocate, no pun intended) is the very people who abused  and raped a small child instead of nurturing and protecting them.  I think the very misconception on the outsider’s behalf is the very reason why people have been jumping to horrible accusations. Imagine a child who has already been abused for most of his younger life being drug into a church up in front of everyone and being exercised. How traumatic would that be. This child already has so many problems even relating to any one due to his upbringing and now the very people accusing them of being possessed already look at them as an outsider. Why is it so hard for people to sit back and try to understand the psychology of why people are the way they are…

As for lying, most of you might think this is a severely stupid idea at least I’d hope by now after reading everything I just wrote you would. But sadly there are those who accuse people with MPD that they are lying just to get attention, once again a misconception. All you have to do is look into the eyes of people who live with MPD every day to tell they are not lying. The pain and the agony they suffer on a daily basis. To say something like that you join the ranks of the abusers. You are basically discrediting the people of their trauma that was so bad it split their personality in half. The problem lies in the misunderstanding on why MPD occurs. They don’t do it for attention in fact they hide it and in many times very well I might add. It isn’t until things fracture further; many times being traumatized again that causes a rift. This is when most people become aware of the odd behaviors often associated with MPD. Why on earth would they want attention when that’s all they got as a kid the wrong kinds of attention. These people just want to be loved, understood and left alone. If they wanted attention they would not go to great lengths to hide their MPD. That’s the whole function of having MPD to have the person act normal when everything in their life is not normal. How does someone who has been tortured survive in reality, not very well.  The point of an other personality or Alts is to keep everything safe and protected.

For the most part you would not be unaware of a person with MPD on a daily basis, for they hide in society pretty well, and I have stated why. Perhaps that is why it’s so hard to believe. You may have already met someone with it and not known. Sometimes alts go to school, or drive a cars, or go to work and do countless other activates while the main person sleeps. Sometimes Alts are assigned to specific tasks when they are better or not bothered by it. Sometimes there is an alt who is assigned to only having sex during the rape act alone because they are better equipped to deal with that kind of trauma then the child is. A person can have little as two separate personalities on up to over 100 according to medical records it’s more common to have any were from 8 and 13 distinct personalities.