What is the multiple personality syndrome? Symptoms and examples of the disorder

Multiple personality disorder even in the 21st century causes the separation of specialists in psychiatry into two camps. Some are sure that such a "deviation from the norm" in a patient is contrived, while the latter are sure that the disease does exist. They lead to a lot of evidence from real life, accompanying them with symptoms and the causes of the syndrome of multiple personality, and also provide a scientific explanation for this phenomenon in psychiatry. In the article we will talk about what is the syndrome of multiple personality.

What it is?

Dissociative personality disorder (multiple personality syndrome) is the general name of the patient's condition, in which at the same time there is at least one other person in addition to the basic personality. This second one is called subpersonality. It is able to select the right to control the entire body of a person, his feelings, his mind, the will of the main (superior) personality, which is given to a person from birth.

Some psychiatrists are convinced that dissociative personality disorder arose under the influence of many fantastic stories, as a result of viewing unscientific transmissions, operating with unscientific terms and facts. Other experts believe that people with multiple personality syndrome do exist. And proof of this is the work of doctors describing such disorders long before the emergence of psychiatry as a science (around the end of the 18th century).

Does this syndrome really exist?

Often, recognizing the presence of one person at once several individuals is quite difficult. And the patient himself can often argue that his personalities do not know anything about each other, they have completely different opinions, their behavior patterns are completely different. But there is no doubt that the personality cleavage syndrome does exist. Today experts treat this phenomenon with minimal skepticism and do not try to reject it at once, but try to explain and characterize it scientifically.

We distinguish the multiple personality syndrome from schizophrenia

Do not confuse the concept of schizophrenia and multiple personality syndrome, because these are completely different phenomena in psychiatry. So, people suffering from schizophrenia do not have many personalities. Their disease is characterized by the fact that under the influence of chronic psychosis they suffer from hallucinations that make them see or hear things that do not really happen. The main symptom of schizophrenia is the patient's so-called delusional idea. Approximately 50% of patients hear voices that do not exist in reality.

Syndrome of personality splitting and schizophrenia have one thing in common: people who suffer from these diseases are most likely to commit suicide than patients with other mental disorders.

Who is most susceptible to developing the syndrome?

The reasons for the appearance of dissociation have not yet been clearly identified, but there are common points. So the root cause of the emergence of the syndrome of multiple personality is born in man usually up to 9 years. It can be associated with strong emotional experiences, deepest stress, psychological or physical abuse, wrong parenting and parenting, especially when they behave unpredictably and frighteningly for the child.

Description of the disease by the patients themselves

Patients suffering from personality disintegration can describe their condition as follows:

1. The concept of depersonalization, when the patient says that "is outside his body."
2. Derealization, when the patient describes the world around him as unreal for him, as if he is looking at everything that is happening through the distance or mist of mist.
3. Amnesia. The patient makes every effort, but can not remember important personal information. Often he forgets even those words that were spoken a few minutes ago.
4. Confusion in self-awareness. A person suffering from a multiple personality syndrome is in a state of complete disorientation. He can not clearly answer the question, by whom he considers himself or represents himself. Often he catches himself thinking that he hates his personality at the moment when she is engaged in any kind of activity (violates traffic rules, uses alcohol).
5. There is no clear understanding of where a person is, how long now, in what situation he is staying.

имеет одну личность-хозяина, которая может предоставить основные реальные сведения о нем. A person with multiple personality syndrome has one person-host who can provide basic real information about him. Other dissociative states (other individuals) are not mature, they can tell only about individual episodes and feelings from life, their memories are meager and one-sided. It so happened that the person-owner often does not even suspect about the presence of other personalities.

Multiple personality syndrome: causes

Among all the reasons that can be the impetus to the formation in the childhood of the syndrome of dissociative personality, one main - violence. It can be both emotional and physical. In any case, violence causes irreparable harm to the child's psyche. The next reason is incorrect parenting, when the child experiences severe fear next to them, or severe psychological discomfort.

Recently, drug addiction and alcoholism are causing a crisis in the person's mental health, provoking the appearance of a dissociative personality.

Symptoms of a disorder

How does the multiple personality syndrome manifest ? Symptoms of the disorder are as follows:

1. Amnesia, when the patient can not tell about himself the basic information as a person.
2. The presence of two or more subpersonalities, each of which has its own pattern of behavior, its own character, habits, gestures, race, sex, conversation, accent, etc. Subpersonality can even be an animal.
3. Switching from one person to another. This process takes from several minutes to several days.
4. Depression.
5. Sharp mood swings.
6. Suicidal tendencies.
7. Sleep disturbances (both insomnia and nightmares).
8. Feeling of anxiety on the verge of panic or phobia.
9. Often the use of drugs or alcohol.
10. Rituals and compulsions.
11. Hallucinations (both visual and auditory).
12. Disturbances in eating behavior.
13. Severe headaches.
14. A state of trance.
15. Self-pursuit and a tendency to violence, including towards oneself.

Many patients say that, being under the leadership of one or another personality, they can not control either their bodies or their actions. In fact, they are outside observers for everything that their personality does with their body and the world around them. Often, for such acts, they are ashamed, they recognize that their host personality would never have done this and did not even dare.

Multiple personality disorder: examples

According to the most conservative estimates, the world today knows about 40,000 patients suffering from multiple personality syndrome. The most famous of both psychiatry and the whole of society are the case histories of people like Louis Vive (one of the first officially recorded cases of dissociative personality), Judy Castelli, Robert Oxnam, Kim Noble, Truddy Chase, Shirley Mason, Chris Costner Sizemore, Billy Milligan, Juanita Maxwell. Most of these patients suffered from severe violence in childhood due to violent violence, which caused dissociative personality disorder.

Billy Milligan

Billy Milligan is a person with multiple personality syndrome. He became known to the general public due to the absolutely incredible decision of the court in relation to him. So, in the US the court found him not guilty of committing several serious crimes at once because of his syndrome of multiple personalities. Billy Miligan underwent a thorough psychiatric examination, the results of which not only did not constitute a medical secret, but even published in newspapers, magazines, were told in TV shows. At the trial, 4 psychiatrists confirmed the diagnosis of a dissociative person under oath.

Billy repeatedly received medical psychiatric help. Syndrome of multiple personality Billy Milligan was discussed very actively. The society is still divided into two camps and is arguing over who in fact was Milligan: a skilled swindler who managed to circle a large number of psychiatrists, scientists, judges, juries and police, or he really suffered from living in it 24 personalities and did not belong to himself.

Multiple personalities of Billy Milligan

The reason for the emergence of Billy Milligan syndrome of split personality became the violence and humiliation experienced by him in his childhood. Psychiatrists counted him as a whole 24 persons. Each of them had its own name and was given a detailed description.

After the court recognizes his insane Milligan is sent to a psychiatric clinic at the Athens State Hospital. Thanks to highly qualified personnel, as a result of the work done, Billy Milligan discovered 10 personalities, and after a while - 14 more.

Personality of this person were of different age, sex, nationality, different in character, inclinations, habits, behavior. Some of them spoke with an accent. "? So who got along in a person who was diagnosed with a " multiple personality syndrome "? Kevin, a 20-year-old acting in turn with Phil - both hooligans, capable of crimes going out to lead Milligan in turn; 14-year-old boy Denny, panically afraid of men; David, 8, who was in charge of keeping the pain; Adalana is a 19 year old lesbian who is credited with committing one of the most serious crimes; Boy Sean - deaf invalid with deviations and many others.

After 10 years of intensive treatment, Billy Milligan was released from a psychiatric clinic. The result of the treatment was the conclusion of doctors, which stated that the patient fully identifies himself, which means that he got rid of all the subpersonalities. After leaving the clinic Milligan disappeared to communicate with the press and society, it is not known for certain whether the treatment had a real result, whether he got rid of all 24 personalities and whether they returned to him with the passage of time.

Manga

The problem of multiple personality syndrome was of interest at all times not only to psychiatrists, but also to artists. манга MPD Psycho. So, a popular work, the main theme of which is the multiple personality syndrome - the manga MPD Psycho. It is a Japanese comic book. The history of their occurrence is at least one thousand years old.

In the MPD Psycho manga, a stunning and interesting story from the genre of the mystical detective is described. It contains frankly violent and bloody scenes, often on the borderline between insanity and logic. The protagonist of the manga is a detective who works with the help of intellectual methods to solve a crime. He suffers from multiple personality syndrome. He has to deal with the disclosure of regularly committed bloody crimes. The main hook is the presence of a barcode under the eye of the killer. But exactly the same mark has the detective himself. How can all these coincidences be related?

Scientific works that give the most complete information about the multiple personality syndrome

The syndrome of the dissociative personality has been taking the leading place in the works of many scientists for several decades. One of the first descriptions refers to 1791, when a doctor from Stuttgart E. Gmelin described a German woman, who, under the influence of the bloody events of the French revolution, began to suffer from multiple personality syndrome. Her second "I" is a Frenchwoman who spoke perfect French.

A special place is occupied by books of Chinese experts not only on the study of the syndrome, but also on the methods of its treatment.

In documents officially up to the middle of the 20th century, specialists registered and described in detail about 76 cases of dissociative personality.

Writers also paid close attention to the topic of multiple personality syndrome and dedicated their works to it. The general public was told about the syndrome of the multiple personality, books: "Three faces of Eve" and "Sybil". The first was created by psychiatrists K. Tigpen and H. Cleckley in 1957. The book tells the story of the dissociative personality of their patient Eva White. The second famous book "Sybil" was published in 1973. Her heroine also suffered from this disorder.

Today, there are no preventive measures that could prevent the development of the multiple personality syndrome. The main reason for the onset of the disease is psychological or physical abuse of children. All forces must be thrown to prevent such situations. If the violence does happen, then it is necessary to take measures, as well as to send the child for help to a psychologist who will help survive the severe stress from the resulting injury.