Treatments

Patients with DID usually have some kind of treatment. Ideally, it should be a specialized therapist with training in dissociation. “Treatment of DID may last for five to seven years in adults and usually requires several different treatment methods.” (Frey 1). Some methods of treatment are hydrotherapy, botanical medicine, therapeutic massage, yoga, homeopathic treatment, medicines, hypnosis, or psychotherapy. These treatments have been tried out before, some have worked and some just weren’t right. “Most therapists who treat multiples, or DID patients, recommend further treatment after personality integration, on the grounds that the patient has not learned the social skills that most people acquire in adolescence and early adult life.”(Frey 1). It takes people with DID longer to develop life skills that they would normally just pick up by their surroundings. Partly because one personality may be more advanced than the others but who knows so it is just easier teaching “everybody” at once. “Techniques such as hypnosis have proven helpful, along with selective use of antianxiety and antidepressant medications for comorbid conditions. Identification and modulation of dissociative symptoms, coupled with management of related posttraumatic syndromes, have been shown to be effective treatments.” (Hartman 1). Hypnosis is a form of treatment to possibly remember some of their past memories. “Further, hypnosis can also be used to control problematic behaviors that many DID patients exhibit, such as self-mutilation, or eating disorders like bulimia nervosa.” (Frey1). Hopefully hypnosis can cure some problems “multiples” have. Like everything else, it may have some faults or might need a few tries before it fully works. Another type of treatment is medication. “Some doctors will prescribe tranquilizers or antidepressants for DID patients because their alter personalities may have anxiety or mood disorders. However, other therapists who treat DID patients prefer to keep medications to a minimum because these patients can easily become psychologically dependent on drugs.” (Frey 1) Most DID patients have a personality that is addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. To rid them of their habits, the doctors keep the medication as minimal as possible. But even though there are multiple ways to treat DID, some don't work and some work on the first try. Every DID patient is completely different, whether its one of their personalities or the main alter. DID is a very interesting disorder and there are many treatments to control it and try to cure it.

Sources:

David Hartman. Journal of Heart Centered Therapies. Spring 2010.

Maldonado, Jose R.; Butler, Lisa D.; Spiegel, David. (2002). Treatments for Dissociative Disorders. In Nathan, Peter E. (Ed); Gorman, Jack M. (Ed). A Guide to Treatments that Work (2nd ed.), (pp. 463-496). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

"Multiple personality disorder." Rebecca J. Frey, PhD.

The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Ed. Jacqueline L. Longe. 3rd ed. Detroit:
Gale, 2006. 5 vols.