I wasn't aware of how common split personality disorder was, also called dissociative disorder, until I saw it firsthand for myself in the workplace. No one around him really caught on until the psychiatrist diagnosed it. It made me realize how difficult split personality disorder symptoms are to recognize, not only in the people around the victim of it, but also to the victim themselves. Often a person with split personality disorder doesn't even know they have it. The personalities are kept separated in the brain, not able to communicate back and forth.
Let's dispel a few myths. We've all seen the the horror films where someone develops an alternate personality that's a raging serial killer, but in reality, that's not the way it works. It is true that dissociative disorder usually develops as a way for a person to deal with trauma. Children in unstable or dangerous homes are especially susceptible to split personality disorder, because their personalities aren't even fully developed yet. Because of this, it's possible for a child to develop dissociative disorder and retain the condition throughout their adult life. At times of high stress, the disorder may manifest itself in order to help the adult cope. Let's take a look at some specific split personality disorder symptoms. Here are some specific symptoms:
1. Amnesia. Amnesia is one of the biggest split personality disorder symptoms. Like we learned in the first section, the multiple personalities don't communicate with one another inside the brain. Therefore, when one personality takes over to cope with stress or danger, the other personality in essence goes to sleep. If a person complains of memory loss, especially during times of high stress, they may have dissociative disorder.
2. Anxiety, Depression, Detachment. These are more general symptoms, but they are important to watch out for, especially detachment. Those with split personality disorder may get a sense that something isn't functioning the way it's supposed to, almost like someone else has been controlling their actions, which is very close to the truth. This perception can easily cause a person to feel more and more detached from their own life.
3. Distorted Perception. This accompanies that detached feeling. A person with split personality disorder may begin to question what's real and what isn't. The more a person feels detached from their life and surroundings, the more they may begin to feel that certain things aren't actually real.
Dissociative fugue is something similar to split personality disorder, but different. Dissociative fugue actually causes a person to flee their own identity. They'll leave whatever they're doing, work, their home, in the middle of cooking dinner, and just leave. They'll temporarily forget who they are and in some cases will actually take on a new identity in a different place. This condition is obviously more unpredictable, but the good news is that it's much more recognizable. In some ways, dissociative fugue is almost like the physical manifestation of the inner turmoil happening with split personality disorder. In a lot of ways it's is quite different however, because no one can predict how long an episode of fugue will last. Sometimes it can last as short as a few hours. Other times it can go for as long as a few months, though this is rare. After the dissociative fugue is over the victim generally feels an intense disorientation, having no idea where they are or how they arrived in their new surroundings. Dissociative fugue might not show any prior symptoms, but if it does, the symptoms will most likely match with those above.
** This article is meant to add to your general knowledge and is not meant to be taken as medical advice**
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