Multiple
personality may be quite easily missed by professionals because many of the
symptoms multiples have fit many other disorders, such as:
- Schizophrenia,
Psychogenic Amnesia or Fugue, Borderline Personality Disorder, Temporal Lobe Epilepsy,
Somatization Disorder, PTSD (though it co-exists with MPD/DID), Depression, Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder, Substance Abuse, Eating Disorders, Anxiety, Bipolar
Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder and possibly more
Professionals may
be reluctant or unable to diagnose the condition because
- the symptoms are generally subtle and hard to detect;
-
the patient may
be reluctant to give any information (“they will think I’m crazy”);
- they lack knowledge about dissociative disorders;
-
they don’t
want to believe the person was abused (causing the multiple personality);
-
the “window
of diagnosibility” (when the condition is visible) may not be evident because the person may
not be dissociating at the time;
- the person may not be aware he is multiple;
-
the person may
not report time loss or blackouts because she thinks they are “normal”;
- the condition is thought to be a rare disorder by many.
- usually MPD doesn’t present in an obvious and overt fashion;
- 5% of people with MPD/DID presented as self-diagnosed but were generally not believed by the therapist;
-
only 15%
openly dissociated during treatment (making it noticeable and easier to
diagnose);
-
40%
presented with signs that could be detected by a clinician who has a “high
index of suspicion for MPD”;
-
BUT 40% were
highly disguised and even an expert could not detect the MPD/DID.
