Ryan Clarkson
Doctor Horn
College Writing II
13 March 2018
A Take on Dissociative Identity Disorder:
Postmodern Views
Topic
With the rise in diagnosed mental disorders come the questions pertaining to if it is needed. People with Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID, often have multiple personalities within their one body. Dissociative Identity Disorder causes people to switch personalities multiple times throughout any given day. This means that uncontrollably and involuntarily, people with DID believe that they are actually different people at any given time. Does Dissociative Identity Disorder characterize a large range of people such as those who dress up in costumes on holidays? If a person fulfills the role of a specific character do they have DID or must they truly believe that they become that character? If just dressing up as a character but not truly believing that you become the character leading to a mild change in personality and attitude suggests it may be a mild form of DID. These questions are being looked at and researched now more than ever before. This issue has recently struck the minds of researchers. Real Life Superheroes dress up daily and take a break from their normal lives to pursue this entirely different lifestyle. They have different attitudes and likes and dislikes according to which role they are playing. A question this example raises is if the above example characterizes DID, and if so, where the fine line of make believe and DID lies.
My topic is the relationship between DID and Postmodernism. Postmodernism is looking past the everyday and modern life and realizing that there can be more. Postmodernism suggests that having more than one personality is acceptable and encouraged. An example of this would be Real Life Superheroes. During the day they live modern lives such as their occupation, taking care of kids, and doing chores. At night they are completely different. They dress up in less-socially-acceptable clothing and stand up for what they believe is right and just. These are two very different personalities lived by the same person in one day. This is where there is a fine line between the disorder and a normal life. Though the superheroes may not be thought of as having a disorder, they display slight signs. I will talk about the pros and cons of multiple personalities and relate them to the articles that the class has read. The pros include self-expression and how one would define their lifestyle. The importance of self-expression and self definition are becoming increasingly important. If multiple personalities are present, each personality could possess more attributes and add to character. These personalities have the potential to make a more rounded person than someone who possesses one personality. A stronger mind is also a benefit. The cons would include that sometimes the switching of identities cannot be controlled. This aspect leads to danger to the person and everyone around them. Th...
