Posted by Dinah on June 13, 2003, at 20:54:45
And am getting such mixed messages. I've read books that seem very rational and calm about the idea of dissociation. For example "The Myth of Sanity". Books like these seem to destigmatize the idea and remove the tabloid TV sort of sensationalism.
I've also read books by "experts" in the field that seem a bit odd. I've heard that some of these "experts" have had their licenses revoked and have suffered some hefty lawsuit losses.
And I've read some skeptics literature that says that units all over the country are being closed among tons of lawsuits. And that the new and latest treatment is to ignore any (for want of a better word) alters that present themselves. Which seems to me like a rather unkind tactic to take with a patient. It seems to imply disbelief. And I know that when I am faced with any disapproval of a mental health professional about something, I just don't talk about it with them. So I, for example, only mention my self injury to my psychiatrist in passing, if at all. Because his reaction is to ignore my mention of it. (I guess his idea is to not reinforce it). So the conclusion that these doctors reach - that ignoring the "alter" causes the patient to drop that symptom - seems like a faulty conclusion.
In short, I am vastly confused. There doesn't seem to be any professional consensus on the subject at all. And some of the experts scare me as much as the skeptics.
And while I don't meet the requirements for DID, I probably could be considered DDNOS, depending on the diagnostician I suppose. The whole thing makes me feel a bit ashamed about my experiences. For every single thing I tell my therapist, I retract three. :) He never makes me feel ashamed when I'm with him, and so I freely disclose. But afterwards I remember what I've read and feel embarassed and ashamed.
Why is there so little consensus on this subject? Haven't any studies been done? It seems to be even more amorphous than most areas in psychiatry. Do more therapists and psychiatrists believe in it or disbelieve? What is the self, and how divided is the normal self? Because most people do seem to believe that everyone has different aspects of themselves. When does division cease to be normal, and start to be pathological? How much is metaphor? Is amnesia the key component?
All my research on the subject fails to bring a consensus answer to these questions. It's frustrating.
poster:Dinah
thread:233812
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030529/msgs/233812.html