Posted by Wittgensteinz on January 14, 2009, at 6:35:27
In reply to Re: Good blurb bout D.I.D. » Wittgensteinz, posted by Looney Tunes on January 13, 2009, at 14:26:59
LT,
Thank you for enlightening me - I hadn't appreciated the catch-22 nature of it. I think life must be very hard for those with DID, over and above the condition itself - but for the fact that there are such conflicting views regarding what it exactly is to be 'identity dissociated'.
I have no doubt about 'recovered memories' of past abuse or the 'forgetting' of abusive/traumatic episodes. I have experienced this personally to a certain extent, although I should say I do not suffer from a dissociative disorder. I have experienced things as a child for example that have never again come to mind until recently in therapy. I hadn't 'forgotten' them as such but had kept them out of mind since they had happened - under deep repression. Likewise, I have some blanks, aside from my coherent memories, and of course I know I did not cease to exist in those times, but from my immediate memories before and after these episodes, it is possible to infer what came in between.
DID is something that fascinates me. I did see one documentary about real people with DID. However, the one time I asked my therapist about the condition (and I was asking in general terms), he seemed skeptical of its existence - saying something like "one has to take responsibility for all aspects of oneself", which I took to imply that he did not believe a person could carry out a given action/behaviour while being unaware of it, having no responsibility over it. Almost to say that one 'pretends' they are not aware of it and under that guise they can behave differently.
The thing with this reaction is that it is very hard to disprove. Just like if I say "I feel happy" and someone responds "you're just pretending to be happy - you don't really feel that way!". Well, only I alone can know if I feel happy or not. In theory the same external behaviours can be replicated by a person who does not in fact feel that way. That doesn't mean that people don't ever feel 'happy' of course. And if someone adamantly tells you that you don't feel that way, you would reason to feel hurt and offended. And I guess this is the way that those with DID might feel about the way their diagnosis is viewed by some people.
I hope that as time goes by, the professional community will become more open-minded about the nature of this condition. It certainly isn't going to 'go away'.
I hope people aren't offended by my comments here. I should say that I have never doubted the existence of DID and the truth and reality of those who have this condition. What I do find, however, is that the portrayal of DID in the media if anything tends to make people more skeptical of its existence than educating people, which is a pity. I agree with LT that a true factual reflection of DID with real people and with the latest research and findings would be something more positive.
Witti
poster:Wittgensteinz
thread:873082
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20090109/msgs/873905.html