Multiple personality. Symptoms, causes and methods of treatment.

A multiple personality is a dissociative mental disorder in which two or more persons coexist in the human mind, each of which has its own character, world perception and even physiological characteristics (blood pressure, heart rate , etc.). This syndrome became widely known after the publication of the book Flora Rita Schreiber "Sibyl." The multiple personality, from which the main character suffers, consists of sixteen separate "I's". And the history of Sibyl is not fictional, it is a real case of psychotherapeutic practice, which many scholars refer to in their writings.

The diagnosis of "multiple personality" can be made if the control of human behavior and abilities is alternately performed by several ego states, the change of which, as a rule, is accompanied by failures in memory. Often forgotten, even the most seemingly simple things are exposed: the date of birth, the date of the wedding, the actions committed a few minutes ago. The patient can not remember where he or she gets these or other things from, he seems to be called by someone else's names, his handwriting changes frequently, as does the perception of people around him and the world. All this refers to the symptoms of multiple personality.

A characteristic feature of this disorder is the phenomenon of depersonalization, that is, a distorted perception of the individual by himself. The patient may feel a change in the structure of his own body or watch himself from the side. But people who have a multiple personality are not aware of their frustration and often do not believe that they have several different personalities.

Most scientists tend to believe that the multiple personality is formed as a reaction to the severe mental trauma experienced in childhood. This process helps to prevent unpleasant feelings to consciousness. That is, this disease is born in childhood, but it can not immediately manifest itself. Its development, as a rule, is accompanied by a loss of confidence in others. Therefore, therapists who treat mental disorders can find it difficult to establish contact with each of the subpersonalities.

The first stage of treatment of this disorder is the patient's achievement of his understanding. Specialists use for this purpose hypnosis, group or family therapy. The next important step is the revival of hidden and neglected memories. This can also be achieved with hypnotherapy or sodium amobarbitol treatment. Since the patient will try with all his might to dislodge unpleasant memories, he may have attacks of aggression. As a rule, after revealing the origins of the disease and restoring memory, it becomes easier to instill in the individual an awareness of one's own actions and ensure the fusion of all subpersonalities into one single "I". This process for many of them can be painful, since a merger can be perceived to be tantamount to death. But with a sufficient degree of understanding of a person's illness, he himself will strive for the successful treatment of this serious disorder.