Quote:
Originally Posted by amandalouise
for you this may be not true where you are but that doesn't mean it is not true elsewhere.
Example where I am the belief within the mental health community is that alters are created only through someone enduring extreme abuse before the age of 5. This is also what is taught in psych classes and internship in relation to Dissociative Identity Disorder here.
This doesn't make it wrong. it just shows we all come from different backgrounds, states, countries, continents, religions, races and all that jazz. 
I think its pretty cool that we have so many different belief systems, represented here at psych central. |
AmandaLouise, unfortunately just because something is taught that does not mean it is always correct. A friend of mine is taught in his psychology classes that DID exists only as an iatrogenic disorder created by incompetent therapists. Many of the students in his classes believe that what they are being taught is the 'truth' about dissociation. If the 'teachers' do not have the correct information then incorrect information will be disseminated throughout the community. Fortunately for my friend and some of the others who share his classes they have the intiative to seek knowledge beyond what they are presented with. They have been able to form their own opinions and beliefs from the vast array of information that is out there from the international experts and researchers in the field.
So, yes - we do all come from different backgrounds, geographical locations, races, religions, etc, etc. Here in my geographical location the majority of the mental health profession believes DID does not exist. Does their belief make them right? Does it make them wrong? Or just plain misinformed? (Or ignorant, if they were presented with valid information but chose to disbelieve or ignore it).
My ex-therapist sent me the link to this book, which was written (edited to say: EDITED) by the task force charged with rewriting the dissociation section in the upcoming DSM-V. It details the latest theories and the latest research from the leading experts in the international community. It transcends race, religion, geographical location, etc, etc. Internationally these are 'the guys' when it comes to dissociative disorders.
http://www.psychoanalysisarena.com/b...n9780415957854
What these guys say is that DID does not always come from extreme abuse. The primary cause of DID is the inability to integrate emotional experiences before the developmental age at which the personality typically integrates (roughly age 6-7). It is absolutely true that the experiences that cause the failure of the personality to integrate are traumatic, but they are not always related to extreme abuse. The research has led them to believe that other events, such as continual emotional invalidation can also cause failure of integration that becomes DID.
The theory of structural dissociation is complex and can be applied universally. Ie, they have found that people in the US 'split' in the same way as people in Africa, and Sweden and Australia. They postulate that the types of dissociated states are also very similar, even when the traumatic events that cuase the failure to integrate are vastly different.
For now it would seem that their knowledge and research is leading the way in the field of dissociative disorders. Like in all fields it can take some time for the rest of the world to 'catch up' to the new information. It is also likely that there are some professionals who would reject the latest research if it contradicts their own long held beliefs... such as is the case in my own geographical location, unfortunately.