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Old Jun 18, 2012, 02:28 PM
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amandalouise amandalouise is offline
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Member Since: Mar 2009
Location: 8CS / NYS / USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PurpleFlyingMonkeys View Post
Ive been told in the past that its nearly impossible to have both and that one is often mistaken for the other. This thread is in part a spinoff from a thread in the schizophrenia section. But i am here because my current diagnosis is once again DID. A diagnosis ive had for going on 11 years. However, ive also been given the scizophrenic diagnosis for about 12 years but it is currently ruled out by my t and pdoc. I am aware that some of the symptoms mimic eachother but is it possible to have both? Dad is a schizophrenic, but that does not take away the trauma that brought about the blackouts nor does it change the blackouts and reasons for my DID diagnosis. But because i have blackouts, and such, does also not mean that the genetic disorder could not have been carried on to me, since i often have those symptoms as well. Im not looking for another diagnosis to add to my collection, it just seems that my t believes it has to be one or the other. Its my understanding that schizophrenia is a physical brain disorder, that is often inherrited, and DID is a disorder that comes with extreme trauma, so why can they not both exist at the same time? Id prefer to not be schizophrenic, but my prefrences have nothing to do with my mental state. I just want to know why t's and pdocs rule out schizophrenia when diagnosing DID and why they would rule out DID when diagnosing schizophrenia. Its to me like saying you cant have bipolar and generalized anxiety disorder, it has to be one or the other. But one is a physical condition, the other emotional/mindful disorder. Can they coexist or not? Im rather confused on this
Quote:
Originally Posted by PurpleFlyingMonkeys View Post
is it possible to have both?
yes it is possible to have both DID and Schizophrenia at the same time... though they do share **some** of the same symptoms the diagnostic criteria for each is different..

for example

Shared symptom - hearing voices.

individual diagnostics of each disorder

Schizophrenia

delusions
hallucinations
speech and behavior disturbances like disorganized speech (rhyming, echoing, incoherent, ...) flat affect, alogia (very little talking) avolition (lack of participation, lack of motivation)
social dysfunction
psychotic features
problems not due to drugs and alcohol
problem has been apparent for the past 1-2 months

DID

the presence of two or more alternate personalities
inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive for normal forgetfulness
problem is not caused by drugs alcohol or other mental and physical health problems
cannot be attributed to invisible friends and fantasy play.

you can compare the two disorders at the DSM website http://www.dsm5.org/Pages/Default.aspx by going to the "proposed revisions" when the drop menu opens click on the mental disorder then inside that page click on DSM IV TR tab. that will bring you to the current diagnostics for each disorder.
Thanks for this!
PurpleFlyingMonkeys