over the past year I have been including the DSM 5 website in posts where members have had questions related to what DID is and the changes the American Psychaitric Associations was doing to dissociative disorders..

We now have our copy of the DSM 5 here at the crisis center where I work..

here is what the DSM 5 says for the diagnostic criteria of DID ......as recognized ........by the American Psychiatric Association/DSM 5....

Dissociative Identity Disorder 300.14 (F44.81)

A. Disruption of identity characterized by two or more distinct personality states which may be described in some cultures as an experience of possession. The disruption in identity involves marked discontinuity in sense of self and sense of agency, accompanied by related alterations in affect, behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and or sensory-motor functioning. These signs and symptoms may be observed by others or reported by the individual.

B. Recurrent gaps in the recall of every day events, important personal information, and or traumatic events that are inconstant with ordinary forgetting.

C the symptoms cause clinical significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.

D. The disturbance is not a normal part of a broadly accepted cultural or religious practice.

Note in children the symptoms are not better explained by imaginary playmates or other fantasy play.

E. The Symptoms are not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (e.g. Blackouts or chaotic behavior during alcohol intoxication) or another medical condition (e.g. complex partial seizures)

along with this diagnostic criteria are 5 pages that go into more detail in categories of diagnostic features that explains the above diagnostics in more detail, Associated features supporting diagnosis, the statistical prevalence of the disorder, the development and course of the disorder, Risk and Prognosis Factors, Culture Related Diagnostic Issues, Suicide Risks and the Functional consequences of this disorder. The DSM 5 also addresses Differential Diagnosis (other dissociative disorders that share the same symptoms) and Comorbidity (having more than one diagnosis)