Variations in identity alteration—a qualitative study of experiences of psychiatric patients with dissociative identity disorder

Abstract

The old norm of distinct-personality-state dissociative identity disorder (DID) does not apply universally, as was recently recognised in the DSM-5’s inclusion of possession experiences in the main diagnostic criterion for DID. This new nosological development around possession reflects underlying questions about identity, how a person’s identity is constituted, how or from where identity is controlled, how rigidly it is controlled, and how it may be altered. This chapter describes some of the clinical variations in identity alteration including possession experiences and identity confusion in a group of psychiatric patients who suffer from DID or from DSM-5’s other specified dissociative disorder (OSDD). The objectives of the broader project include screening for patients with dissociative disorders among psychiatric inpatients; exploring differences between patients with and without dissociative disorders; describing local variations in the clinical picture of the dissociative disorders; monitoring treatment progress and outcome in patients with dissociative disorders.