Signs of Dissociative Identity Disorder

 Steinberg, M. Interviewer's Guide to the SCID-D, American Psychiatric Press, 1994.

This diagram does an excellent job at emphasizing that not all signs of having this disorder are neccessarily "visible". In fact, some of the symptoms that might occur in D.I.D. patients might be so hard to tell that at first sight, they may seem ordinary, well put together and in a stable state of mind. However, looking at the purple area of this diagram shows many aspects that can occur in individuals who would not have Multiple Personality Disorder, but in combination with the symptoms in the yellow field, it becomes clearer. This might a be big reason for D.I.D. being highly underdiagnosed. Would you associate someone who shows symptoms like mod swings, substance abuse or obsessive-compulsive symptoms with Dissociative Identity Disorder at a first glance? I know I would not.

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