What causes Dissociative Identity Disorder to develop? Research has shown that patients who develop DID generally do so in result to a traumatic experience which occurred over a very long and extended period of time. The associated trauma, whether physical or sexual, often results in the sufferer, before developing DID, to experience complications associated with depression and anxiety and may often complain about feeling as if they have left their own physical being.
In children, a diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder can take several years to confirm. For this reason, many children are not promptly diagnosed until they reach adolescence or even early adulthood.
So, how do you know if your child or adolescent is suffering from DID? A common trait among all individuals with Dissociative Identity Disorder is the appearance that they are essentially zoned out or not paying attention. Most often, in children or teenagers, the concept of time is lost. For many, there is confusion over mealtimes and day versus night. The reason for this lies in the ability of the individual to displace themselves from reality, resulting in a loss of hours or days.
For children developing DID, especially in response to trauma, there will be an overwhelming presence of depression and moodiness. This, like most trauma cases, is quite common. But, in addition to depression and moodiness in the child or teenager, parents may also notice the child is frequently losing objects or forgetting important issues. Psychologists believe this may be attributed to the fact that the child, or teenager, is essentially sharing their thoughts with other personality sets, resulting in confusion or memory loss.
As your child begins to verbalize emotions and issues of concern, do you notice he or she may be referring to themselves as a "we" or "us"? If so, this may be a clear sign the child, or teenager, is developing Dissociative Identity Disorder.
As with any psychological condition, especially those in response to traumatic events during childhood, it is important to secure the assistance of a psychiatric professional to ensure the condition is diagnosed and treated properly, and early, into adulthood. Without early intervention, the child may grow into an adult who begins to experience more complicating social issues and, ultimately, deteriorate the DID condition further.
