Part 1: The Personalities Beneath (DID)

In this vast universe of disorders, you might have come across a disorder so unreal that it may have blurred your perception of reality. It seems so fictional that it only looks acceptable in movies. Dissociative identity disorder (DID) also known as Split or multiple Personality Disorder is uncommon but unquestionably does exist. In truth, the stigma exists probably because the reality is so hard to concede, but let's put an end to this stigma and get realistic!

People nowadays have different personalities for every individual they encounter, they control these personalities consciously whenever needed, but what if you lose that control?

People suffering from DID carry two or more personalities, which can take over them and their behavior at different times unconsciously. Each of these identities has its own unique personal history, character traits, and preferences. Whenever the “switch” happens these alternate personalities may make you feel as though you're possessed and that is how this disorder has been viewed over the ages. For generations, the abnormal behavior associated with split personality disorder has been gazed upon as something supernatural and was treated with rituals such as exorcism and counter-magic instead of therapy.
( Bhool Bhulaiya bringing back some memories?)

Multiple personality disorder seems like something straight out of a horror movie and it's justifiable because the reason for its origin is nothing less than horror. Often caused by extremely traumatic events like mental, physical, or sexual abuse DID makes a person feel detached and disconnected from reality. As a reaction to trauma, a person may acquire a lack of continuity in their thoughts, memories, surroundings, actions, and identity, which aids in erasing those horrible memories. Now, to get more authentic with our audience, here’s the story of Aradhna.

As a girl who was sexually abused straight for 4 years, Aradhana developed a number of distinct personalities as a reaction to the constant trauma she faced that she couldn’t even recall. She had the feeling that there were aspects of herself that she was unaware of but that others had encountered. Feeling lost and detached from her own thoughts, her sense of identity had become vague. Her days started to become a blurred reality and so she knew she needed to get professional help. Going to therapy clarified those perplexing temporal jumps and gave her pain a name: her psychiatrist diagnosed her with multiple personalities, explaining that there were parts outside her consciousness that she kept at bay.

“I couldn’t believe it…I didn’t want to believe it” Aradhana confessed. “My therapist told me that I switched several times while in session, a few of those times I can’t even remember but sometimes I felt like I was locked out of my own mind” she stated. “ when I became aware of my situation so many memories came flooding back…hurtful memories that according to my therapist, caused the split in my mind.” Getting the diagnosis unraveled quite a few mysteries in Aradhana’s life; mysteries that were explained to her differently by different individuals, some thought she was just overthinking, some believed she was being possessed and some advised her to seek help, sadly they were the minority.

It's truly disheartening how in India, people view mental health disorders as something so fictitious that they are willing to associate it with “bhoot-pret” (ghosts/supernatural) or just simply disregard the feelings of the sufferer. Just like Aradhana, there are many other people who face the same stigma and are left unhealed for the rest of their lives. Smothering under this endless rubble of stigma are thousands of individuals who want to receive help but are held back by this “shame” that refuses to go away, but it is high time to come out of that rubble, into the real world and END THE STIGMA.