ABSTRACT
Childhood sexual abuse often involves partial or total amnesia regarding the details of the abuse, leading to dissociation from sensations and affect. The first case of dissociative identity disorder (DID) was thought to be described by Paracelsus in 1646 and, despite a long history, DID remain a divisive diagnosis. In working with patients with DID we are forced to deal with issues of belief, memory, and time on a daily basis. The impacts upon the therapist, placing inevitable strain upon the credibility we attach to our patient’s memories and narratives. Time is also a problem for DID patients: minutes, hours, or days can become “lost” as one self comes forward, forcing other selves to retreat. Patients can switch from self to self with no warning, leaving the therapist in a state of hypervigilance much like that adopted by survivors of trauma.
