ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some clinical vignettes based on an amalgamation of several clients’ experiences. The vignettes aim to depict the two main underlying issues, that of attachment problems and repeated trauma, which clients with dissociative identity disorder (DID) have experienced. The five dissociative disorders, as outlined by the American Psychiatric Association are dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue, depersonalization disorder, dissociative disorder not otherwise specified, and DID. DID is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states that recurrently take control of the individual’s behaviour, accompanied by an inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. It is also characterized by identity fragmentation, rather than proliferation of separate personalities. The essential feature of the dissociative disorders is a disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity and perception.
