Definitions

So here you are wondering what is DID? - well I had better add some links and explanations for those of you who don't know.

Qld Health Pamplet :

Dissociation is a mental process where there is a lack of connection between, thoughts, feelings, actions or sense of identity. This disconnection is termed splitting and exists at a sub-conscious level. The process of dissociation exists on a continuum. Mild dissociation experiences are common such as daydreaming or ‘highway hypnosis’, where a person drives from ‘A’ to ‘B’ but does not remember the details of the journey.

What is Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID/MPD)?
DID/MPD is the severe and chronic experience at the opposite end of the spectrum. The dissociative process may lead to discrete states that can take on identities of their own. These states are called ‘alternate personalities’ or ‘alters’ and are internal members of the ‘system’. Changes between these personalities, or states of consciousness, are described as ‘switching’. This behaviour was an originally adaptive, healthy reaction to intolerable situations. However, in adult life dissociative behaviours can be problematic. People living with DID/MPD have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), in fact it has been suggested that DID/MPD is itself a chronic form of PTSD.

What Causes DID/MPD?
DID/MPD is developed during childhood, before seven years of age, during the sensitive time that the individual’s personality is being formed. It is the result of:
• Ongoing and severe neglect and abuse (emotional, physical and/or sexual)
• Trauma (such as witnessing the death of a parent, war)
• Ritual/Satanic abuse (the condition is deliberately induced by cults to produce compliance and amnesia)
Evidence suggests that people living with DID/MPD have a biological predisposition for auto-hypnotic phenomena, a high level of hypnotisability.

Another Description from Victorian Health:

"Dissociative identity disorder

...

The condition typically involves the coexistence of two or more personality states within the same person. While the different personality states influence the person’s behaviour, the person is usually not aware of these personality states and experiences them as memory lapses. The other states may have different body language, voice tone, outlook on life and memories. The person may switch to another personality state when under stress. A person who has dissociative identity disorder almost always has dissociative amnesia too."

Thats all I will say for now. It's been a long day.