Grief, Mourning, and Dissociative Identity Disorder

The Sun Will Shine Again

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Those who have formed dissociative identity disorder (DID) due to severe and repeated child abuse know the pain of grief and mourning. We grieve over what could have been and mourn over what we lost.

This article will concentrate on grief and mourning for those with DID.

What are Grief and Mourning?

According to Wikipedia, “Grief is the response to loss, particularly the loss of someone or some living thing that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, grief also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, cultural, spiritual, and philosophical dimensions.”

Although the definition above focuses on the loss of a person or some living thing, grief also expresses the loss of dreams, aspirations, and other heartfelt things. People with dissociative identity disorder have much to grieve.

· You may grieve the loss of having a career or a family.

· You may grieve the lack of the education you wanted.

· You may grieve the loss of caring and loving you needed from your family of origin.