What Is It Like to Get Diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder?

The overwhelming emotions that accompany it.

Shirley J. Davis

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Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

As many of us who have DID know too well, finding a good therapist who will give the proper diagnosis. We are often misdiagnosed with a myriad of different conditions, such as bipolar disorder, schizo-affective disorder, or borderline personality disorder.

This article will break down what it takes to receive the correct diagnosis.

Finding a Therapist

Finding a therapist who is trauma-informed and who will work with dissociative disorders isn’t easy. Some people don’t find the correct therapist and receive an accurate diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder for an average of eleven years. That is far too long for someone with DID to wait.

Some of the symptoms of DID are pretty severe. It isn’t the switching from alter to alter that causes the central part of the problem; it is suicidality that takes a toll. Suicidality is one of the most common presenting features of dissociative identity disorder, representing 72% of people in North America.

Passive suicidality in the host plus outright suicidal thinking of an alter can make a horrific combination that can cost a person with DID their life.

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Shirley J. Davis
Shirley J. Davis

Written by Shirley J. Davis

I am an author/speaker/grant writer in the U.S. My passion is authoring information about mental health disorders, especially dissociative identity disorder..

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