According to latest statistics, approximately 2% of the world’s population suffers from dissociative disorder, or multiple personality disorder. The stats show that women are more prone to MPD than men, and half of adults in the United States have experienced at least one episode of depersonalization in their life.However, only 2% of those meet the full criteria so their disease can be classified as chronic disorder.
Multiple personality disorder develops as a way of dealing with trauma, with long exposure to physical, sexual and emotional abuse being one of the most common factors and causes.
Children are first line of defense, and their trauma from childhood manifest as disorder when they age.
The worst part is that multiple personality disorder appears on the trauma spectrum, meaning that many patients suffer from additional trauma conditions and side effects like posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, substance abuse and others.
This Emmy-awarded movie from the 1920s takes a look into the disorder, how people can develop multiple personalities and the amazing capacity of our mind to survive abuse. Multiple personality disorder is a way for some people to shut down trauma and abuse from their childhood. They are no different than the rest of us. In fact, they have it harder as they suffered traumatic experiences from their early age.
