Dissociative Identity Disorder Awareness Day
Every March 5th people who are in some way connected to dissociative identity disorder celebrate awareness day. As the title states, March 5th represents our desire as survivors and those who love them want to raise as much awareness as possible.
Why DID Awareness Day?
The reason we want to spread the word of what DID is and the truths about the mental health challenge because there is so much misinformation online and in the minds of many psychiatrist, psychologists, and therapists.
Bottom line, dissociative identity disorder is a real problem that develops between the ages from birth to around 7 years. It is caused by severe and repeated trauma in the form of abuse of any kind and neglect. It can also form because of the child living in a war zone or something similar where their life is constantly endangered.
Some More Facts About Dissociative Identity Disorder
Up until the mid-1990s, DID was called multiple personality disorder but was renamed to better describe the occurrences we experience. There is an estimate that 2% of the population have DID. In case you are wondering, the numbers of 2% equals 6,280,000 people in the United States alone who live with the condition.
A child typically integrates their personality by age 9, but severe abuse and neglect can keep their parts separated. The result is a child who turns within to handle the harm their caregivers are inflicted on them.
What Happens When the Child Grows Up?
As adults, DID becomes a burden as we are expected to hold a job and remain one personality. With people who have dissociative identity disorder usually discover that we have not integrated (on average) at the age our brain matures, between the ages of 25-40. There are some cases where the adult is elderly.
On average, it takes 7-11 years for a person living with dissociative identity disorder to receive the correct diagnosis. Often survivors receive diagnoses that are not related to their condition such as bipolar or schizophrenia. This delay in correct treatment causes many to not look for further help and thus remain trapped in the chaos that is DID.
Ending Our Time Together
I wrote this piece to say this: You are not alone and March 5 proves it. There are people online who are celebrating the day. They celebrate not because they are proud they have DID but because they are grateful to be alive despite the abuse they endured.
So, on Wednesday, March 5th raise your head up high and celebrate your life. Celebrate the fact that because you have lived means your abusers lost and can never hurt you like they did in the past because you are no longer an innocent and fragile child.
A note to my readers. You may have noticed some odd posts lately. I am working with a group who pay me to place their articles on my website. Be reassured that I screen each piece carefully and will never post anything that I believe is triggering.
The was a great article and I love how u add in helpful hints and understanding on symptoms.