Diagnostic Labels Can Become Your Identity

Posted On October 1, 2022

After receiving the diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder (DID), it is tough not to see yourself through that lens. While this is a phase people living with dissociative identity disorder go through, I hope to dispel some of that tragic and dramatic thinking with this piece.

 

This article will tackle self-identity as DID instead of a person who lives with the diagnosis of DID.

 

Dissociative Identity Disorder is Not Who You Are

 

 

It is common for people who are freshly diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder and for many years after to get wrapped up in their diagnosis. They see themselves eating, drinking, dreaming, and living DID.

 

It is easy not to see yourself as a person anymore but as something of an oddity. After all, not everyone has their aspects of themselves separated by amnesiac walls. However, people with DID are just people who survived insurmountable odds using dissociation as a tool.

 

It isn’t necessary to only think about DID. Instead, someone should see themselves as individual human beings who happen to have a mental health issue.

 

The Harm of Labels

 

 

Throughout our lives, there are labels attached to us. Mother, father, brother, sister, lover, yet we can see how these are only aspects of ourselves. These labels reflect who we are as people and affect how we think about ourselves.

 

However, becoming labeled by a mental health professional as having dissociative identity disorder, while vital to the provider getting paid, harm their patients.

 

How often have you heard someone say someone was “a schizophrenic?” That is labeling someone as their whole self being engulfed by a label. No, that person isn’t a schizophrenic; they are a person who lives with the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

The difference may seem subtle, but being called a label dehumanizes people and makes them less human. It is critical to ending labeling people as their diagnosis and see them as humans first. It is the only way to defeat stigma.

 

Stigma

 

 

There is a problematic relationship in the United States when dealing with mental illness. We used to lock people away so that no one would need to deal with them, putting them in dark places and cutting them off from the rest of the population.

 

The stigma surrounding mental illness leads to discrimination affecting employment, relationships, and other areas of life.

 

We do not lock up people anymore, but we still marginalize and stigmatize those who struggle with mental health challenges like dissociative identity disorder. Too often, people are afraid to seek help and healing because society and their families will look down upon them. Indeed, some insist with loud voices that mental health issues do not exist and that going to therapy or taking medication is sinful.

 

However, it takes far more faith and trust in one’s religious figure to trust a psychiatrist to prescribe psychotherapeutic medications and to trust a therapist than not.

 

While the pendulum of public opinion has begun to swing toward sanity, a mental health challenge is still challenging for many. It is easy to see why one might get caught up in seeing themselves as their diagnosis if they are constantly being told they have a label.

A mental health disorder label like DID while necessary, is dangerous because it can lead to much longer time spent in healing.

 

The Pit

 

 

I call the habit of referring oneself to a label the pit. It is difficult to escape the trap once you have fallen into it, but it is critical to do so to live well.

 

In the pit of dissociative identity disorder, one suffers from remembering and working through the trauma that caused the condition to form. There are flashbacks, body memories, and a host of other unpleasant symptoms.

It is easy to allow oneself to get stuck in the pit because dissociative identity disorder can be an all-consuming diagnosis. You have alters to deal with, learning how to pull together so that you can function better, and attend therapy.

 

The only way to escape the pit is to remind oneself several times daily that you are not your diagnosis. You are more than dissociative identity disorder; you are a person first who happens to have DID. That is a massive task as the dissociative identity disorder pit is not easy to escape.

 

Calling Yourself by a Different Label

 

 

You might ask, “If I can’t call myself DID, who am I?” While that is certainly not the exact thing, you are thinking, if not, you are probably thinking something similar. Yes, it is exciting to be labeled with a curious diagnosis like dissociative identity disorder, but what good does it do you?

 

Does thinking of yourself as unique because you have DID gain you a career or a partner? Does it make you special or unusual?

 

Wouldn’t you be happier if you were labeled something better, such as someone who has extraordinary courage or who is loving and kind?

 

There is great power to be had by allowing yourself to let go of the label of DID and embrace who you are. There are at least three methods to changing how you see yourself.

 

Process Your Diagnosis. Receiving the accurate diagnosis for what you have been struggling with all your life is life-enhancing. Finally, you have the answers to why you have experienced what you have. Your struggles are finally validated. Honest dialogue between your therapist and you are critical to helping you process your diagnosis and to prevent shame after the darkest secrets from your past are revealed. Being completely honest with your therapist is vital to overcoming and handling dissociative identity disorder symptoms.

 

Give Your Diagnosis a Human Name. When I read about this technique, I was excited. Giving dissociative identity disorder names like Tom or Jill changes the conversation from focusing on the disorder to you.

 

Think Outside Yourself for a While. It is easy to mix up yourself by not being able to see the proverbial forest for the trees. There is so much to the effects of DID on your life that you may forget others have needs too. When was the last time you listened, I mean truly listened, to a friend or family member? Did you hear their good news? Did you hear their bad news? Or were you so wrapped up in your own pain that you forgot to notice that of others? If you want to defeat identifying as only your diagnosis, you must emerge and pay attention to what is happening around you.

 

Ending Our Time Together

 

I am well aware of what it is like to identify as DID. From day one until many years later, I was so captivated by my diagnosis and its accompanying symptoms that I lost my way. Instead of getting better, I got lost in myself.

 

In 2016, seven years after diagnosis, I finally began to pull my head out of DID and recognize that I was not my diagnosis. One thing that helped me was beginning this blog and attempting to help others who were still struggling. As I heard from my readers, I realized I wasn’t just dissociative identity disorder. No, I am a writer, speaker, consultant, and many other things.

 

With my escape from my label, I could break free somewhat from that part of my life.

 

No, I cannot escape my DID, and I will not deny I have it. I’m not asking you to, either. I am asking that you keep this article in the back of your mind, and when you realize you have gotten stuck in the pit, remember what I said.

 

You are not your diagnosis.

 

“I’m not my diagnosis. I have good days and bad days, but I’m not contagious. I’m just human.” Patrice Caraway