How much is realistic in the movies? Is it true that someone might have a full conversation with their alters while everyone else sees them talking to themselves? Do they actually see their alters standing in front of them?
As someone with my own mental health struggles I’d like to try and understand it.
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Hollywood exaggerates mental illness symptoms, or rather, embellishes them, to make it more menacing or interesting.
But, the symptoms of DID & schizophrenia are very real & can be very severe. DID patients indeed can have full conversations with their ‘alters’, some of which they may not remember later. Some personalities can be up front for weeks to months, at which point they may switch, & have difficulty recalling that period of time later.
As far as seeing hallucinations, this is very real as well, however it’s much more common in schizophrenia patients. Hallucinations vary from patient to patient, & they can anything from lights, tracers, or shadows, all the way to actual beings such as supernatural or humanoid entities. Every case is different, these illnesses are very much real & the symptoms depicted in movies are somewhat accurate for the most part.
On another note, I think what Hollywood gets wrong is depicting people with severe personality disorders as “crazy”. There are millions of people living with these disorders who have normal jobs, & many of them are incredibly successful. While they can be debilitating for some, many people live a normal & functional life with personality disorders, & there are many treatments available to help manage the symptoms.
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