How do people develop multiple personalities, and (how) can professionals tell which personality a patient is showing with a brain scan?
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This is a controversial topic. Some psychologists and psychiatrists don’t believe that Dissociative Identity Disorder (formally known as multiple personality disorder) even exists.
I work in the mental health field, but am not a trained psychologist or doctor of any kind, but in my opinion it does exist.
It is reasonably rare, but is thought to develop as a protective mechanism, in some people who experience very extreme types of abuse or trauma during the early part of their life.
Not everyone who experiences these things develop DID, as I said it’s rare, but for those who do, it is believed that the mind splits into various identities to deal with certain aspects of the trauma which is outside of the awareness of the actual person to protect their personality from being damaged.
Some professionals have dedicated their career to studying this disorder and have developed techniques to determine which personality they are dealing with through treatment.
Any treatments that involve hypnotherapy, must be reviewed with caution, as evidence suggests these therapies may in fact make disorders such as DID worse.
I am not sure if a brain scan can determine different personalities. As far as I understand it, training and experience in dealing with the disorder is the best way to know “who” you are dealing with.
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