Dissociative Identity Disorder Art Analysis

Digital Art Analysis

Within this piece, all the personalities are connected through tiny colorful lines, similar to chromosomes. In the center of the broken pieces is a child crying, representing the emotional effects of repeated sexual trauma. DID rises from repeated sexual abuse over childhood from ages 4-9. DID cannot develop later in life, for an individual's personality to fracture the abuse must be during early childhood. In this diagram all alters are represented as human but in the majority of cases, systems can include non-human alters. The sentence in the piece states “We are more than our pieces, but together we make a whole”, which is the basis for DID. Alters initially appear because of “an elaborate form of denial [do to trauma] so that the child believes the event to be happening to someone else”(Gillig, 3); so the mind fractures to protect itself, developing alters who can endure the trauma. For example if an individual was abused by being treated like a dog, a dog or dog-like alter may appear to face the abuse (Alters in Dissociative…). Through fracturing the mind creates a systems of alters who each have their own role to protect the body, without one the rest could not function so together they make a whole. However, while the alters are not represented as non-human in this piece, the personalities are illustrated with different ethnicities, ages, and gender. Alters can develop as any ethnicity, gender, or age depending on the trauma and how the brain attempts to protect itself.

Photography Analysis

In this photo the body is experiencing a dissociative episode. Dissociation occurs often when several alters are co-consciousness or before and after switching to the front. This photo is an interpretation of how dissociation may be experienced: appearing scattered, being pulled in and out of the headspace, feeling lost or confused, and very out of body. Through images of faint faces throughout the picture it shows the discomfort and confusion of switching. Systems with weak communication between alters can experience more confusion when fronting because other alters will not know what is going on outside of the headspace. Amnesia is another symptom that people with DID experience. Amnesic barriers are put in place typically by alters known as gatekeepers. These alters create amnesic barriers to protect the system from trauma, while some alters are able to handle trauma memories others are not, which is why gatekeepers are so important for keeping a system functioning (Alters in Dissociative…).

Defying the Stigma

These pieces defy the stigma against dissociative identity disorder through revealing the connectivity between alters as well as the severity of the disorder. DID is a heavily stigmatized disorder with many myths surrounding it, one of the biggest myths is the idea that DID is a rare disorder. However, according to a study done by the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, of 658 individuals, found that “approximately 1.1-1.5% of representative community samples” were found to show signs of DID or be diagnosed with the disorder (Brand, 6). This relative to the rest of the world accumulates to about 120,000,000 individuals affected worldwide, other studies even show that the percentage may be even higher, closer to 15% of the population. Through the digital artwork the piece represents how all alters are needed for a system to function, the colored lines between personalities showing how all of the alters are connected through sharing a body. The bright colors and differences in individuals show the complexity and unity of a system and how all alters are created for a specific role. Elaborating on roles in systems, some of the most common are protectors who front when the system is distressed or in danger, trauma-holders, gatekeepers, prosecutors who usually hold trauma and can harm the body due to a distorted view of reality, non-human alters, fragments who usually are limited in emotion and hold specific memories but are not a fully developed personality, fronters, and littles or children alters. In more broad terms alters fall into one of two categories, emotional parts (EPs) or apparently normal parts (ANPs). Emotional parts are typically trauma holders and rarely front, while apparently normal parts are alters who front most often and handle daily tasks (Alters in Dissociative...). As for the photography, while a harsher take on the disorder, shows how confusing DID can be, the blurriness and out of body faces represent how switching and dissociation can be exhausting and uncomfortable. One of the greatest challenges with DID is communication between alters, and with a lack of communication switching can be very uncomfortable and confusing because alters lose time and can end up in locations they don’t remember going to. DID is a disorder that tends to face a ton of stigma, specifically with people believing that DID is fun because you can have people to talk to in your head when in reality the disorder is trauma based and can make functioning in society extremely difficult. But while difficult many individuals affected can function in society and have a relatively happy life.

Work Cited

Alters in Dissociative Identity Disorder. (May 05, 2021). Traumadissociation.com. Retrieved May 5, 2021 from http://traumadissociation.com/alters. Read more: http://traumadissociation.com/alters

Brand, Bethany L. "Separating Fact from Fiction: An Empirical Examination of Six Myths About Dissociative Identity Disorder." Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 8 July 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4959824/. Accessed 5 May 2021.

Gillig, Paulette M. "Dissociative Identity Disorder A Controversial Diagnosis." Psychiatry MMC, Mar. 2009, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2719457/. Accessed 5 May 2021.

Wang, Philip, editor. "What Are Dissociative Disorders?" American Psychiatric Association, Aug. 2018, www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/dissociative-disorders/what-are-dissociative-disorders. Accessed 5 May 2021.