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Trauma Model
Many researchers will agree of the trauma-related model, suggesting that dissociative identity disorder happens due to an extreme traumatic event happening before of the ages 6-9.
Because during this stage of development children have not yet acquired metacognition (conscious processing of thoughts) and therefore do not know how to cope with their traumatic situations, it is believed the brain relies on dissociating and creating alternate personas that can handle the childhood trauma and also as a form of escapism from unwanted stressful situations
This leads to a fragmentation of identity and an unstable sense of self.
Events that can trigger the onset of DID from an early childhood include physical and/or sexual abuse, emotional neglect and a disorganized attachment with parents.
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Biological Predisposition
It is also believed that some people may be biologically predisposed to having DID symptoms such as dissociation.
However this does not mean that by being biologically predisposed does one have the mental illness, it means that certain situations are likelier to trigger this mental illness in certain individuals.
Current ResearchÂ
The current research about DID focuses on the biological aspect of DID. For example a study by the University of Cambridge has further proven the theory of there being a biological predisposition to DID symptoms such as dissociation, not to mention evidence of structural brain differences between patients with and without DID, including (as in the image shown) more activity in the amygdala than that of a healthy brain.
This serves to prove that DID is not a faked disorder but with real implications.
Non trauma model
Apart from the trauma model, there is also the debate of the non-trauma model, which argues that DID is a social phenomenon, where people who are easily influenced and very imaginative are prone to believing they have multiple personalities even if not experiencing trauma before, the basis of this theory centers around how DID diagnosis spike during periods of increased media coverage of the disorder and later sink.
For example, during 2021 many people claimed to have DID on tiktok, this was due to a combination of misinformation and rampant self diagnosis, although this created an environment for people with DID to speak safely of their experiences, many people who beforehand had not exhibited signs of DID started showing signs of it because of the media exposure and influence.
This however, does not invalidate people who truly have DID, as studies have shown strong biological factors, traumatic factors and emotional links in correlation with those who experience DID.
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