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Age of Onset
Age of Onset
The majority of people with DID report that they experienced DID symtoms from ages 5-10
This is because the extremely traumatic event that happens at a young age prompts the brain to cope by dissociating and letting another “person” take control.
The emergence of alters on average starts at about age 6..
Prevalence
It is estimated that 1-1.5% of people worldwide have DID (Ülker Atilan Fedai and Mehmet Asoğlu)
However, this might be an underestimate as many people with DID go undiagnosed, or are misdiagnosed with other disorders
Statistics
Women are 9 times more likely to have DID than men:
This is because women are likelier to be abused at a younger age compared to men, also the treatment disparities, where men are likelier to be sent to prison systems instead of therapy.
Patients may spend 5-12.5 years in therapy before being diagnosed with DID
This is because DID is often misdiagnosed to other psychological disorders, for example schizophrenia and BPD, not to mention the general secrecy of patients with their symptoms makes DID harder to diagnose.
Average number of alters in DID patients is 8-13
Upon diagnosis, 2-4 alters are identified, however upon further treatment the number rises to 13. There have been cases around the world where more than 100 alters have been identified within in a person
Over 70% of people with DID have attempted suicide
This is because of the severe trauma and abuse that people with DID have experienced from an early age, followed by other mental health issues, and the stigma surrounding this disorder coupled with the lack of access to treatment
Myths about DID
Because of the fact that much of the public gains knowledge about DID from the media, where potrayals are dramatized, there is a lot of misconception of how the disorder works.
In many movies, such as "SPLIT" DID is villanized and used as a plot device
"People with DID are evil"
This is not true, as many people with DID simply suffer from having their consciousness split apart, many in fact are traumatized and are likelier than the general population to be abused again.
"DID is a fake disorder, people are faking it!"
There have been many research papers using different methodologies confirming the reality of dissociative identity disorder, apart from difference in brain structures, those with DID report having a history of childhood abuse and feelings of their consciousness altered. This belief is very stigmatizing as it prevents people who actually need help to get it, as they're made to believe they're making it up.
"Changes in alter are very obvious and recognizable"
Due to the misconceptions of DID in the media, there is a widespread belief that when a person with DID switches alters it's very recognizable and obious, however this is not true, sometimes the alters might just be different in memory, or other symptoms which are not expressed by the person, it is why it might take years to diagnose a person with DID, as it appears it is the same body changes in alters aren't recognizable.
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