Question

(PLEASE use these choices for specific diagnosis: no disorder/normal, acute stress disorder, antisocial personality disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, dissociative fugue, amnesia, &/or identity disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and schizophrenia)

(PLEASE use these choices for the type of disorder: normal, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, dissociative disorders, schizophrenia, substance use or stress-related disorders).

Alex is a 44-year-old female who reports that she has periods of time where she cannot remember what she has done. She reports that after one such period, she received a telephone call from a man who claimed to have met her in a bar where she was “the life of the party.” She had also told the man her name was Melanie. Alex thinks that this is odd because she does not drink, and she is a rather shy and retiring person. However, the man had her correct telephone number and was able to give a good physical description of her.

            Specific diagnosis _______________           Type of disorder _______________

Answer 1

• Specific disorder-Dissociative Identity disorder
• Type of Disorder-Dissociative
• Dissociative identity disorder, formerly referred to as multiple personality disorder, is a condition wherein a person's identity is fragmented into two or more distinct personality states. People with this rare condition are often victims of severe abuse.
• Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a severe condition in which two or more distinct identities, or personality states, are present in—and alternately take control of—an individual. Some people describe this as an experience of possession. The person also experiences memory loss that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.
• Frequent gaps are found in memories of personal history, including people, places, and events, for both the distant and recent past. These recurrent gaps are not consistent with ordinary forgetting.