Dissociative Identity Disorder
Explained

Additional types of trauma – or trauma multiplying beyond the capacity of one part of the mind to cope – can cause further fragmenting of the mind. That way, no part has to cope with every horrific memory and the consciousness that more such horrors are likely. The mind-crippling task of trying to deal with everything at once is broken down into smaller, though still horrific, pieces.

It is not only memories that are compartmentalized because the person has to be able to function – often at quite a sophisticated level – while being traumatized. So intellectual abilities have to be divided up as well. Some abilities can be replicated in another part of the brain, just like right-handed people can develop the side of their brain that controls their left hand so that they can get better at writing with their left hand. Not all abilities are replicated, however, with the result that people with D.I.D. are usually more skilled than they realize until they learn about all their other parts.

Far from being a freak, people with D.I.D. have, from an early age, stumbled upon an ingenious mental strategy for coping with situations that are almost beyond human endurance.

As a child’s brain grows it becomes increasingly rigid and the ability to compartmentalize itself this way is lost if the process is not initiated by around about seven years of age. If someone learns the technique when young, however, the person can continue further compartmentalizing his/her brain later in life.