Dissociative Identity Disorder
Jane Hart is a 28-year-old mother of two boys diagnosed with a dissociative identity disorder. Her identify with the disease changed her life. Jane has nine identities, which developed as a coping mechanism for the childhood sexual abuse she experienced when she was young. Jane has been traumatized by her childhood experiences, and nine identities developed as a way of covering up for the psychological challenges she experienced (Bryant, 2019). Her nine identities have different characters, and some are aware of her childhood abuse, while others do not. The identities have different age, personality, sexual orientation, and sexual gender. The identities that know her past protect the other identities from bad people who may hurt her. During the shift, Jane suffers a headache, which enables her to identify when the character is changing.
Jane agreed to participate in the television series to overcome the trauma she underwent. His presentation also aims at presenting the information to the public to help other patients cope with the situation. Her identities include Jane, the mother of two, Janey, a six years old innocent girl, Beth, who is ten and hold strong memories of the abuse and she protects Janey. Jaden is an 11 years old tomboy, Alexis is 17 years old and party girl, Ashley is 19, Madison, who is 28 years old and a lesbian. The last identities are Jerry, a shy lady, and Jeffrey, the male identity (Bryant, 2019). The parts that carry more trauma, like Madison, leave Jane with amnesia. Other parts leave Jane watching as things happen with no capability to influence them. The identities would frequently exist at the same while one identity remark on the other. Her mother and friends have been supportive of her during the switching of the identities. Some of the friends considered her dangerous and ended their friendship, hurting her more.
According to the story of Jane, dissociative identity disorder can develop when a child experiences repetitive mental and emotional events. Dissociative identity disorder is, therefore, the psychological reaction of the body to the repetitive abuse one is facing. Jane developed alternative identities to replace the character that suffered trauma. The mind was trying to forget the abuses, and it created other personalities with different preferences in terms of age, dressing, wants sexual orientation, and gender. According to Dorahy et al. (2014), an individual can dissociate with the self to avoid physical, emotional, and mental distress caused by long-term abuse. According to the narrations of Jane, her trauma might be caused by abuse by an individual she trusted. One learns that dissociative identity disorder is not a dangerous illness, but through support and care, an individual can have a perfect life.
The documentary helps one understand that individuals may behave differently in contemporary society due to their past experiences. One needs to understand their pasts before interpreting and judging the actions of individuals (Frankish & Sinason, 2018). One learns that people will disorder illnesses should not be abandoned due to their conditions. The documentary is effective in presenting and helping Jane open up her heart and find a hearing. The documentary benefits the general public, relatives, and friends of those suffering from a dissociative identity disorder. It educates and provides hope to individuals with a dissociative identity disorder.
References
Frankish, P., & Sinason, V. (Eds.). (2018). Holistic therapy for people with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Holistic-Therapy-for-People-with-Dissociative-Identity-Disorder-1st-Edition/Frankish-Sinason/p/book/9781782205630
Dorahy, M. J., Brand, B. L., Şar, V., Krüger, C., Stavropoulos, P., Martínez-Taboas, A., … & Middleton, W. (2014). Dissociative identity disorder: An empirical overview. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 48(5), 402-417. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0004867414527523
Bryant, E. (2019). Many sides of Jane [Video]. Retrieved 9 April 2020, from https://signup.hulu.com/ManySidesofJane.”