Split Personality: Treatment, Cost and Side Effects

Split personality is a common term for a complex mental condition known as dissociative identity disorder or multiple personality disorder. Although the exact reason behind the disorder is still a mystery, doctors believe that any kind of childhood abuse, whether it is mental, physical, sexual or emotional.

A split personality disorder is a condition where people dissociate from their natural personality and behave and act differently to their inherent nature. This is not a conscious change and the person affected is often unaware of the switch in their personality. Since, the disease is thought to be caused due to a traumatic experience, doctors feel that the change in personality is the brain’s way of protecting itself against further trauma.

It can difficult to diagnose such a condition, simply because the two personalities may not be that different in nature. Often, it is the patient’s friends or families who will notice the difference, as they have known the person for a longer time than the doctor. There is some debate regarding the disease among medical experts as well, as some doctors feel that the condition is just a one off condition.

Treatment involves a mixture of psychotherapy, hypnosis, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing and even medication. However, the term of treatment can be pretty long and will in most cases, last longer than a few years.

If a person is diagnosed with split personality, he/she will be treated with psychotherapy. Psychiatrists will help conduct the session with the patient and will try to bring out the repressed emotions and personality traits of the person. For such patients, a support is essential for a speedy recovery. This support system may include family members, friends or other people undergoing the same psychotherapy. Dialectical speech therapy is used to soothe the minds of the people suffering from multiple personality disorder.

Doctors also try to find ways in which the different personalities in the patient can co-exist peacefully without too many issues. The same form of treatment is used to determine a way through which the time lapses during dissociation of personalities can be managed better. This co-existence treatment has been adopted recently. Previously, therapists tried to eliminate the created personality, so that the inherent traits could become dominant. However, patients mostly saw this as killing off a part of themselves, which could make then unresponsive to the therapy.

People suffering from split personality also suffer from a range of other mental health problems, such as depression, anger, severe anxiety and the disability to control impulses. Doctors use medication to bring these disorders under control, but precautions must be taken while using such drugs. The effect of the medicine can cause the patient to undergo trauma once again and relapse into the personality issues.

Patients who have been diagnosed with the personality disorder can seek psychotherapy at first. However, if the psychotherapy is unresponsive, the doctor may look for other methods of treating the condition. EMDR is an emerging form of treatment in case of split personality treatments. It stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing and is used to integrate the traumatic memories that the patient has with his own resources.

Elderly people in the advanced stages of the split personality are generally left without treatment, as treating such a mental disorder would no doubt require the use of antidepressants or anti-anxiety drugs. These drugs are full of side effects and may even be deadly for people suffering from cardiovascular conditions.

Similarly, people who have not been diagnosed with multiple personality disorder should also not seek treatment.

There are no considerable side effects to psychotherapy, but each patient may construe these sessions differently. It is very difficult to predict how each patient will react to the same form of treatment. However, the medications used to manage the additional mental health issues may have severe side effects.

For instance, anti-depressants may cause weight gain, loss of sexual desire, insomnia, dry mouth, blurred vision, nausea and constipation. Even other mood altering drugs can have serious side effects for the patient.

The person with multiple personality disorder may never be completely cured. However, the condition can be managed with proper therapy and medication. However, it is very rare for such a person to be able to lead a completely normal life. Patients will need to visit doctors regularly and try to avoid any traumatic experience, which can cause the disorder to return with full force.

Such a person needs to form some close relationships with people in his life, if they want to be relatively happy. Friends and family can aid a person stay in a better shape when it comes to their mental health.

Recovery takes a long time and many people may need to rely on medications and therapy for the rest of their life. However, with proper care, a person with split personality may be able to lead a semi-normal life in just a matter of years.

Price of treatment depends on the form of treatments used. For instance, if the medication and psychotherapy is enough to cure the condition, the cost may be limited to under a Lakh. However, if other forms of treatment are also used and if the condition is especially difficult to treat, the cost of treatment may substantially increase and may even touch Rs. 5 Lakhs.

The treatment is effective, but the condition may get worse in the future, if the patient undergoes further trauma. Other reasons can also cause a relapse, which is why the patient needs to follow certain precautionary measures throughout their life.

Alternative treatment includes hypnosis therapy. In such a form of treatment, the patient is hypnotized, so that the transition between the different personalities is minimized. The hypnosis also looks to enhance the communication between the different personalities within the patient.