Dissociative Identity Disorder In The Movie Split

For much of the movie, Split portrayed a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder as an actual person. Split treats these alters as it should: separate identities in their own right, each with different traits and personalities. Kevin identifies with 24 different personalities throughout the movie. The alters, see a psychiatrist by the name of Dr. Fletcher who explains, “The brain has learned to adapt to the trauma.” Which is what happens to people with Dissociative Identity Disorder. A child may at some point in their life experience trauma, usually in the form of abuse and to handle it, the psyche splits, shatters, into alternate parts (Dissociative, 2017). The movie also does a good job portraying how DID isn’t behavior seeking attention,

He is just struggling with the two other identities who are controlling him. Hedwig, who is one of the 23 different personalities wants to become friends with Casey throughout the movie and ends up bringing her back to his room where they listen to music. Casey comes from an abusive background just as Kevin has. Flashbacks are shown throughout the movie displaying that Casey did not have that great of an up brining just as Kevin did. There were many safety issues throughout the movie, number one being the safety Kevin put on the community with his alter ego identity. Although, not every identity was a threat to others the beast killed Dr. fletcher towards the end of the movie and took off. The staff at the zoo also received a radio call from Casey but never took it seriously when she was pleading that someone should come and help save them. Dr. Fletcher was the community resources displayed in the movie, she was the psychiatrist who worked with patients who had personality

DID treatment should always be conducted by professionals who are specialized with the personality disorder as it is rare and a challenging condition to treat. Dissociative identity disorder treatment primarily involves symptom relief as well as trauma therapy (Tracy, 2017). Dissociative identity disorder is primarily treated with psychotherapy, but can also be treated with cognitive therapy, family therapy, and music therapy. Although, no medication is specifically indicated for DID, medication can help with depression and anxiety symptoms. Clinical hypnosis is also used as treatment. This process involves intense relaxation, concentration and focused attention to achieve an altered state of consciousness (Tracey,