Dissociative Identity Disorder: Treatment Perspective – Part 2

The religious establishment, unfortunately, possesses a fixated view that a dissociative person is invariably demonised. And without further exhaustive investigation as to the causes and processes of such a predicament, embark immediately on a course of exorcism. Clients who presented themselves following such an expulsion ritual usually suffer irreparable harm to their self-image, being stigmatised by others as somewhat tainted by Satanic influence. Unlike demons, a fragmented memory cannot be expelled. A personality part forms part of the individual’s memory system, and it is not a separate person with a distinct personhood or a separate ‘spirit.’ Exorcism, therefore, is a misguided treatment for a non-demonised Dissociative Identity Disordered (DID) person. Having concluded that, it stands to reason that there is always a distinct possibility that a dissociated person may be possessed. However, in my previous practice, none of the DID patients, in treatment, were demonised. In reality, exorcism, practised wisely with spiritual discernment, is a valid ritual within the Christian church, used to confront the maligned spiritistic realm.

Due to the nature of prolonged and often severe sexual or physical abuses that had resulted in fragmented memories within a DID person, a part may surface, speaking in a different voice from the individual, or may even claim to be a demonic spirit. One of my clients was in a trance state when a part surfaced, and claimed she was a demon. That assertion was based on her husband’s accusation of a demonic presence based on what that part had said whenever she came out - that she had full control over the person and can force her to do anything she wanted. Usually surfacing past midnight, she would then physically attack her husband because of his earlier adultery. In a dialogue with that personality part, I discovered that she was not blasphemous towards the things of God. She became quite civil when I informed her that in my view, she was not a demon, and that I would regard her as any normal person would. From that moment the demonic labelling was permanently dropped.

After an apparently successful five-year treatment regime, three parts, differently named, suddenly surfaced together, one after the other, in another DID client. They had hidden in fear, deep within the subconscious of the person. Further enquiry provided the reason for their delayed appearances: the client had been put on a church platform, before a large congregation, and an exorcism performed, ostensibly ‘casting out’ these three parts that had surfaced. The pastor had called them demons. That was three years before she came for counselling. They had been listening in on my conversations with the other parts for nearly five years, and had decided, at last, to trust me sufficiently to come out. Subsequently, they were successfully integrated with her main memory system. The emphasis is that personality parts cannot be exorcised from the individual!

Different parts, depending on the timing of their creation, can embrace different religious faiths, and there appears to be no contradiction within the individual, whether the parts are co-conscious or otherwise. One part can be a Buddhist at age 25, while another can be a Christian at age 50, and they do not fight over their beliefs. When we understand that memory fragmentation is in the individual’s memory system, then it would be normal that our brain holds a variety of thoughts and experiences that make-up the whole person. Once integration of the fragmented memories had been achieved, the parts no longer exist and the individual’s memory is restored.

​A DID client was in counselling by a team of exorcists, and the pastor made a belittling humorous comment about the client, while she was in a trance state. The client heard it and regarded the comment as an insult - a personality part was created and named after the pastor. It is important to realise that due to the ability of the DID person to fragment their abuse memories, any comments or actions made in their presence that were deemed to be intolerably hurtful may lead to further memory fragmentation. As this practice is a learnt behaviour, it is not unusual for a DID patient to have at least a minimum of two to three parts, depending on their abuse history. One of my previous clients had over twenty personality parts.