How to Help Someone Who Has a Split Personality

A split personality is more commonly known as Dissociative Identity Disorder, as classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - IV - Text Revision. DID is an extremely complex disorder that takes many years to classify. A person with a split personality may exhibit other disorders, such as depression and anxiety, that must be ruled out before a diagnosis is made. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a person must have at least two distinctly different personalities before being diagnosed with DID. Someone with a split personality might be completely unaware of the presence of "alter" personalities and suffer episodes of amnesia, often forgetting events and periods of time.

Things You'll Need

• Voice recorder

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Instructions

• 1

  Write down anything unusual the person says or does. If your friend or family member seems "out of character" for himself, make notes of the day and time of the occurrence. Record anything unusual you notice -- such as writing with a different hand or suddenly not wearing glasses. When a different personality takes over, his mannerisms change.

• 2

  Make voice recordings of different personalities. Someone with multiple personalities can have up to 100 different "alters." Some alters are more dominant than others, and some may come out during specific, stressful situations. Because different genders are often identified in people with split personalities, vocal tones can change.

• 3

  Encourage your friend or family member to seek professional, psychiatric help. Proper diagnosis and medication can help control the dissociative disorder. It can take several years for a proper diagnosis, but a psychiatrist can begin ruling out other mental illnesses.

• 4

  Check in with your friend or family member frequently. Often, people with DID display other mental illness signs such as depression, suicidal thoughts and actions and behaviors such as self-mutilation. If you suspect your friend is a danger to himself or anyone else, contact emergency help immediately.