Causes
The cause of DID is controversial, with debate occurring between supporters of different hypotheses: that DID is a reaction to the trauma; that DID is produced iatrogenically by inappropriate psychotherapeutic techniques that cause a patient to enact the role of a patient DID; and newer hypotheses involving memory processing that allows for the possibility that trauma-causing dissociation can occur after childhood in DID as it does in PTSD. It has been suggested that all the trauma-based and stress-related disorders be placed in one category that would include both DID and PTSD. Disturbed and altered sleep has also been suggested as having a role in dissociative disorders in general and specifically in DID.
Research is needed to determine the prevalence of the disorder in those who have never been in therapy, and the prevalence rates across cultures. These central issues relating to the epidemiology of DID remain largely unaddressed despite several decades of research. The debates over the causes of DID also extend to disagreements over how the disorder is assessed and treated.
Read more about this topic: Dissociative Identity Disorder