How DID Develops
How does someone develop DID or OSDD? The answer is in trauma. Because a traumatic incident is an experience that is extremely distressing, dissociation is a common response. It allows someone experiencing the trauma to change their consciousness in a way that allows them to distance or disconnect from the full impact of what is happening.5 Escaping trauma literally and bodily may be difficult or impossible for small children, so escaping it mentally, emotionally, and developmentally through dissociation is a particularly sophisticated coping mechanism.
A modest scientific literature indicates that the vulnerability to dissociation is highest in early childhood and normally decreases with age20, which is consistent with the observation that a relatively high level of dissociative experiences is commonly observed in young children. Modern literature and research has repeatedly concluded that DID/OSDD is formed in childhood, most likely between the ages of 6 and 9.
The vast majority of persons who develop DID/OSDD have histories of severe and chronic childhood trauma, usually beginning in early childhood. Conversely, adults who are exposed to even pervasive and harsh trauma (e.g.,torture victims or concentration camp survivors) do not develop this disorder.20
Childhood Trauma and DID
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PTSD and DID
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