Dissociative Identity Disorder

[B52, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Has anyone encounterd a patient with signs of DID who has not been diagnosed? If so, what signs did you observe? Were you able to sway the psychiatrist to take action?

[GeriLPNtoPsycchRN, CNA, LPN, RN]

I've only ever had one pt with DID. She has a dx of it. She talks in 3rd person often by commanding herself to do things. "Oh gracie, take your meds. I don't want to. You need a PRN now". And so on. She has a different tone for each one of her personalities and that is how you can tell them apart. 

[B52, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I think my patient has it, but he has not been diagnosed. I'm his case manager, so I spend more than 30 minutes at a time with him. His tone changes and he sometimes says, "Why do you keep interrupting me." He has told me that he thinks he is possessed.

[CuriousConundrum]

B52 said:

Has anyone encounterd a patient with signs of DID who has not been diagnosed? If so, what signs did you observe? Were you able to sway the psychiatrist to take action?

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Despite being in the DSM, it's not universally agreed upon as being "real," and it's not so much the role to sway a psychiatrist as it is to observe and report.  In 10 years, I've had exactly one patient that I suspected had it in the way media portrays.  Dissociation is not uncommon to trauma and could range from unnoticeable to a sudden extreme of emotion to a profound, catatonic-like state.  

B52 said:

 He has told me that he thinks he is possessed.

As a scientific field, we're taught to discount this.  As a practitioner, I treat it as psychosis.  As a Christian, I believe it's very possible so I always have added ways I would prefer to address this but don't.  Look up Victor Marx.  

[B52, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN]

CuriousConundrum,

My job description goes beyond observing and reporting.

[Rionoir, ADN, RN]

B52 said:

I think my patient has it, but he has not been diagnosed. I'm his case manager, so I spend more than 30 minutes at a time with him. His tone changes and he sometimes says, "Why do you keep interrupting me." He has told me that he thinks he is possessed.

One of the first tip offs that someone is full of it is if they point out the fact that they are acting strangely while acting strangely. Just saying... ?