Is there any such thing as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or are they mere demons?

Writing this article I am not too sure which tone I ought to use; a sarcastic one, open minded or strictly biased one. Reason being, I am rather sceptical about this disorder, however intriguing the subject may be. So do not be confused when you note varying tones, I’ll probably just mix depending on what I happen to be talking about. But first of all, what is (DID)?

Formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder, Dissociative Identity Disorder is defined by the fifth, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, as including the presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states that alternate control of the individual's behaviour, accompanied by the inability to recall personal information beyond what is expected through normal forgetfulness. Apparently, the disorder is a reaction to intense trauma and the different identities, referred to as alters, may exhibit striking differences in speech, mannerisms, attitudes, thoughts, and gender orientation.

The number of alters varies widely, with most patients identifying fewer than ten, though as many as 4,500 have been reported. The primary identity, which often has the patient's given name, tends to be "passive, dependent, guilty and depressed" with other personalities or "alters" being more active, aggressive or hostile, and often containing more complete memories. Most identities are of ordinary people, though fictional, mythical, celebrity and animal alters have also been reported.

Now let’s stop right there and back to reality before we get too technical in medicine. Multiple personalities? How is that even possible? Well, common symptoms of DID include hallucinations and ‘hearing voices in one’s head’. If that is not being mad, plain and simple I have no idea what is. I find it interesting how science attempts to explain everything logically. In this case, it seems the scientist could not dismiss a condition of one jut going bananas. Apparently, there had to be an explanation and hence DID.

Look at it this way, you see someone screaming and running around one minute and the next they are as calm as calm gets, what is that? DID? No! It’s called being mad. And saying it is insanity is one way of putting it. Another would be to say witchcraft was at play. Lol, I know I know people in Africa have a way of dismissing almost everything confusing as witchcraft, but in this case, witchcraft couldn’t be too far off the mark.

The Christian in me would probably say they are demons. Remember the guy who had a legion of demons, and only became NORMAL after Jesus had exorcised him? His behaviour before, sounded a lot like today’s DID. And what if we were to go the African Traditional Religion way? One would probably say it is definitely the ancestral spirits.

Do I sound backward? Well what would you say when you heard that according to statistics DID is diagnosed more frequently in North America than in the rest of the world? Even the legal system is also sceptical as where DID has been used as a criminal defence strategy, it has been rarely successful.

So the question still remains. Is there any such thing as Dissociative Identity Disorder, or are they mere demons? You tell us.