Is Multiple Personality Disorder or DID Genetic?

kat_womanx2 from the
Straight from the Cat Box blog asked the question about MPD possibly being a genetic disorder. I assume from her question that she wondered this because of my belief that others of my siblings also have the MPD.

I'm not qualified to answer whether MPD is genetic or not. From what I can tell there haven't been any studies done to tell one way or another. For that matter, there is still so much skepticism in the professional community about the validity of the diagnosis in the first place, I'd be surprised to see the subject of where it comes from or how it's caused to even be a consideration in the professionals' minds at this time. I personally think the search for a genetic link will be a long time coming.

I think the same is true for the possibilities that it might be a learned behavior. I doubt that the experts have even gotten that far in the field to think of such a possibility. I think the focus really is finding the best way to diagnosis and treat multiplicity. With multiples being as diverse as they are in their functioning, it may be decades before they even have a good grasp of that.

With that being said, I certainly have my own thoughts about the subject of why there might be so many multiples in my family of origin. First and foremost would be the fact that those things I have always remembered as being a part of the treatment we received at the hands of my mother were the very things that the child in "Sybil" had repressed and were said to be the cause of her multiplicity.

The type of abuse it takes to cause a child to dissociate dramatically enough to cause multiple personality disorder was rampant in my family of origin. That fact alone would be enough to cause me and all of my siblings to have utilized the coping mechanism.

For example my youngest brother has no memory of being tied to a chair with a rag stuffed down his throat to prevent him from crying. He was only two years old at the time. While he has no memory of the event, the rest of us all remember it vividly. This includes my sister who was younger than him.

And a couple of my siblings remember seeing my mother do the same thing to my children. However, none of us remember it ever happening to us. Nor have any of the others ever considered it ever happened to them.

Taking that into account and then the fact that we all have such varied stories about what happened when and where, MPD certainly makes it easier to understand how we could all be so adamant about our individual versions of our lives. While it's easier to believe that some or all of us are probably lying, it is entirely possible that each is telling the truth as that person knows it. If that is the case, then all of us are multiples.

To be continued............

multiple personality disorder MPD dissociative Identity disorder did