Depicting DID: Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is a greatly misunderstood illness, often exaggerated to be associated with predatory, violent, and dangerous behaviors. However, people suffering from DID are not violent actors, they are people trying to mentally and psychologically survive. DID often develops in response to a traumatic life event so horrific that the only way to cope with such an atrocity is to break away from those memories (and with that, parts of their own personality) and dissociate completely into a new ‘person.’ This trauma often involves severe abuse that may directly contribute to neurobiological alterations. My composition reflects this dissociation from oneself by having two versions of the same person. The subject in the white top is emerging from the subject in the black top, as the two are different yet inextricably connected. The position of the subject in the white top is meant to ‘shield’ the original self from debilitating memories of past trauma. Furthermore, the spinning card reflects the unconscious ‘switching’ of personalities, often triggered by environmental factors, to demonstrate altering between personalities is not a deliberate choice made by the individual.
Note: While my composition reflects more severe cases of DID, DID may manifest as slight alterations in personality.