Guide To The Symptoms Of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

Mood Swings

Mood swings are quite common in individuals with dissociative identity disorder. Feelings of emotional vulnerability and volatility tend to run rampant. Many patients do not realize they have this disorder, especially if they are not aware of their alters. For this reason, it is common for this disorder to be misdiagnosed, often as bipolar disorder.

The mood swings with dissociative identity disorder can take several different forms. Moods may seem to shift entirely if the fronting alter changes. From the inside, though, there is not a volatile swing. Instead, it is more like swapping who is in the driver's seat, and the new driver happens to have different emotions. If an individual with dissociative identity disorder is triggered, they may suddenly feel like their emotions and senses have flattened. This is more typical dissociation. There may also be mood swings because of the way different alters have developed psychologically.

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Insomnia

Individuals with this disorder often deal with insomnia. The reasons for insomnia vary, and it is possible that some patients will not have insomnia at all. When there is a level of awareness of the other alters, the patient's mind may race incessantly with thoughts that do not feel like theirs. It may as if their head is a loud, crowded place.

Anxiety can also contribute to insomnia, and patients with this disorder can be more sensitive to anxiety triggers than the average neurotypical person. Some patients are prone to slipping into fantasies and daydreams. This can keep them from going to sleep. Patients also report more strange sleeping experiences than neurotypical individuals. These may include vivid or lucid dreams, sleep paralysis, and sleepwalking.

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