Billy Milligan and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
I try to be informed whenever Nextflix’s has a new documentary on mental health. Clients often ask me questions about these programs, and I knew that I was going to hear about Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan when it was released earlier this month.
Billy Milligan is a high profile case of purported Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), which was formerly known as multiple personality disorder. It is an interesting documentary and candid about this controversial diagnosis.
DID is an extremely rare diagnosis and many clinicians are skeptical that DID exists. During my diagnostic training, I was told that I was unlikely to ever encounter this condition. Patients with DID are thought to have high IQs and a considerable trauma history (the documentary aptly describes Billy Milligan’s childhood as “torture”). I have never encountered DID in my career but a respected colleague treats patients with this condition. He is careful to delineate between “real DID” as opposed to “Hollywood DID.”
For individuals interested in learning more about DID and the controversy around this diagnosis:
How pop culture created a two-decade-long obsession with multiple personality disorder and repressed memories. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1112270/3884051-multiple-personality-disorder
One of the five patient’s profiled in this book has a diagnosis of DID - Good Morning, Monster: A Therapist Shares Five Heroic Stories of Emotional Recovery