“DID may be underdiagnosed. The image derived from classic textbooks of a florid, dramatic disorder with overt switching characterizes about 5% of the DID clinical population. The more typical presentation is of a covert disorder with dissociative symptoms embedded among affective, anxiety, pseudo-psychotic, dyscontrol, and self-destructive symptoms, and others (Loewenstein, 1991). The typical DID patient averages 6 to 12 years in the mental health system, receiving an average of 3 to 4 prior diagnoses. DID is often found in cases that were labeled as "treatment failures" because the patient did not respond to typical treatments for mood, anxiety, psychotic, somatoform, substance abuse, and eating disorders, among others. Rapid mood shifts (within minutes or hours), impulsivity, self-destructiveness, and/or apparent hallucinations lead to misdiagnosis of cyclic mood disorders (e.g., bipolar disorder) or psychotic disorders (e.g., schizophrenia).” SymptomsDissociative Identity DisorderDiagnosisMultiple Personality DisorderSelf DestructiveSelf HarmMultiple PersonalitiesMental DisorderDissociative DisorderDissociativeCovertSelf InjurySplit PersonalityMisdiagnosisSelf Destructive BehaviorMental Health SystemHidden PainSterotypesHidden DisorderTreatment Failure Book:The Encyclopedia of Psychological Trauma Source: The Encyclopedia of Psychological Trauma