Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a psychiatric disease characterized by alternation of plural personalities. In fact, the patient has only one subject and not personalities but personality states change places. If we call the self that experiences our world “subjective self ” and the self that consists of images about oneself “personal self ”, the personal self might separate from the subjective self and becomes plural on the patients with DID.
Dissociation is often related to past traumatic experiences. According to the theory of structural dissociation, the apparently normal part of the personality (ANP) and the emotional part of personality (EP) appear on the individuals who have experienced traumatic events. Merleau-Ponty argued in the discussion about “passivity” that , on rememberence, preservation and constitution would be formed simultaneously when the presence that is shifting to the past is entered in the body schema. Refer to this statement, the traumatic memories do not appear on ANP because they are preservations, while they vividly revive as constitution on EP. On the both cases, the traumatic events has not become the genuine past yet. As a result, the DID patients who has experienced traumatic events cannot form their own history.
Merleau-Ponty explained the concept “institution” as the event that gives dimensions that conect an experience to other experiences and that form one history and the things that are instituted are the results from and the assurance of the fact that we belong to the same world . We can say that the institution do not appropriately function on the DID patients with DID because they cannot form their own history and tend to be isolated. It is more important fot the therapist to form therapeutic relationship of mutual trust with patients with DID than to conduct specialized techniques.
Merleau-Ponty’s concepts “passivity” and “insutitution” are highly suggestive on the discussion about psychotherapy for dissociative disorders.
