The New York Times Misses The Mark...Again
How an article from a major news outlet perpetuates stigma.
The Latest Article
The New York Times released an article on October 5, 2023 entitled What Does It Really Mean To Dissociate? written by Christina Caron. In short, it was a missed opportunity. Rather than providing her readership with meaningful information and education that could help dispel harmful stereotypes and decrease stigma, Caron chose instead to promulgate the stereotypes. Was it the worst article we’ve ever read? No. It could have been much worse. But it also could have been a lot better.
The Onset
The article starts out innocently enough by underscoring the fact that everyone experiences dissociation to some degree, citing examples like highway hypnosis or blipping out while reading a passage. Caron points out that dissociation can even help athletes do their job. But then she states that “often in the aftermath of overwhelming trauma… the dissociative symptoms become more extreme and frequent.” But rather than offer an explanation that might garner compassion and empathy, she dove right into the “fascination factor.”
It’s frustrating that journalists and media outlets adhere to the narrative that DID is “fascinating” or somehow entertaining. It is both demeaning and dehumanizing to those of us who live with this condition, as it completely ignores the severe, chronic trauma that creates the condition in the first place. Time and again journalists entirely overlook the immense suffering inherent in the condition. Caron is no different, choosing to discuss the public’s “fascination with DID,” citing movies like Sybil and The Three Faces of Eve. Presumably, in order to prove the point that people are “fascinated” with DID, she writes that videos that used the #dissociativeidentitydisorder hashtag received 1.5 billion views. She notes that these videos include creators who depict what their dissociative identities are like. Videos that use the hashtag #dissociation gathered 775 million views. Somehow it seems to escape Caron entirely that many if not most of the people searching those hashtags are actually people who are suffering tremendously who are seeking validation, information and relief.
Missing Humanity
When we talk about people who live with DID and OSDD, we are talking about human beings who have survived horrific, unspeakable trauma. We are talking about some of the most vulnerable people in our society. We are talking about people in monumental, pervasive, unfathomable pain. Yet somehow, it doesn’t even occur to Christine Caron to mention that fact. Instead, she chooses to capitalize on the trend most pop culture articles focus on: the ‘fascination and believability factor’ of the condition.
Caron reveals that her research suggested that a lot the information available online isn’t reliable. So, she reached out to professionals for information and clarification. We are then peppered with quotes from Dr. Frank Putnam who briefly describes how dissociation can help someone survive and cope with overwhelming trauma, which would be adaptive. But rather than help Caron and her readers understand that salient concept, which in turn would have built much needed understanding and compassion, he quickly moved into describing how the mechanism becomes “pathological,” citing examples of losing time that someone lacking basic understanding might find…you guessed it…fascinating.
At this point, there was still time for salvation and Caron could have easily delved into neuroscience, the brain’s creative brilliance, or even the bonus array of skills and talents that someone with dissociative identities tends to have. All or any of that would have gone a long way in helping readers begin to really understand the condition. Instead, she moved on to another problematic viewpoint when she obtained a quote from Dr. Judith Herman, a pioneer and good friend to the trauma community. Dr. Herman shared that she believes DID is “way under diagnosed,” in part because professionals in the field “don’t believe in DID.”
What a perfect opportunity to ask questions like “why don’t people believe in DID?” What a perfect opportunity to engage in quality investigative journalism. What a perfect opportunity to educate people about the harm caused by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF). For those unfamiliar, the FMSF was founded by people with vested interests in discrediting victims of sexual abuse and/or mind control. FMSF worked hard to promulgate the myth that people were either fabricating their history, symptoms or that their symptoms were somehow planted by professionals. (For a more in-depth overview of FMSF visit this post by The Last American Vagabond on Substack.)
Rather than offer substantive explanations, Caron moves on to write:
Dr. (Janina) Fisher acknowledged that “it’s a hard-to-believe diagnosis unless you’ve seen it.” Patients show changes in body language, facial expression and cognitive ability, she added. “It is sort of dramatic and sounds almost fantastical.”
Fantastical? There is nothing respectful, compassionate, educational or even remotely helpful about that description. The only thing that description does is perpetuate stigma. Again.
We could go on and on about all of the various and sundry problems in Caron’s article, of which there are a gracious plenty, and how it harmed the DID community. But instead, we’d like to offer:
What could have or should have happened:
Recognize that the disorder is highly stigmatized, delineate how that increases the suffering of those who live with it, and begin to dismantle that stigma.
Wherever there is stigma there needs to be careful consideration and thoughtful education. Rather than jumping on the bandwagon and simply reporting on the “hot topic du jour,” it would be helpful to take the time to really understand the origins of the disorder and the people who suffer from it. Thorough research would reveal that DID is neither entertaining nor theatrical, nor are we all serial killers, as Hollywood would have us all believe.
Responsible research would lead to a deeper understanding of not only the tremendous suffering, but also the incredible strengths those of us with the disorder have. It would also undoubtedly uncover the insidious discrimination perpetrated against those with dissociative identities (DI). People lose their jobs after either divulging their diagnosis or being indiscriminately outed by someone. They can be subject to harassment, lose friends and struggle remarkably to find supports willing to understand what they’re going through. They are accused of “faking” their disorder on a regular basis. Even within the mental health treatment arena itself, clients with DI find that providers do not always adhere to treatment protocols, insist that they have another disorder instead, and some providers go so far as to treat them with profound disrespect if not outright cruelty. It’s no wonder why so many of us have been living in secrecy and isolation for so long. A responsible article could be a first step in beginning to eradicate this kind of stigma and discrimination.
Consult with professionals with lived experience first.
We understand the desire to consult with pioneers in the field, like Dr. Judith Herman, who is an ally. But when she says she believes it’s “way under diagnosed” in part because people in the field still “don’t believe in it,” that statement should be taken as an invitation to do some real investigative journalism rather than pop culture reporting. There are a number of experts in the field of trauma and dissociation that should be consulted: Dr. Jamie Marich, Dr. Adrian Fletcher, and Katie Keech, LMFT are all examples of well qualified professionals with lived experience who are adept at discussing the etiology, prevalence, symptoms and treatment of complex dissociative disorders. Each of them has extensive training and experience in working with people who have complex dissociative disorders, in addition to having their own experiences. They are well equipped to speak to the real struggles and strengths, providing a balanced view of the disorder rather than focusing on the “fascinating,” “unbelievable” optics that were so prevalent throughout this disappointing article. We can likely all agree that when it comes to articles on DID, we are absolutely lacking balance.
Root the article in principles of social justice.
This idea that social media and online information is unreliable and responsible for creating a ‘fad’ is irresponsible, as is positing that people should “only” seek information from trained professionals. These views are staunchly rooted in privilege, perpetuating oppression. The harsh reality is that many people do not have access to mental health care at all. Period. Access to mental health care can be limited by finances, geographic location, living in unsafe spaces, cultural factors and a host of other reasons. It is more than reasonable to conduct research online as a means of finding meaningful explanations and solutions for mental health issues. As we noted in our Having a Voice blog post ““Until there is equity in healthcare that creates access for all people to seek professional assessments for diagnostic clarity, people will continue to seek information that is both free and widely available online. Most people can critically evaluate the information they find online and subsequently use it to improve the quality of their lives. This is a good thing.”
Rather than dismiss online information as unreliable, it would have been far more helpful if the author had included at least some dependable online resources that people could turn to. Better yet, ask Dr. Marich, Dr. Fletcher and Katie Keech what resources they recommend and include those in the article.
To clarify, we are not suggesting that professionals without lived experiences should be excluded. Of course not. But rather professionals with lived experiences should always be included rather than excluded in order to provide the nuance, balance and complete information that is so absent in this article.
Educate Responsibly.
A. Provide a description of what trauma is and include the neuroscience behind it so that people can finally understand that PTSD, dissociative subtype, DID, OSDD and other trauma related disorders are not choices.
Rather than writing, “The idea of having alternate realities or different identities is one that may especially resonate during adolescence…” work to differentiate between the developmental identity confusion common in adolescence and dissociative identities. They are different. Help people distinguish between the two.
B. Strongly advocate for professionals to treat the person in front of them with a compassionate lens. DID is the only disorder in the DSM that we feel the need to “prove” exists and “prove” the client is suffering from. Outside of forensic settings, there is no real need to “prove” the disorder. For clients who have gone through being disbelieved and called liars about their history and symptoms, going through the process of “proving that they are telling the truth about their symptoms” is overtly harmful. Providers can treat what is in front of them. After all, “faking” DID would be a tremendous amount of work and not terribly sustainable.
C. Educate about the great deal of suffering inherent in DID. Until people are provided with a clear description of what it’s like to live with DID, including the flashbacks, memories and confusion, they will be unable to develop empathy and compassion. A clear description can be obtained by those with lived experience.
Dispel the Myth that plurality is rare.
It never fails that DID is thought of as rare. Although this article cites the 1-1.5% statistic, it fails to provide context. In our previous blog post we discussed some of the statistics around plurality. We noted that providers receive training in identifying and treating both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, but not DID. Yet people who suffer from bipolar disorder and people who suffer from schizophrenia combined comprise a smaller population than those who have DID. The DID statistic doesn’t even include those who live with OSDD. Recently Katie Keech, LMFT provided the current DID and OSDD combined statistics. See the images below.
1 in 10. Katie’s tweet above sums it up well. There are a lot of people struggling with the disorder. Perhaps the increased education and awareness of plurality has decreased shame and confusion enough for some people to come forward for help. Perhaps it has helped other realize that there may be a better way of managing it and that realization has helped them step forward for evaluation and help.
In conclusion, certainly, there are other things not included in this blog that could also be done in an article addressing DID to provide a more accurate view of the disorder. The ones cited in this blog were the most glaring to us at this time. We hope that this blog will feel validating for those who live with dissociative identities while providing much needed awareness for those who seek to report or write about it in the future.
🙏🏽🙏🏽🫶🏽. Yous are gifted writers! Love the suggestions yous offer on what could have and should have been offered. Regarding false memory: the reality is how common it is for so many of us to question abuse and how repressed memories may never be revealed, but yet there is a real felt sense of “bad,” “doesn't feel good,” and emotionality because there were never words then. No words, plus distant or hidden memories wrecks havoc on the mind and makes for such confusion and inner turmoil…acting out…so much. I wish the spectrum of splitting off was discussed more . Splitting off can take on so many forms for all.
Hope this makes sense.
Appreciate yous.