Annabel Cook, BA International Relations & Politics

Dissociative Identity Disorder: The Stigma of Multiplicity

I want to focus on the topic of Dissociative Identity Disorder and the stigma surrounding it. Educating people on this complex mental health disorder and challenging the stereotypes seen in modern media outlets, e.g. the film Split, is my intended goal for the presentation. The first part would include detailing what Dissociative Identity Disorder is and how it's diagnosed in the UK, with what symptoms look like as well, then I would move on to how people develop the disorder. Lastly, I want to confront the various myths about the disorder seen in modern entertainment and why there is a disparity between reality and mainstream media. I intend to use academic sources such as 'Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors' by Janina Fisher and 'The Body Keeps The Score' by Bessel Van Der Kolk, among others too. I also will be using trigger warnings at the start of the presentation because of some of the content.