Thoughts on DID

I just want to hear other providers and mental health professionals take on Dissociative Identity Disorder. It has always been my understanding that this condition is exceedingly rare, generally the client has very little insight, and tends to be a dysphoric condition.

I recently had an intake with a 14 y/o WF who described to me, in detail, her condition which she believed to be DID. She described herself, "the host", as having 40+ different "alters" that had the ability to "front" or take control of her body. She said she had time gaps that she could not account for and conversations she did not remember having.

She was not bothered by her condition, at all. In fact, she new more than one person who was experiencing similar symptoms and was in a long distance relationship with a former classmate who had similar symptoms and had been diagnosed with DID. That's actually how she was able to "figure out" what was going on with her.

She also described the ability to converse with the alters and sort of listen in on their conversations with each other. She said the live in a house of sorts in her head. Some of them are children and she hears them running around and playing. Only one of them is mean and really he is just misunderstood and troubled.

She was adamant that what she was describing was not auditory hallucinations. She said they never make her do bad things, tell her to kill herself, or say negative things about her.

She is a very bright young woman, I would even say potentially above average intelligence. She has a history or neglect and trauma. She's in all the therapies as far as that goes.

It seemed like she was seeking the diagnosis of DID. I discussed overlap in symptoms and the need for further evaluation since she had been diagnosed MDD and GAD already. I did validate her by saying I believed what she was experiencing was very real to her.

I just wanted to see if anyone had seen similar cases and how they progressed.