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Sleep problems may contribute to multiple personalities

Multiple personality disorder isn’t caused by a traumatic experience, but may rather be the result of sleep problems, suggestive line of questioning and the way in which the disorder is portrayed by media, suggests new research of Maastricht University. The research is published, in cooperation with Binghamton University and Emory University, in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a publication of Association for Psychological Science.

Although the general psychology belief is that patients develop multiple personalities to cope with traumatic experiences from their past (mainly sexual abuse), this assumption isn’t supported by scientific evidence. Many people with dissociative disorders do say they were abused as children, but that doesn’t mean abuse caused their condition, according to the researchers.

The article suggests that the disorder seems to arise from a combination of cues, such as suggestive questioning or sensational media portrayals of multiple personality, to which mostly vulnerable people and those with rich fantasies are sensitive to. Therapists often use hypnosis or ask leading questions, like “Is there another part of you who I haven’t spoken with?” Through that kind of suggestive therapy technique, people might start to think their mood changes, confusion, and impulsive actions happen because they have multiple personalities inside their head.

Surprisingly, the research suggests further that sleep problems can also cause vulnerable people to develop dissociation. The researchers kept 25 healthy volunteers from sleeping for one night and found they had many more dissociative experiences than after a good night sleep. This could help to explain a connection between trauma and dissociation, as traumatic memories can disturb sleep.

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