All DID Symptoms Fall Into 2 Categories
(Summary) At first glance, the diagnostic criteria for Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) in the DSM seem surprisingly brief. Yet behind those two criteria lies the wide range of symptoms and experiences that make DID so complex. In this post, we’ll explore the two core categories—unusual memory problems and disruptions in identity and control—and how they help explain the diverse ways DID shows up in daily life.
When you look at the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (called the DSM), the official diagnostic criteria for mental health issues in the U.S., you see that the entry for criteria for DID is pretty short. There are many conditions with far more criteria. For example, ADHD. That might seem weird since people experience so many unusual things with DID. What it comes down to is this: there are only a couple of criteria for DID but the way those criteria can show up in someone’s life can be quite varied. This blog post isn’t addressing specific symptoms, but at the end of this post I include a link to a video that does explore specific symptoms of DID. This blog post looks at the two categories DID symptoms fall into. These two categories match the two main criteria for Dissociative Identity Disorder in the DSM.
Let’s take a closer look:
Of the two criteria, one can be summarized as memory problems that aren’t your usual forgetting. We all forget at times, right? But people without a dissociative disorder don’t tend to forget what they are saying as they are saying it, as can happen with thought snatching. I will note that as someone with ADHD, I’ve been known to forget what I’m saying in mid-sentence, but that’s usually because I got distracted by another thought as I was saying it and I’m usually able to recover the original thought I got distracted from. But with DID, this forgetting is likely to happen frequently, especially when it touches on particular topics that can be problematic within the system. People without a dissociative disorder don’t forget buying clothes, generally, unless maybe there is something in the back of a closet that was bought years ago and never worn and gets rediscovered. Again, it might happen once, but not repeatedly. Other examples of unusual forgetting include not remembering your wedding day or the birth of your child. Or even not recognizing family members!
The other criteria is a real mouthful. It’s a whole lot of words but the key part is this: it is a disruption in how a person experiences their identity. Specifically, it is the lack of continuity in a sense of self and a lack of continuity in the sense of agency. So what does this mean? You may have heard people’s different roles in life talked about as “wearing different hats.” That is, you put on your employee hat when you go to work, your sports hat when you go to practice or watch a game, put on your parent hat when you talk with your kids, and so on. People without dissociative disorders may wear different hats, so to speak. That is, they may have different roles throughout the day. But they experience themselves as the same person throughout that. They know they are the same person in each role. A person with DID doesn’t have this experience of knowing they are the same person in different roles. Instead, an employee part might front for work, a system member that handles parenting fronts to deal with the kids, and other system members might front for various social activities. The same body is involved in all those activities but those activities are experienced as involving different personalities. Additionally, the non-dissociative person experiences themselves as being in control and choosing to act. A person with DID often experiences a lack of control, such as when they are suddenly fronting and they didn’t intend to be or when they get pushed out of the front by another system member. A person with DID may have the experience of observing the body doing things that they are not causing to happen and that they actually want to stop from happening. That’s because they aren’t in control but are an onlooker at that moment while another system member is in control.
What things are forgotten can be different from person to person, so DID can have many different apparent symptoms. The same is true with the lack of continuity in self-perception and in having the ability to control your body and choices. This explains why DID can have such a baffling array of symptoms that can be so different from one person to another. The root causes, however, fall into the two categories of abnormal memory issues and disruptions of self-identity and control.
For a video on symptoms of DID, see this video:
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the DSM list so few criteria for DID compared to other conditions?
The DSM criteria for Dissociative Identity Disorder may look short, but each category covers a wide range of experiences. The variability of how memory loss and identity disruption show up is why DID can look so different from person to person. Fewer criteria doesn’t mean DID is simple—it means the core features are broad enough to include many possible symptoms.
How are DID memory problems different from normal forgetfulness?
Everyone forgets things at times, but DID memory gaps are unusual. They can include forgetting major life events, conversations in progress, or daily activities that most people rarely forget. These gaps often repeat and tend to cluster around specific situations or parts, which is very different from everyday distraction or age-related forgetfulness.
What does “disruption of identity” mean in DID?
In DID, identity disruption means a person does not experience themselves as one continuous self across roles and situations. Instead, different parts may take on different roles—like parenting, working, or socializing—with each experienced as separate. This often comes with a loss of control, where one part may suddenly front without the person intending or choosing it.
How is DID different from simply having different roles in life?
Everyone “wears different hats,” but non-dissociative people still know they’re the same person underneath. With DID, parts may each hold a different role and experience themselves as distinct, not just role-shifted. The difference is in continuity—non-dissociative people feel consistent, while people with DID often don’t.
Why can DID look so different from one person to another?
Because the two criteria—memory disruption and identity discontinuity—can appear in many ways. Some systems may notice more memory gaps, while others notice stronger shifts in identity or control. This variability is why DID can seem confusing from the outside, but the root experiences remain the same.
F116FWhat are the official DSM criteria for DID?
The DSM describes DID using two main criteria: (1) recurrent gaps in memory that can’t be explained by ordinary forgetting, and (2) disruptions in identity that involve changes in how a person experiences themselves and their sense of control. Everything else about DID symptoms flows from these two core issues.