DID and Schizophrenia

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Hi all,

I posted a thread here a few days ago about my mermaid world creation. And hold on a sec, I have to type really fast because Alex is staring at me again.
I'm going to go pull some stuff from my other thread to give a bit of background.

"I created my own little world, one where I'm a mermaid and I can actually fight back because I have this power over water. And I can sing. Like a siren. Oh, how I love that ability! But it kills me a little bit inside every time I get back into the whole mermaid business."

And from another place:

Total score of: 64
(30 or Above, Higher Association With DID)

Your answers to this Dissociative Identity Disorder screening test fall into the range with a higher association with DID. (Please see below for more specific information on what your score on this screening test may mean.)

A lot of the questions related to me, such as finding writings in your room and not remembering you did them and not being able to tell sometimes whether you did something or just thought about doing it. I took the test from a thread in this section of the forum. When I was a few years younger, I was playing on Webkinz, and I looked at my account that I had already had for several years, and I didn't know it was mine. The name looked like I had seen it somewhere, but I had no idea whose it was. I was logged into it, and I was messing around like I did with my sisters' accounts--I didn't know I was on mine. I couldn't tell that those pets there were mine, or that the amount of money on the account was mine. Only when I went to the Adoption Centre and it called me Kaitlyn did I know it was actually mine.
And a year ago, I would play ROBLOX obsessively. To no end. But while I was on there, I was someone else, I become a totally different person on ROBLOX. She was from Barcelona, Spain, and her name is Marisol Soto, and she only spoke Spanish. That continued for maybe a year, and she still comes back occasionally.
Also there was another girl, Kaila Terrace, the superstar singer. She hadn't a care in the world except for preserving her voice. She was friends with my sisters, the other celebrities.

Then I took the Schizophrenia test. It said that I was very likely schizophrenic, but my autism excluded me.
4. I sometimes have trouble distinguishing whether something I experience or perceive may be real or may only be part of my imagination or my dreams.
Yes, somewhat or moderately
5. I have heard two or more voices conversing with one another in voices that other people would not be able to hear.
Yes, somewhat or moderately
6. I think other people can sometimes read my mind, or I can read other’s minds.
Yes, somewhat or moderately
And then there were these questions:
8. I believe that someone may be planning to cause me harm, or may be about to cause me harm in the near future.
Yes, somewhat or moderately
9. I believe I have special or supernatural gifts beyond my natural talents.
Yes, definitely

I don't hear running commentary in my head, but there's sometimes these little conversations going on, and I'm thinking, guys cut it out this is annoying, and they lower it to a whisper...I can hear people singing, too. It plays over and over again in little clips sometimes.

So does autism mean you already have some schizophrenic traits? Because it said I wasn't because I had autism/PDD.

I am SO confused. Any help would be appreciated.
~SDR

Hello, I think it was you I just responded to in another post. I have diagnosed aspergers and schizoaffective so I can give some information. The symptoms of DID(MPD) and schizophrenia slightly overlap. Both can involve hallucinations but typically the DID person will hear them inside their head and the schizophrenic person will hear them outside. Other similarities are dissociative feelings such as derealization.
There are more differences though. For example schizophrenia does not cause blackouts where DID does. Also people with schizophrenia will not have multiple personalities, although their mannerisms and affect can fluctuate greatly.
People with DID generally are not delusional other than delusions revolving around their identity and DID does not cause thought disorder.
Don't believe everything on the internet though and nobody is going to be able to diagnosis you either.
When a condition rules out another one it is because the symptoms were explained by the other condition, for example you wouldn't count a flat affect in an autistic person as a symptom used to diagnose schizophrenia but you would count hallucinations as a symptom.
It is also very possible to have any combination of conditions since any type of person could potentially exist.

Thanks so much for your help! I thought they were very similar. Sometimes I hear people calling me from outside when no one really is, or someone whispering when there's no one around, but I also hear stuff inside my head, nothing bad (like voices telling me to do things), just conversations. Sometimes they're voices I recognize, sometimes they're not.

So maybe it's possible I have a combination? I'm seeing my psychologist this coming Monday, I need to bring this up for sure. I tend to have auditory and sometimes mild visual hallucinations, for example, I'll see faces in everything, from tiles to clothes, whether it's dark or broad daylight. And I get a little paranoid when I'm by myself, because I feel I'm never really alone. I have to cover the camera on my iPhone (the front one) because I feel like the government can see me. I'm just a complete and utter mess. I don't know what the heck is wrong with me.

I'm going to read a little more on either of these conditions, hopefully they'll tell me something. My mom just thinks I'm reading too much and that's why I think I have these things. I told her I was reading the forum and she said "What do you have now?". WP has just opened my eyes about some things, that's all.

Thanks again. I'll be checking for more replies soon,

~SDR

If you've been diagnosed with Aspergers it usually doesn't come alone but more common comorbids are adhd, ocd and depression. Schizophrenia and Multiple Personality Disorder are more rare ones but I would imagine at least schizophrenia is more likely in someone with autism.
Something that may help you figure out if its a dissociative disorder vs a psychotic one is do you have blackouts (when sober)? Psychotic disorders do not normally cause blackouts. Also DID is normally caused by traumatic events although I question if that is always the case.
I am pretty confused by what you were explaining as personalities in your original post. Were those personas you used on the internet or imaginary characters, or did you act as those characters in real life?
Normal people may create personas or imagine characters to an extent. People with MPD though actually become these characters and do not recall what they did when they switch back to their main personality.
I cannot diagnose you but from your description I would guess schizotypal personality disorder which is mild schizophrenia. It does have some overlapping symptoms with autism but since you are describing mild hallucinations with odd beliefs and dissociation it would explain those things.

I have a few questions for you:

Do you have any family members with dissociative disorders or schizophrenia spectrum conditions? Or bipolar disorder?

Did you suffer abuse and/or neglect as a child, or get separated from a parent or someone you'd bonded to like a parent?

When did these symptoms first start? Was there an obvious trigger for them? (Eg a stressful experience, or taking a psychoactive substance.)

I have had DID (not anymore) with Asperger's. DID is a result of extreme childhood trauma. No trauma means no DID. DID is a coping mechanism for repeated traumas in early childhood. Dissociation certainly can come from a myriad of other meas though, so you can dissociate without having DID. A lot of people want to think that any dissociation means you have DID but this is not the case. DID is a very specific disorder with a specific cause. It is not genetic so it would not matter if anyone in your family had it. I would really encourage you to talk to your counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, etc. and let them know what is going on. It sounds like your brain has been a busy place lately!

We have a history of Bipolar Disorder, with the closest family member having it being my older sister, who is 21 this September. There are also many kinds of psych disorders in our family such as schizophrenia, and my cousin has some kind of Personality Disorder.

My sisters and I were abused as young children, my sisters and my mother physically, but me and my other sister emotionally. We were told by our father that our mother didn't love us and that's why she was at work all the time, and that she was several things, all of which I am not allowed to say.

My father died when I was four from cirrhosis. He was an alcoholic. I can still remember the day of his funeral. It haunts me. I just found a fabric at a yard sale that reminds me of the curtains used at his funeral. The curtains were a deep purple with suns with faces on them. I got into the back of a silver car with one of my aunts on that day. For some reason there was a soda can in the back of the car. We rode to the funeral home and I remember crying, obviously, because I hadn't known what my father had done. Only about ten years later was I told. I remember looking at his body at the front of the room and thinking, "Why are Daddy's feet locked in a box?" He would later be cremated, which disturbs me further, because his ashes are still here with us, along with his wallet, among other things.

I just recently found a picture of him. As a result I've been having insanely terrible meltdowns to the point where my stepdad threatened to call the police and put me back in the hospital. That was last night.

I tend to use different personas based on who I'm with. No one is supposed to see what's really there. Sometimes I'm Marisol at the house, just walking around, but I get made fun of, so I keep her away from me when I can.

I think these symptoms have been here for a while. I get pretty paranoid, too. I'll jump whenever anyone touches me, whether I've seen them or not. And when I use the bathroom the shower curtain has to be open, because I feel like there's someone behind it otherwise. I can't close my door when it's dark. I can't look in the mirror without having the door wide open. I'm insane, I feel it.

I don't think this is a result of medication, unless Lexapro does that to you. But then again, this happened BEFORE I was on meds, so I guess that answers it all!

Thanks guys, I'll check up later,
~SDR

OK, based on what you've said here, I'd say DID is more likely than schizophrenia.

Thanks so much @Ettina . I'll have to check in on some testing and such, because the test I took showed me results that said I most likely had it.

Any other opinions? Someone said they had it, do you have anything to add?

Sometimes I can do things and sometimes I can't, like I used to be able to swim but now I just don't know how. I have different handwritings sometimes too. Sometimes I have my fifth-grade handwriting and sometimes I just use my more recent one. I found a piece of paper (actually my sister found it for me) and it was something I must have written because I recognized the handwriting, but the message talked about loving Burger King, which was pretty outlandish for me to waste paper writing about something so silly. But I suppose I did do it, after all?

Thanks again, everyone. I really appreciate the help. I'll look into some testing.

~SDR