Rorschach Assessment of Two Distinctive Personality States of a Person With Dissociative Identity Disorder

This case study used test data from a patient with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID; American Psychiatric Association, 2013 American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) to illustrate how two main personality states of the patient (“Ann” and “Ben”) seemed to function. The Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R–PAS; Meyer, Viglione, Mihura, Erard, &; Erdberg, 2011 Meyer, G. J., Viglione, D. J., Mihura, J., Erard, R. E., &; Erdberg, P. (2011). Rorschach Performance Assessment System: Administration, coding, interpretation, and technical manual. Toledo, OH: Rorschach Performance Assessment System. [Google Scholar]) and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems–Circumplex (IIP–64; Horowitz, Alden, Wiggins, &; Pincus, 2000 Horowitz, L. M., Alden, L. E., Wiggins, J. S., &; Pincus, A. L. (2000). IIP–64/IIP–32 professional manual. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation. [Google Scholar]), administered to Ann and Ben in separate settings, exposed two diverse R–PAS and IIP–64 profiles. Ann's R–PAS profile suggested an intellectualized style of information processing with few indications of psychological problems. Ben's profile indicated severe perceptual, cognitive, and interpersonal difficulties combined with suspicion and anxiety. Ann's IIP–64 profile suggested minor interpersonal problems, whereas Ben's indicated serious relational difficulties. The findings were discussed in relation to the theory of trauma-related structural dissociation of the personality (van der Hart, Nijenhuis, &; Steele, 2006 van der Hart, O., Nijenhuis, E. R. S., &; Steele, K. (2006). The haunted self: Chronic traumatization and structural dissociation of the personality. New York, NY: Norton. [Google Scholar]), which implies an enduring split in the organization of the personality with more or less separate entities with their own sense of self, perception of the world, and ways of organizing emotional, cognitive, and social functions. The DID personality structure is seen as a defense strategy and as a pathway in the personality development producing serious psychological pain and symptoms.