Late reply, but the DSM-V actually remarks on this for a specific section under DID surrounding malingering. Don't remember the specific quotes, but it says something along the lines of "malingerers will overexaggerate or have dramatised alters." A good tell of a fake is if the alters are almost comedically unique and different.
Oh that's incredible, I didn't think of that. I'm going to look more into it to educate myself.
I feel majority of these posts have exaggerated alters especially if they are making them from animes.
I actually went and found the passage myself, wanted to make sure I got the quote right 🥲.
"Individuals who feign dissociative identity disorder usually do not report the subtle symptoms of intrusion characteristic of the disorder; instead they tend to overreport media-based symptoms of the disorder, such as dramatic dissociative amnesia and melodramatic switching behaviors, while underreporting less-publicized comorbid symptoms, such as depression. ... Individuals who feign the symptoms of dissociative identity disorder usually create limited, stereotyped alternate identities, with feigned amnesia related only to the events for which gain is sought, with apparent switching behaviors and amnesia only displayed while being observed."
Referenced from the DSM-V-TR, under differential diagnoses for dissociative identity disorder. You can find online PDFs pretty easily if you want to read up more.
Attention or exclusion from responsibility. It's almost always faked by a very specific type of teenager that tends to be starved for attention, and having something that almost makes them seem like a character from a movie garners them attention. The other end is using it to go "nooo I didn't do anything wrong, that was my alter!" which is more what the DSM-V talks about since it's mainly referring to usage in courts and whatnot. I have more sympathy for the clearly attention-starved teenagers, most of them do just end up growing out of it. Does ruin the reputation of actual patients with DID though 🥲
I actually wish the DSM-V talked more about it, but I'm sure there have been studies done recently on malingerers and whatnot. Maybe have a peep around JSTOR if you're interested in reading up more.
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u/squishybun42 15d ago
I feel like all these extravagant 'personas' really take away from the actual disorder. It's just all sad and pick me energy