Think about how you act in the following situations: a. In the middle of a crowd

Question

Think about how you act in the following situations:

a. In the middle of a crowd at an exciting football game

b. With your parents during Thanksgiving dinner

c. After watching a sad movie by yourself

d. When you walk into a party where you know no one

e. When someone almost crashes into your car on the highway

f. When you are in a silly mood and talk to a close friend

g. When you are in a class taught by a boring professor

You do not need to list how you would respond to each situation, but in general, are you the same person in every situation? To what extent do you act the part that is expected of you? To what degree do you ignore aspects of yourself that do not fit the situation’s demands? Explore fully how this adaptive behavior is different from the way people with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) different from the way people with bipolar mania may act?

Explanation / Answer

No, we do not act the same in every situation. We act differently for every situation. Emotions and feeling that govern our body and mind are different for every situation. In certain situation we act that part that is expected by us by the society or the community that we live in. In other situations we ignore those aspects and do what we feel like because of the emotions. For most part there are certain ethics or rules laid out by society or community. Ethics is a code of thinking and/or behavior which is a combination of personal, moral, legal, and social standards of what is right. These ethics help us in adapting or for blending into a society or become a part of culture. For example, ethics like respect people, respect human rights, etc. Sometimes we deceive others into thinking we are adapting to the environment when we might not really be doing so. For example, you might not be liking a party but still you pretend that you are enjoying it. This also happens due to ethics or emotions and this is also a survival instinct.

Dissociative identity disorder (DID), is sometime also called as multiple personality disorder (MPD) is a disorder in which a person has at least two distinct identities or dissociated personality states. Person with this disorder has a loss of identity, loss referring to time, and loss of sense of self and consciousness. For them deception is real, while for normal people deception of adapting is not real. People with this disorder end up deceiving themselves even if it is unconsciously. Unlike normal people, they do not pretend to adapt because of multiple identities. Most of the dissociative states have their own separate identity, memories, personalities and emotions and they sometimes do not really blend with the environment around them. For most of the people with DID alter is created so that they do not have to deal with traumatic event or it is made to protect them from harm. Such cases blend in and adapt to the environment around but the host personality will be missing memories.

Bipolar disorder (once known as manic depression) causes serious shifts in mood, and behavior. It swings from the highs of mania on one extreme, to the lows of depression on the other. Many people with bipolar disorder have good careers, happy family lives, and satisfying relationships. For most of the time most are depressed more often than they are manic. And for most mania is mild not causing a serious interference in their day to day life. When Bipolar Disorder is serious it interferes with life and adapting becomes difficult. Bouts of depression are common to normal healthy people too. But people with serious bipolar end up having a hard time adapting to life due to thoughts, energy level and behavior. During mania periods they might end up being so high that they may get in trouble with law, or other people. During those periods they are unable to act in a way that the situation demands them to do. They end up overdoing everything during these bouts. Sometimes they act opposite of what they are expected of. For example after watching a sad movie they might be laughing rather than feeling sad. These typical and irrational behaviors might cause friction between them and others.

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