Heredity and Environment
This article is a Stub.
Twin studies (of twins separated at birth) have shown that dissociation may be a heritable trait. As well, dissociation and hypnotizability are highly correlated.
The possibility that there is a heritable or genetic factor involved in the ability to dissociate has been humored in the psychiatric community. Not all people who are traumatized at a young age become DID.
There are 3 recognized factors in developing DID:
- Having the dissociative trait.
- Developing C-PTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder) which requires repeated or chronic traumatic situations.
- Poor or inconsistent caregiving. The person lacks a supportive, consistent, reliable, and compassionate support system in a safe environment in which to heal.
So we have 3 factors generally recognized as "requirements" to develop DID: heredity, circumstance, and environment.
A fourth requirement is that the C-PTSD begins to develop early enough that the child's ego states have not yet begun fusing into one solid core identity. So there's also a matter of the timing of it all.