Local Research

I got in touch with a local Psychotherapist in Crystal palace. I asked him his thoughts and opinions on Social isolation and multiple personality disorder. This is what he had to say on the subject:

Response from Chris Osborne from http://www.bodymindpsychotherapy.co.uk/

Hi Lauren

I’m really sorry, I forgot about this; I don’t know if it’s too late to be useful but anyway.

The term Social Isolation implies a sociological perspective, whereas I will an offer a psychological (i.e. individual) one.  I think there are a number of reasons why people either seem to isolate themselves, or cant tolerate much social interaction.  If people are poorly socialized; poor communication skills, poor impulse control, little empathy or social sense, they will tend to isolate themselves because they get such a bad response from the world.  I think these skills are transmitted through example, so the children of poorly socialized people will tend to be so in term.

I would say that shame is a major factor in the desire to isolate oneself.  Shame is recoil, a sense of being untouchable and unacceptable.  Some shame has a positive function: we have done wrong, we feel bad, we do better, but if the shame is too intense we may feel like a pariah and exile ourselves from society.  A lot of shame is negative, not based in a response to our own moral values, but coming from a sense of rejection from our early emotional attachments (I wasn’t good enough for my family to love me/meet my needs, so I must be appalling and shameful in some way.) As a result we may recoil from ordinary contact because we don’t deserve it/we'll be found out/it will end in yet another rejection etc.

Multiple personality disorder is more often termed Dissociative Identity Disorder these days (a better term, less sensational and allows for more subtle, nuanced phenomena).  I’m not an expert with this and there are loads on the net.  It is a fracturing of the personality; it has some relation to schizoid disorders because it is a defensive splitting: the ego. Can’t tolerate functioning as a whole (I would assume because of early and fairly extreme trauma).  Differs from psychosis because the splits are into functional parts, not chaos.

Don’t know about D I D and isolation, I would assume that most sufferers find relationships very difficult.

I don’t personally buy this idea of new info technology isolating people, seems to connect them up just as much, its just new (another way for old people to be suspicious of young people).

I do think the idea of 'social isolation' has some potential to be co-opted by people with political agendas; an easy to sell idea about how the world is going to the dogs.

Have you seen the film Sybil with Sally Field (about DID)

Let me know if any of that is helpful

Chris Osborne