Article: To understand DID, you need to be aware of the symptoms, the underlying causes, and how you can help alleviate symptoms or reduce their impact in the home. To thoroughly understand the disorder, it is important to talk to a professional who can walk you through DID. Some basics of DID include:  When a person has multiple personalities that take over his original personality. Each personality has a different memory, so if your loved one does something while being controlled by an alter (which is another personality) he or she will most likely not remember it. The usual cause of the disorder is some childhood abuse, trauma, insecurity or torture. The symptoms of DID include auditory hallucinations, amnesia (memory loss), fugue episodes in which the person travels in search of something without knowing what or why, depression and anxiety. That is, although it may be somewhat upsetting for you to be faced with an alter, do your best to avoid panicking. To stay calm, keep in mind that you are dealing with a (while somewhat mysterious) well-documented disorder. As you learn about DID, get used to the idea that your loved one may have several personalities, or alters, within him/her and all of those alters might be completely different, in age, personality, maybe even gender. Remember that, while under the influence of an alter, your loved one is somewhat of a different person. It is possible that some of his alters may not recognize or even know about you. In addition, the person might suddenly switch to another alter even if in the middle of something like work, conversation or activity. Whether or not you acknowledge the alter or pretend that you do not know the person is under the influence of an alter will depend on the specific situation you are in (e.g., if you are around strangers for just a moment it may be better to avoid the subject or an unwanted and long conversation may ensue) and the specific alter (e.g., whether it is an alter that gets upset about those kinds of discussions) who is present. Your loved one is dealing with an extremely challenging situation. While you might find yourself at times frustrated or hurt by something she has done, it is important to remember that your loved one (i.e., the personality you most identify with as being his/hers) does not necessarily know what he/she is saying. He has no control over when an alter takes over, so try to remain patient, even if an alter says or does something that frustrates you.  If it gets too overwhelming and you are losing patience, try to excuse yourself from the conversation and take a break. Although it can be difficult to shorten a dissociative episode, one form of treatment is to intervene immediately following a traumatic event. So, if you can help the person overcome their trauma that might reduce symptoms of DID and speed up the process. That said, this generally needs to be done under the supervision of a qualified mental health professional. Along with having patience, you must also have empathy. Your loved one is experiencing a very scary situation. He will need as much love and support as you can possibly give him. Say kind things to him, listen to him when he wants to talk about his situation, and show him that you care. Stress is one of the largest factors in triggering a personality switch. Do your best to relieve any stress that your loved one may be experiencing. It is also important to avoid causing stress through conflict or argument. If your loved one does something that makes you mad, take a moment to yourself to breathe and control your anger. You can then talk with them about what made you mad and the ways that they can avoid doing that in the future. If you disagree with something that your loved one said or is doing, use the “Yes, but…” technique. When he asserts something that you do not agree with, say “yes, but…” so that you avoid directly conflicting with him. While some people with DID can manage their own time and schedule activities for themselves, other people will not be able to manage their time as well due to memory loss and different personalities pulling their goal-directed behaviors in different directions. If your loved one has a hard time keeping track of what he is supposed to be doing, help him along by reminding him of the activities he has planned. You might try creating a chart that you keep in a specific place he can easily see it. On the chart, write down important things he should be doing, as well as suggestions for other fun things to do.

What is a summary?
Understand the disorder. Stay composed when faced with an episode or alter. Be patient. Show your loved one empathy. Avoid conflict and other stressful situations. Keep your loved one engaged in activity.