Dissociative identity disorder (DID), known previously as multiple personality disorder, is not a real disorder. At least, that's what you might've heard in the media, and even from some mental health professionals.

Is DID a real thing?

DID is a dissociative disorder. Rather than extreme emotional reactions to the world, people living with DID lose contact with themselves: their memories, sense of identity, emotions and behaviour. Unlike personality disorders, DID may first manifest at almost any age.

Can you have alters without DID?

While lots of narrative works depict people with DID as having 10, 20, or even over 100 alters, this is not always the case. "The number of alters can range from one to many," Hallett said. And there isn't always rhyme or reason as to which people with DID have more or fewer alters.