Schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder (MPD) are two distinct mental conditions. Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that causes hallucinations, delusions, and decreased attention span, while MPD is triggered by trauma and causes a person to develop multiple personalities. Both conditions can lead to behavioral problems and suicide attempts.
Schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder (MPD) are often confused and some people believe they are the same thing. In reality, they are two distinctly different ailments. Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that some people are born with. It can be inherited, but symptoms usually don’t develop for many years. In men, symptoms often develop in the late teens or early 20s; for women, symptoms often appear in the 20s or 30s. Sometimes, symptoms develop in childhood, but this is rare.
When a person has schizophrenia, they experience hallucinations and delusions, see things that aren’t there, and believe things that are clearly not true. For example, he may see demons sitting next to him at dinner or believe he is the child of God. A person with this condition also suffers from cluttered thinking, decreased attention span, and trouble focusing. Typically, those with this disorder are socially withdrawn. It is also common for sufferers of this condition to appear expressionless and lose the ability to initiate and execute plans.
Often, a person with schizophrenia will believe that the voices they hear are working to control or harm them. He is likely to be very fearful. He may sit for hours without moving or speaking, and it may not make sense when he speaks. However, some people with this disorder exhibit what appears to be normal behavior until they start talking and others learn what they are thinking. This disorder is also characterized by awkward, uncoordinated movements and an inability to care for oneself or do work.
One major difference between multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia is that those with multiple personality disorder are not born with it. This mental condition is triggered by something that happens in life and is usually related to a trauma that occurs in childhood, such as physical or sexual abuse. A patient with this disorder develops additional personalities as a way of coping with the traumatic event. To be diagnosed with MPD, a person must have at least one altered personality that controls the person’s behavior at times.
A person with MPD can develop up to 100 personalities, but the average is 10. They can take on different personalities of the same gender, a different gender, or both genders at the same time. Sometimes an MPD patient also takes on the physical characteristics of their different personalities, such as a certain way they walk or move. Also, depression and self-mutilation are common.
There are a few ways schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder are similar. A person with schizophrenia is likely to have hallucinations, and while hallucinations are not present in all cases of MPD, about a third of patients experience them. People with MPD may also develop behavioral problems in childhood and difficulty concentrating on schoolwork. This may lead some to confuse the disorder with schizophrenia, as these problems also often develop in schizophrenic children or adolescents.
The age of onset of the two disorders is a major difference. While schizophrenia is more likely to develop in those approaching adulthood or already in their 20s or 30s, the average age of onset for multiple personality disorder is 5.9. However, people with both conditions are similar in that they are more likely to attempt suicide.
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