Chapter 4. Why does Dissociation Occur ? (9)

Data from my DID cases
I will discuss some of the findings based on the observation of my DID patients. One of the purposes is to show a significant difference between American DID cases and Japanese DID cases in terms of their association with their childhood history. As I stated before, many authorities of DID research indicated a high percentage of DID patients with childhood sexual and physical abuse. According to Colin Ross’s monograph (Ross, 2004), more than 90 % of DID patients had either sexual or physical abuse in their childhood, and 70~90 % of them had sexual abuse. These numbers are comparable to those indicated by other authorities such as Putnam, Coons etc. These numbers might appear rather exaggerated to Japanese clinicians, but they are compatible with my clinical experiences in the US where patients after patients, not limited to those with DID, voiced their own childhood experiences of sexual abuse.
Here are some of the findings from my initial eighteen DID patients that I treated since I came back to Japan in 2004.
 Childhood sexual trauma was seen in 3 out of 18 cases. All incidents occurred outside of the household by male classmate, high school student in the neighbourhood, etc. One case reported the incident belatedly two years after the initiation of the treatment.
 Parental emotional domination and physical abuse was seen in 8 out of 18 cases. Among them, 6 cases were done by mothers.
 7 out of 18 cases still feel that they are currently dominated by their mothers.
 Parents are very motivated to participate in the treatment in most cases. (Frequently both parents visit the initial assessment.)
 Paternal sexual abuse was not found in any of the 18 cases
 All the 18 cases are female.