September 2024
The way dissociative identity disorder is conceptualized is heavily shaped by cultural influences, creating a feedback loop between diagnosis and experience. Drawing on Ian Hacking’s concepts of looping kinds and dynamic nominalism, I explore how diagnostic labels do not merely describe experiences but actively shape them. The classification of DID as an “identity disorder” reinforces a framework where individuals perceive their dissociative experiences through the lens of multiple identities, further entrenching the label’s influence. Additionally, the cultural practice of personifying alters is not an inherent feature of dissociation but a learned framework shaped by media, clinical expectations, and community narratives. Recognizing these feedback loops allows for a more critical and flexible approach to understanding dissociative experiences beyond rigid diagnostic categories.
culture DID dynamic nominalism Hacking identity looping kinds philosophy
10 minutes