MPD/DID - physiological and physical characteristics change with personality?

[haystack]

I first heard this on a radio show where a doctor (don't remember his name) on the subject of mind, body and health mentioned that people with multiple personality disorders or dissociative identity disorders can change eye colour, have diabetes in one personality and allergies in another. This seems incredible to me. As a lay person I haven't been able to find studies on this. Google did turn up these anecdotes (along with a few flaky sites). Could someone shed some light on this matter? Have there been cases of changes in blood type (solid scientific proof)?

 

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/15/herschel-walkers-alter-personalities/

 

From the comments section:

"The medical community should do more studies on this as I truly believe there is a physiological aspect to this condition. My partner wears glasses, in fact he is legally blind in one eye. But his alters see perfectly normally and drive without glasses or contacts. Furthermore, if an alter emerges while he is driving, the alter will remove my partner’s contacts and place them in my hand. We haven’t had a wreck yet! There are other physical differences I have noticed (he gets leaner and more muscular when the teenaged alter emerges and his alters have different blood pressure then his)."

 

"I believe, as someone else here talked about, that the medical aspects of DID are important to speak to. Prior to integration, I was found to have 2 different blood types. I have been diagnosed with a thyroid condition and not, depending on the alter present. I have Mitral Valve Prolapse, and I don’t. One of my alters had an 8″ scar on her leg, none of the others did. Their eye color would change. They have completely different facial and body structures.

 

I too, as someone else talked about here, had alters of vastly different age ranges, different races, and different genders. I had a couple of alters who spoke different languages even though I only speak English."

Edited July 22, 2009 by haystack
typo

[Mokele]

Gupta's a gullible dipshit. There has never, ever been a single confirmed case of MPD/DID. Ever.

 

All the stuff about changing physical trait is similarly just a load of hogwash promoted by movies. Absolutely impossible.

 

Sadly, it's been promoted by a group internet morons who call themselves "multiples" - sad people with no jobs or lives who've convinced themselves that simply having different aspects of their personality makes them "multiple personalities", and therefore they are special and don't have to account for the sad failure that is their lives beyond LJ communities.

 

That Gupta fell for this crap and CNN published it is a shining example of why I trust neither.

[Kyrisch]

...he gets leaner and more muscular when the teenaged alter emerges... Prior to integration, I was found to have 2 different blood types... One of my alters had an 8″ scar on her leg, none of the others did. Their eye color would change. They have completely different facial and body structures.

 

Such drastic physical changes are reminiscent of the claims made by Therianthropes, the modern-day lunatics who think they are werewolves. It is not only medically impossible, but also highly absurd, just as absurd as the belief that one might sprout fangs at the full moon.