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This is Part 2 of a two-part series on the depiction of dissociative identity disorder in “Moon Knight.” SeePart 1.

And while the show includes plenty of over-the-top superhero plot points and action sequences, as we discussed inPart 1 of this series, there are many things the show gets right in its depiction of DID. Still, there are also several things the show gets wrong about the condition.

What Does Moon Knight Get Wrong About Dissociative Identity Disorder?

Steven chaining himself up at night

The first character we get to know in “Moon Knight” is Steven Grant, who comes across as meek and largely friendless. When he’s initially introduced, Grant doesn’t know he has alters, but he does know he has a tendency to wake up in strange places, a situation he attributes tosleepwalking. In order to avoid these unconscious night-time strolls, Steven has taken to chaining himself to his bed to ensure he stays there when he falls asleep.

While it’s understandable why the character would do this in the context of the story of “Moon Knight,” according toKelly Caniglia, MA, LCMHC, CCTP, a member of the board of the non-profit DID advocacy organizationAn Infinite Mind, people with DID would be unlikely to chain themselves up at night.

This is because DID occurs as the result of severe, repeatedtrauma in childhood, and as a result, feeling trapped and unable to escape is frightening for many people with the condition. Of course “Asylum,” the fifth episode of “Moon Knight,” shows that when Marc created Steven it was with the intention to have a personality that was unaware of the abuse andneglectMarc suffered at the hands of his mother.

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Steven’s lack of awareness of Marc

While Steven is initially unaware of Marc’s existence in “Moon Knight,” it’s clear that Marc knows about Steven. And given the focus on Steven in the show’s premiere episode, at first, it appears as though Steven is the host personality or the personality who is most often presented to the world, and Marc is one of his alters.

By the fifth episode, however, it’s confirmed that Marc is actually the host personality and Steven is his alter. And although as Dr. Robert T. Muller, author ofTrauma and the Struggle to Open Upnotes, a person with DID may have personalities that are aware of one another and others that are not, Caniglia observes that it’s more common for alters to be aware of the host personality while the host personality has no idea there are alters. Consequently, a more realistic scenario would be that Steven would be aware of Marc but Marc wouldn’t be aware of Steven.

That said, everyone with DID has a slightly different experience, so Marc’s awareness of Steven isn’t necessarily wrong, it’s just unlikely. This is especially the case when it comes to Steven’s lack of awareness of the existence of Marc’s wife, Layla (May Calamawy) because as Caniglia points out, even though alters may not know all the ins and outs of the host personality’s life, they usually know important details like the existence of a significant other or of children.

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Marc appears to make a conscious decision to create Steven

First, Caniglia notes that most children develop DID before age 6 because that’s when personality is most flexible. Yet, “Moon Knight” indicates that Marc is older than this when his mother starts abusing him. Marc’s younger brother drowns when they’re children and Marc’s mother blames him, leading her to at first neglect and thenabusehim.

But at what appears to be Marc’s first birthday following his brother’s death, there are nine candles on his cake. If his father is adhering to the tradition that the number of candles on a child’s birthday cake reflects their age, that would mean Marc is nine and therefore at an age where his personality is integrated and less capable of forming alternate identities.

Second, in the scene where Steven first appears, young Marc seems to make aconsciousdecision to create him. Later, he even tells Steven that he invented him so he would have a personality that had the normal childhood Marc didn’t. However, the creation of alters isn’t something people do on purpose.

According toSusan Hatters-Friedman, MD, Professor of Forensic Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University, DID stems fromdissociationthat happens during trauma where a child splits off their awareness and memory to protect themselves. While some people might simply dissociate without creating alters, the brains of those who develop DID use the subconscious memories formed during dissociation to create distinct identities.

So while Caniglia says it’s possible for alters to identify as having different parents, which Steven clearly does, not only is it highly unlikely that Marc would make the active decision to create Steven, it’s also unlikely that Marc would be the personality who is most aware of thetraumahe experienced in childhood while Steven remains under the impression he had an idyllic childhood with a loving mother.

In fact, many people with DID have difficulty remembering large parts of their childhood precisely because they often have alters within what’s referred to as a personality “system” whose job is to protect them from the childhood trauma they experienced.

Violence

In “The Friendly Type,” which is the third episode of “Moon Knight,” mercenary Marc loses time while fighting men he’s hoping to question. When he regains consciousness he finds the men dead around him, and while he initially accuses Steven of killing them, it’s clear that neither of them knows how the men met their fate.

Audiences will deduce that the culprit is a third personality that Marc and Steven aren’t aware of, and in an after-credits sequence in the show’s final episode, this personality is identified as Jake Lockley. Unlike Marc and especially Steven, the sequence confirms that Jake has no remorse about killing anyone who gets in his way. While it’s quite possible that Marc and Steven might not know about Jake or remember what happens when he takes over, what is less plausible is that this alter is as deadly as he appears to be.

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In fact, “if they’re a danger to anybody, they can be a danger to themselves, and that’s because of the trauma history,” notes Muller. In order to numb the pain of what they’ve gone through, people with DID are more prone to self-destructive behaviors, and have high rates ofself-harmandsuicideattempts.If “Moon Knight” gets a second season, it’s likely we’ll see a lot more of Jake, and based on what we’ve seen of him so far, that means any continuation of the show would have the potential to perpetuate the incorrect and problematic associationmedia often makesbetween violence and mental illness, especially DID.

Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder

Due to the controversial nature of DID and many mental health professionals' lack of training in its diagnosis and treatment, it often takes a long time to be diagnosed with the disorder. However, once a person has been diagnosed, treatment typically involves long-termpsychotherapy. Treatment of DID used to focus on the integration of the multiple personalities in a system into a single personality, and some therapists and counselors may still emphasize that as the ultimate goal. However, Caniglia says because people with DID tend to see their system as a family, the idea of completely integrating all of the personalities isn’t desirable.

As a result, for newer schools of thought, Caniglia explains, “the focus is more on helping build cohesive communication [between alters] to help regular functioning.” Although it can be a slow process, the goal is to get all the alters on the same page and working together so the person with DID can be as functional as possible. Although Muller notes this isn’t a cure, it ensures people with DID can live a coherent, productive life.

Mind in the Media: What Moon Knight Gets Right About Dissociative Identity Disorder

1 SourceVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Webermann AR, Brand BL.Mental illness and violent behavior: The role of dissociation.Borderline Personal Disord Emot Dysregul. 2017;4(2). doi:10.1186/s40479-017-0053-9

1 Source

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Webermann AR, Brand BL.Mental illness and violent behavior: The role of dissociation.Borderline Personal Disord Emot Dysregul. 2017;4(2). doi:10.1186/s40479-017-0053-9

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Webermann AR, Brand BL.Mental illness and violent behavior: The role of dissociation.Borderline Personal Disord Emot Dysregul. 2017;4(2). doi:10.1186/s40479-017-0053-9

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