Dissociative Identity Disorder In The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

Walter Mitty is the main character in the fictional short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. He detaches from his true self and slips into a dream-like state throughout the story, becoming many different characters. By the end of the story, he has been a Seaplane Commander, a medical operator that fixed medical machinery, a defendant in a court case, a Captain and pilot of a bomber plane, and finally, Walter Mitty the undefeated. He has periods of mental consciousness and awakening where he must perform everyday tasks such as running errands, but seems to have trouble completing them. He is married to Mrs. Mitty, who spends a lot of time worrying about him. She urges him to see his doctor, Mr. Renshaw. At the end of the story, Mitty is dreaming, waiting to be shot and killed by a firing squad.

This disorder causes the patient to be forgetful, having a sense that people you know are strangers, feeling detached, having out-of-body experiences, acting like different people, and feeling unreal. It is typically accompanied by depression or anxiety and is usually categorized as a mood disorder. The cause of DID is unknown, though past experiences and trauma may be linked to it, as well as certain triggers that set off the experiences. Major stress is a common trigger, as are depressive episodes and panic, and hallucinogen abuse. The illness originates in the brain, typically because of chemical imbalance or areas of the brain performing irregularly. Not much research has been conducted on it because of its rarity and lack of obvious solution to cure it, and antidepressants and antipsychotics have had no useful