Portrayal in Media
In media, those with DID are portrayed in several different fashions including those who are insane, superhuman, or the bad guy. Media portrays them as the helpful crazy person more often then not, such as Mike from Total Drama with his four personalities aiding in challenges, in order to give awareness to the non-malevolent side of the disorder. This, more often then not, skews the view on having alters and causes distress to those suffering. Media also loves to have them play the superhuman character, such as Nikki Sanders from Heroes and her three personalities Nikki, Jessica, and Gina with Jessica being someone with super strength. Finally, the bad guy, this is the one we are most familiar with, whether it be from Batman's Two Face or from the movie Split we have all encountered the supremely evil personalities in media.(Michael Nedelman, 1-23-17) They are one of the reasons many people distrust those with DID, as in these portrayals it is a toss up as to who is in control, the kind person or the homicidal, apathetic maniac. (TV Tropes) This is not what it is like in real life though.
Living with DID
The truth is, living with DID is manageable, and even enjoyable to some. One such case is with 52 year old Kallena, a sufferer of DID and a Survivor of Childhood Trauma activist. She lived in an abusive household for years, suffering day by day until she just splintered. She would go from a depressed, introverted girl to a manic and extroverted sport loving party girl. Her family had her tested and she was diagnosed as being Bipolar, and it wasn't until 2002 when she was a successful adult in her thirties that she was diagnosed with DID. She then began going to therapy and communicating with her innumerable alters, and she enjoyed their company. She never harmed anyone when she switched, and made sure they were all on the same page with appointments, a stark contrast to media portrayals. Once her alters faded into herself she became lonely. She missed their company, even stating "There are times I miss this sense of, 'oh, I've had enough of this, someone else come and take over for me'. But overall I'm glad I'm like this now." She is happy with the cure, and she hasn't changed at all, just the alters are no longer around.(Kallena,2/28/17)