What famous person has dissociative identity disorder

Story at a glance

• The “90210” actress revealed her diagnosis in a blog post earlier in April.
• Dissociative identity disorder is characterized by the existence of and alternating between two or more personalities or identities.
• Formerly known as multiple personality disorder, it’s associated with traumatic experiences and childhood abuse in 90 percent of cases.

Actress AnnaLynne McCord discussed her previous mental health struggles and dissociative identity disorder diagnosis on “Good Morning America“ on Friday.

“I wanted to die for so much of my life, I didn’t want to be here,” McCord said. “And now I wake up every day and I say thank you I’m alive again.”

McCord first revealed her diagnosis in a blog post for Daniel Amen’s site Amen Clinics.

Dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, is typically characterized by the existence of and alternating between two or more personalities or identities, often causing gaps in memory. According to the American Psychiatric Association, it’s usually associated with or spawned by traumatic experiences and abuse in childhood in 90 percent of cases.

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McCord, who identified herself as a survivor of sexual abuse, said she struggled with the disorder for years, but it wasn’t until she filmed a scene in “90210” in which her character Naomi was raped that she truly realized she needed to seek help.

“My whole body like just went into panic mode as if I was living out my life on camera,” the 33-year-old actress said. “These moments were coming to light through my work. I didn’t understand anything about the mind or the brain at the time, I was just trying to do my job and I couldn’t. And it was very scary …. I found a way out.”

McCord ultimately sought treatment to help her process the trauma and manage symptoms.

Dissociative identity disorder is rare, only affecting about 2 percent of the U.S. population. The differing identities can display different attitudes and preferences and often shift involuntarily when in distress.

Psychotherapy is often used to help patients gain a better understanding and get a handle on triggers and symptoms and process trauma. While there is no medicinal treatment for the disorder at this time, medications can be used to treat additional related disorders or symptoms a patient may have.

The diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder is controversial, with some in the field arguing over its existence; however, it does remain as an officially recognized disorder in psychiatry.

“The way this is talked about is there’s so much shame. I am absolutely uninterested in shame,” McCord said in the blog post. “There is nothing about my journey that I invite shame into anymore.”

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AnnaLynne McCord is opening up about her experience with dissociative identity disorder.

The Atlanta, Georgia, native rose to fame in the early 2000s starring in TV series like American Heiress and Nip/Tuck, followed by her role as Naomi Clark in the CW's reboot of 90210. Fans didn't know it at the time, but the actress, now 33, was quietly battling serious trauma that eventually led to her diagnosis in 2018. In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, McCord speaks to ET about the condition, formerly known as multiple personality disorder.

"It's formerly known as that because that is not what it is," McCord explains to ET's Melicia Johnson. "It is actually a fragmentation of the sense of self. It often is survivors of trauma, typically severe and often childhood trauma, that end up being sufferers of dissociative identity disorder."

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, dissociative identity disorder (DID) often develops as a way for people to deal with intensely painful experiences. The American Psychiatric Association says that patients tend to exhibit two more distinct identities that come with changes in behavior, thinking and memory.

"The way I describe it is, it's not different personalities -- I'm not British one day and South African the next," McCord says. "I am AnnaLynne, but it's parts of AnnaLynne that are allowed to come out at this point, and they're not safe to come out at this point. Or parts of AnnaLynne get triggered out in the world, and come out to protect."

McCord tells ET that she first experienced trauma during childhood, with years of sexual abuse she later uncovered in therapy. She previously opened up about being raped when she was 18.

"For 10 years, I thought it was my fault," she admits. "My body actually completely shut everything down and wouldn't let me fight back, because I thought that was the only way to cope with abuse."

McCord shares that she should have noticed something was wrong back when she was "wearing black wigs" in public and "randomly changing."

"All of these different parts of myself were coming out in a kind of a carousel of expression when I was in my early twenties," she recalls. "I just thought, 'Other people are boring and I'm much more interesting.' This is the story I told myself."

"What I often would find myself in was protective mode, with this very masculine energy," she continues. "This kind of balls to the wall, middle fingers to the sky, in your face situation. And that part of me was clearly necessary because of all the things that I went through and now remember going through as a child."

As many of her fans may recall, during a hiatus from 90210 in 2012, McCord took on a role in an indie horror flick called Excision. She tells ET that when she stepped into character as Pauline, a disturbed and delusional high school student, she felt her DID taking control.

"I was so good at slipping on the shoes of anyone but myself," McCord confesses. "I never wanted to do anything that was even remotely like me."

"That was the first time I was really exposing my nuanced ideologies and mindset. It wasn't the homicidal side of her that I related to, just so everyone knows. It was this strange little girl," she adds. "That was the first time that DID, with my acting, actually got all misconstrued. Because I went into the shoes of someone and they were my own shoes and it was terrifying."

Now that she's more aware of her condition, McCord is changing the way she works, including in the new Power prequel, Raising Kanan, that's narrated by 50 Cent.

"The new process requires my whole self. I got to dive in with all of me," she shares. "We were in one of those meetings with the director and the actors and everybody, and we were talking about my character, Tony, how she just owns her sexuality. They were like, 'Oh, she's a power woman. She's this, she's that.' And I said, 'No, she's hurt.'"

"How many times do we give our soul away, just because all we wanted for a moment was to feel loved?" she asks. "That, for me, was my life, because of all this. And now my whole self knows that my body's a temple, honey!"

Before the interview concluded, McCord offered up some words of encouragement to anyone who may also be struggling.

"It's so courageous to be human. It’s so courageous, it's so brave, these things are not easy," she says. "You don't have to look at it until that moment when you're ready."

"I wasn't ready ... and then it all came like a tsunami. If you can look at it before it becomes a tsunami, that's great," she adds, "but sometimes some of us have to get knocked down."

If you or someone you know has a mental illness, is struggling emotionally, or has concerns about their mental health, there are ways to get help. Refer to the National Institute of Mental Health's resources here.

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