Psychiatric Inpatient Care for Persons with Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Scoping Review

Introduction: Psychiatric inpatient care is often characterized by brief admissions and an orientation toward acute treatments. Persons with dissociative identity disorder have been recognized as a vulnerable group within psychiatric inpatient care and are at risk of not receiving correct support in psychiatric inpatient care. Research within the area is limited and includes no overview of how persons with dissociative identity disorder are cared for in psychiatric inpatient care. Aim: The aim was to map the area of knowledge on psychiatric inpatient care for persons with dissociative identity disorder. Method: This scoping review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis for Scoping Reviews. The search strategy included both peer reviewed papers indexed in PubMed, Cinahl and PsycINFO, and grey literature. Results and conclusions: The review identified eight studies, revealing a small base of knowledge on psychiatric inpatient care for persons with dissociative identity disorder, showing the importance of further research exploring the significance of trauma awareness in this area. Further research should include persons with lived experience, both as participants and as partners in the research process. Nurses are in a position to prevent retraumatisation and promote person-centered approaches to care by valuing the patients’ perspectives. Nurses in PIC are in a position to take responsibility for acknowledging the persons’ experiences and history from a perspective of trauma awareness. When caring for persons with DID in PIC, nurses can take the lead in valuing the persons’ perspectives to prevent retraumatisation and moreover, facilitate a recovery-oriented approach. This can contribute to a person-centered care where the patients’ needs can be met without further harm in the context of PIC.