When the multiple self blurs on television

Steven Grant and Marc Spector are very different.

The first is a shy and lonely man, troubled by sleep problems, who works in the gift shop of the National Art Gallery in London.

The second, a hardened mercenary who leads a life of action around the world.

Both star in

on Disney +, a series that is going through its third chapter and adds one every Wednesday within the mega-franchise known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and they are played by the same actor: Oscar Isaac.

The explanation?

It turns out that both Grant and Spector are two personalities that coexist in the same body, that is, Moon Knight is not a regular vigilante, since he suffers from dissociative identity disorder (DID).

More information

Oscar Isaac multiplies in 'Moon Knight'

Before the arrival of the Marvel character on the small screen, the idea of ​​a single person with different identities, often represented as radically different, has seduced directors, screenwriters and actors.

But, as often happens in other areas of fiction, the show overlaps the intention of adequately reflecting the disorder.

criminal conduct

Norman Bates embodies one of the best known representations of this condition.

Beyond Alfred Hitchcock's

, the character has his own television series as a prequel.

In

, the protagonist, played by Freddie Highmore, takes on the identity of his mother.

According to psychologist Elena Gómez, with a master's degree in Clinical Psychology from the Autonomous University of Madrid, those affected by DID can "adopt traits of people who are related to a traumatic event" for the patient.

In the series, it is revealed that in the relationship of Bates' parents there was a history of abuse and murder whose revelation affects the protagonist in a traumatic way.

On the other hand, the characterization of Bates as a murderer contributes to the association of DID with criminal conduct.

The reality is quite different.

The psychologist Sonia Navajo, affiliated with the Official College of Psychologists of Madrid and founder of the Crea-T center, assures, citing several studies, that "at least 4% of crimes are carried out by people with mental illnesses", but, as Gómez points out , in reality these patients have "a higher risk of being victims" of criminal activities.

Far from the criminal world is the protagonist of the series

, in which Toni Colette plays a mother with TID.

It is again a story in which a traumatic experience (in this case sexual abuse) conditions the character's disorder.

But there is another factor that brings Tara closer to reality.

The experts consulted agree that there is no specific drug to treat a condition such as DID.

The most recommended for a patient with this disorder is, according to Navajo, "a specific approach based fundamentally on psychotherapy that addresses the trauma."

Gómez also points out that one of the main objectives of the treatment should be "to facilitate the integration of the different dissociated parts, thus improving the functioning of the person in a more unified way".

Trying to integrate instead of repressing their identities is precisely what Tara intends in the series.

mr robot

is another production with a character with TID at the core of the plot.

It stars Rami Malek as Elliot Anderson, a

determined to dig up the dirty laundry and thwart the operations of a huge business conglomerate.

One of the most positive aspects of the character in terms of the representation of the disorder is his ignorance of it and his bewilderment in the face of it.

Navajo assures that it is common for DID patients "not to be able to remember the information of some of their identities" and that they suffer "amnesia in a sudden and unexpected way, causing them to forget who they are at a certain moment".

Elliot doesn't learn the whole truth about his DID until the end of the series.

In the last season he realizes that his vigilante

facet is one more identity and not his true self, which he has repressed.

This personality, which in the series they call the mastermind, is what is known as the primary or dominant identity, which the Navajo defines as one that "acts in a habitual and functional way."

Elliot also learns the truth about his deceased father, a man he thought was good, but who actually abused him in his childhood.

The protagonist also suffered a terrible fall when jumping from a window in his house as a child, which precipitated his disorder.

Going back to Marvel, another character with an TID adapted from the comics to the small screen preceded Moon Knight.

He is none other than the mutant David Haller, aka

, played by Dan Stevens in the series of the same name.

Of all the fictions mentioned, this is probably the one that takes the most liberties with the disorder of his character, since he is directly linked to his powers.

It remains to be seen if, once the series is over, Moon Knight does a good job of showing the general public of the superhero world a condition that in real life is also very extraordinary.

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