What Shyamalan's 'Split' gets wrong about dissociative identity disorder

By Michael Nedelman, CNN

Updated 2132 GMT (0532 HKT) January 23, 2017

Many films and TV shows feature characters with dissociative identity disorder. Mental health advocates have criticized many of them for sensationalizing a diagnosis, often in horror movies and thrillers, that affects many people. In "Split," an M. Night Shyamalan film, James McAvoy plays a murderous villain with 24 personalities. Click through our gallery to see more examples of characters with multiple personalities.
Photos: TV and movie characters with multiple personalities
Many films and TV shows feature characters with dissociative identity disorder. Mental health advocates have criticized many of them for sensationalizing a diagnosis, often in horror movies and thrillers, that affects many people. In "Split," an M. Night Shyamalan film, James McAvoy plays a murderous villain with 24 personalities. Click through our gallery to see more examples of characters with multiple personalities.
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Brad Pitt, left, is Edward Norton's alternate personality, Tyler Durden, who launches a destructive anarchist organization in "Fight Club."
Photos: TV and movie characters with multiple personalities
Brad Pitt, left, is Edward Norton's alternate personality, Tyler Durden, wh