It is possible
for more than one personality to be “out” or in control of the person’s
behaviour at the same time.
There are
three terms that cover this topic:
- co-presence;
- co-consciousness;
- parallel processing.
What is
co-presence?
It’s what
happens when one personality in the background (who is not in control), takes
joint control of the body without actually displacing the one in control; or
…
there came a wave of dizziness. She was seeing the studio for the first time,
and with utter panic. The knowledge stayed with her only a moment: she wasn’t
looking at the studio; someone else was, and the panic belonged to that person.
(When Rabbit Howls see BOOKS, ARTICLES)
What is
co-consciousness?
Co-consciousness is not about control but about awareness.
When one personality is aware of another and is aware that it is a separate self, that the thoughts and emotions don’t belong to himself but to another.
[W]hen
a co-conscious personality is aware of the thoughts and feelings of the other.
… the co-conscious personality reports the experiences of the other as
something of which he becomes aware as experiences foreign to himself; he knows
what the other thinks and feels but he has also his own thoughts and feelings
about the same object or topic. (The 3 Faces
of Eve see BOOKS, ARTICLES)
What is
parallel processing?
It’s very similar to co-presence in that it’s about joint control. But this time both personalities are controlling the behaviour of the person at the same time.
How is this even possible?
It’s very
similar to multi-tasking. An example. One of my adults was cutting some food with a big and very sharp knife. While doing so a child personality was also out and talking to someone else in the room. Funnily, the other person thought the child personality was using the knife and was worried until we reassured her that an adult was in control of the knife.
Here are a few
more examples.
From
the moment Vicky introduced these newcomers, the consulting room seemed so
alive and there were so many impressions, that, gazing at the woman beside her,
who at the moment was simultaneously Marcia Lynn and Vanessa Gail Dorsett, the
doctor … could not refrain from being excited by this simultaneous sharing of
the body. … occupancy was not a matter of inhabiting space but of sharing
being. (Sybil see BOOKS, ARTICLES)
Dr
Wilbur thought of the mechanics involved in Vanessa’s pounding Mozart on the
piano while Marcia pounded her article on the typewriter. They were two
persons, but they had, after all, only two hands. (Sybil see BOOKS, ARTICLES)
Sybil
was distinctly aware of two persons [Mary
and Sybil Ann] each of whom knew what the other was doing and saying.
Together these two persons went to the supermarket, bought groceries, and
conversed about the prices of their purchases. (Sybil see BOOKS, ARTICLES)
Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect
of the recollection was that Sybil remembered that at one moment she had been
Mary, at the next Sybil Ann, and that when she was the one, the other was a
person beside her, to whom she could talk and express opinions and from whom
she could seek advice. (Sybil see BOOKS, ARTICLES)
Unable to lift a finger to prevent or
alter a single movement, the woman found herself laughing with the two of them
[Miss Wonderful & Mean Joe] and
saw their reflection in the plate glass storefront as she got out of the car.
(She would tell Stanley later that the ‘persons’ reflected, advanced on the
carry-out store with an unfamiliar stride; shambling, then perky; heavy, then
lightfooted. The reflection was that of herself, then Miss Wonderful, and then
Mean Joe. All separately. But together. She would tell Stanley that somehow
they’d both made themselves instantly understandable to her as people, even if
their reasons for being were a complete mystery.) (When Rabbit Howls see BOOKS,
ARTICLES)
Holdon
and I are out together all the time. We’re side by side, kind of like mirror
images of each other – partners. Each of us does what the other can’t. (Switching Time see BOOKS, ARTICLES)
‘Do any of the others share time with
you?’ ‘Sometimes I can relax a little and let others in.’ ‘When might you do
this?’ ‘Oh, say if one of the children needs comforting and they want to see a
movie or something, I can show them.’ (Switching
Time see BOOKS, ARTICLES)
