Angry personalities - are they dangerous?

 

I am mean, I can say the meanest things you could imagine. I am hard and cold and dark. … Holdon says it’s not socially acceptable for me to talk. I have to be silent so other people will like us. I am in pain all the time. They said I was bad and belonged with bad people. (Switching Time see BOOKS, ARTICLES)

 The media loves to portray people with multiple personality as having at least one personality who is destructive, violent and dangerous.

 It’s more likely that most multiples have a few personalities who are extremely angry, especially if they were traumatized by other humans. This rage might manifest itself in negative behaviours but may not make the person especially dangerous.

We did a lot of writing in our journals and gave letters to our therapists expressing our anger. At one point we did threaten a therapist. That’s because one of us believed that he wanted to kill us (i.e., delusional thinking). Fortunately, other of our personalities were able to help in the situation. Also the threats were merely posturing in order to warn the therapist that he must not harm us. When asked, he said he did not believe he was at risk.

 Of course, it’s possible that some personalities do act out violently towards other people. It is just as possible as with any person who has been harmed and feels an uncontrollable rage about it.

Much of the literature says that men with multiple personality tend to end up in prison because they tend to violently act out their anger more towards other people.

 

Understanding angry personalities

Some people think it’s simply a matter of getting rid of those “bad” personalities and keeping the “good” ones. However, every personality has a part to play and is valuable.

“BAD” PERSONALITIES ONLY APPEAR TO BE BAD WHEN THEY ARE NOT UNDERSTOOD.

They are a necessary part of the whole.

They are often more aggressive and angry as a way to protect the original person who was harmed.

When a therapist knows how to work with these personalities the rewards are great. When the “bad” personality feels she is being listened to and her pain is acknowledged then she might start to work more positively in the healing process.