MYTHS ABOUT MULTIPLE PERSONALITY

 

IT’S EASY TO SEE THE DIFFERENT

 

PERSONALITIES

 

 

‘I take it then that this is a very productive

woman we’re talking about.’ ‘Exceedingly,’

Stanley said. ‘Which leads me to believe that

this can’t possibly be multiple personality.

She’s never been debilitated, nothing seems to

stop her. And I definitely don’t see a neat

parade of alternate selves who come out and

say, ‘Hi, I’m so-and-so.’ (When Rabbit Howls see

BOOKS, ARTICLES)

 

 Some people believe that all multiples are like

• Sybil (from the movie and book: Sybil) and/or
• Eve (from the movie and book: The Three Faces of Eve) and/or
• Tara (from the TV show: The United States of Tara)

These stories and others make it easy to see switching between the personalities and they show the personalities as very distinct and different from one another.

    However…

American psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Kluft found that more than 90% of people with the condition work hard to hide it and that many of the personalities may pass as one another. He said …

 

“… most of what is so arresting to the beholder about MPD is secondary, and what is hidden is quintessential” (Dr. Richard Kluft)

 

Dr. Kluft found that people with multiple personality can “present” or show the condition in many different ways.

 

    For example,

• a wide variety of the personalities, whose comings and goings are so frequent and/or short-lived, hide the condition really well. The person just seems really confused and seems to be constantly changing his personality;

• one personality takes over for years while the others lay dormant, so no one sees her;

• some or all of the personalities are aware of each other and collaborate to pass as only one personality;

• the personalities never emerge in front of other people, only when the person is alone;

• there are many more ways that the personalities can “arrange” themselves so that the condition is not seen.

 

It’s easy to hide the multiplicity. All I have to do is believe it’s not there and never talk about cult things. Before I knew about the ritual abuse, I probably looked moody. My tone of voice would never change enough for people to notice the switches. I never intentionally hid the voices from other people. The traumatized voices just never spoke because they knew it wasn’t socially acceptable to talk like a baby or a homicidal killer. They had to be silent if I wanted other people to like me. (Understanding Multiple Personality Disorder see BOOKS, ARTICLES)

 

 

MULTIPLE PERSONALITY (DISSOCIATIVE

 

IDENTITY DISORDER) IS THE SAME AS

 

SCHIZOPHRENIA

It’s not. They are two different mental disorders even though there are some similarities between them.

 Many people use the term “schizophrenic” to mean “multiple” which is incorrect

 

 MULTIPLE PERSONALITY (DISSOCIATIVE

 

IDENTITY DISORDER) IS A RARE

 

DISORDER

Not so. As much as 1% of the general population has it and from 5% to 20% of the psychiatric population has it.

 

‘For better or for worse, multiplicity may not be as rare as we think – only misdiagnosed.’ (When Rabbit Howls see BOOKS, ARTICLES)

 

Clinical studies in North America, Europe, and Turkey have found that between one to 20 percent of patients on psychiatric units and in those with substance abuse, eating disorders, and obsessive compulsive disorder may meet diagnostic criteria for MPD/DID, particularly when evaluated with structured diagnostic instruments.

 

While progress has been made in educating the professional community about the prevalence and clinical presentation of dissociative disorders, studies suggest that many cases of MPD/DID and related disorders are still being missed, misdiagnosed, and inappropriately treated.

 

THERE IS ONE DOMINANT AND CENTRAL

 

PERSONALITY WHO CONTROLS ALL THE

 

OTHER PERSONALITIES

There are mainly three ways that personalities can control and influence the person’s behaviour:

1  The personality might take over control completely.

2  The personality might not take over but still have some influence on the thoughts, behaviours and emotions of the person.

3  The personality may simply exist and not control or influence the person at all.

 

ALL MULTIPLES HAVE AT LEAST ONE

 

PERSONALITY WHO IS VIOLENT AND

 

DANGEROUS.

The media likes to portray this a lot in criminal case shows.

 

The movie “Me, Myself and Irene” starring Jim Carrey, portrayed a man with two personalities, one was predictably dangerous and could only be suppressed by medication.

 

After years of continuous abuse, Charlie [Jim Carrey] develops a rude and violent split personality named Hank, caused by ‘advanced delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage"’. As Hank, he goes around retaliating against anyone who has accosted him — and even harms those who really haven't. A psychiatrist prescribes a medicine to keep Hank suppressed.” (Wikipedia)

 

The problems with the movie are that

multiple personality does not start in adulthood. It always begins in early childhood;

Schizophrenia is not multiple personality;

 

there is no medication to suppress a personality. There are medications to help with depression, anxiety and other symptoms;

many multiples are not dangerous.

 

   

 

    “As a group, people with mental health issues are not more violent than any other group in our society. The majority of crimes are not committed by people with psychiatric illness, and multiple studies have proven that there is very little relationship between most of these diseases and violence. The real issue is the fact that people with mental illness are two and a half to four times more likely to be the victims of violence than any other group in our society” (CMHA Calgary website)

 

 

 

THE PERSON IS AWARE HE IS MULTIPLE.

The opposite may be true. There are three possibilities here:

Some of the personalities may know about some of the other personalities and may also know or remember some of the trauma that happened in childhood;

Some of the personalities may know about all of the other personalities and even about all of the trauma;

Some of the personalities may not know they are multiple at all and may not have any conscious memory of the trauma.

 

 

IT’S JUST SOMEONE WANTING A LOT OF

 

ATTENTION

Multiple personality is recognized world-wide as a legitimate condition and many therapists have treated people with it;

If someone wanted a lot of attention, faking multiple personality is difficult to do over a period of time consistently. There are much easier ways to get attention;

If she is working with a good therapist, the therapist will look to see if there is a history of trauma during childhood;

The therapist may also look at how many years the person has been in the mental health system and if they had received several different psychiatric diagnoses without any positive treatment outcomes which is quite common for someone with the condition.

 

 

PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITY

 

(DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER) ARE

 

BASICALLY CRAZY OR INSANE

“Crazy” or “insane” can mean psychotic, or out of touch with reality. Some multiples do experience psychotic-type episodes, like someone with Schizophrenia.

 

However….

most of the time they are not psychotic;

these labels are simply meant as derogatory and insulting terms;

multiple personality is an intelligent defense mechanism created for the survival of a traumatized child.