[Mental Health] Multiple Personalities

[dancefloorlandmine]

There's a programme at 9pm on Five tonight about a woman living with multiple personalities.

Some info is here (which were the ones forwarded around the office, but there will probably be some more information out there.)

Comments

[redshira.livejournal.com]

Me, Ettie, Beena, Lily, Victoria and Sophie are not sure if we're going to watch it but thanks for the heads-up. *squishyhugs*

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Nay problems! And mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm hugs!

[velvetfox.livejournal.com]

oh I think she was on This Morning this, er, morning.

[redshira.livejournal.com]

However, Dr Ray Altridge-Morris of the British False Memory Society claims this behaviour is subconsciously created by therapists and their patients
How does he explain people like me, then, who've never seen therapists? Pah.

[velvetfox.livejournal.com]

Invisible therapists maybe?

[redshira.livejournal.com]

Damn those sneaky invisible, inaudible therapists.

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

Well, the alleged condition is now fairly well known, so one could argue that people have picked up the idea, and subconsciously imitated it, from hearing about other cases.

[redshira.livejournal.com]

That's true, but that's assuming that one is the kind of person who *wants* to think they have it; who wants to be special-and-different or whatever. I don't mind having multiple personalities and I suppose I'd miss them if they all went away, but I have to say my life would be far, far easier if I didn't have them. I don't understand people who *want* to have such extra complications in their lives.

[zotz]

It's not really a case of people wanting to have something, but rather coming across an idea which seems to explain what's happening. This applies equally, of course, whether the idea actually does explain it accurately or not.

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

As zotz says, it's not really a case of _wanting_ it to be so, necessarily; there are plenty of people who have false memories of being abused as children; that's not because they want to have been abused, it's because that theory seems (accurately or not) to explain something which needs an explanation.

As an example, there are forms of OCD or Tourettes which cause obsessive and extremely unpleasant thoughts which the suffer finds it very hard to suppress. If these can be understood as coming from a second personality, and therefore seperated from the sufferer, this can make them easier to deal with; it removes any guilt at thinking such terrible things, because it's not really the "me" that's thinking them, and it explains why the "me" can't stop thinking them.
Actually, in that case, there is no second personality, but it's not hard for the sufferer to create one, and even endow it with unique characteristics and habits and so on. Of course, the sufferer themself will generally not be aware that they are creating this personality; it will seem to them as though they are finding out about it, rather than creating it.

[redshira.livejournal.com]

That all makes perfect sense. I suspect that were I not totally at ease with accepting that I have some truly hideous thoughts (I'm a grab-bag of fun mental health issues AND I'm autistic), I might be looking at that as an explanation. I suppose I hadn't thought about it from that angle, and I'm forever having to defend my position as a multiple to people who seem to think I'm making it up.

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

I think there's little doubt that, in some cases at least, people diagnosed with MPD certainly experience something that feels like several personalities co-existing. The problem from a psychological point of view is that that's really more a description of the symptoms, rather than an explanation; it's extremely difficult to see _how_ several personalities could end up co-existing, because personality appears to be affected by things like genetics, pre-natal experience, early relationships (i.e. before 4 years), and later experiences, to varying degrees, but MPD tends to spring up much later, at a time when it is generally recognised that personality is, if not set in stone, then at least fairly thoroughly formed.

The example I gave above is only an example; there are all sorts of other possible explanations too.

[redshira.livejournal.com]

I've often wondered what it actually *is*. I mean...some of my personalities have been with me since I was as young as seven, and one of them has only been around for about 18 months. I've had some which disappeared, and I've not always been the dominant personality. It does interest me, and I wish more people could accept that whatever the reasons behind it and whatever the explanation for it is, it's not something I want "cured".

[zotz]

I don't think you've met my ex-flatmate Tom, but he was telling me some time back that one of the problems is finding cases where there hasn't been any sort of cuing. In the majority of well-known cases there's been rather a lot.