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Multiple Personality Multiple Personality DisorderDisorder

Lauren DeLamaterKelly SacconeKimberly Spry

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“The essential feature is the existence within the individual of two or more distinct

personalities, each of which is dominant at a particular time. Each personality is a fully integrated and complex unit with unique memories, behavior patterns, and social

relationships that determine the nature of the individuals acts when that personality is

dominant…Usually the original personality has no knowledge or awareness of the existence

of any of the other personalities.”

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ThesisThesis Literature and society often portray

mental diseases, such as multiple personality disorder, in a negative

aspect; however, those inflicted are forced to incorporate this disease into

their life in order to survive.

“When I introduced myself to a circle of people one young man said, ‘Oh, you’re Robert Oxnam. You’re the guy with multiple personalities.’ From that moment, I

knew that life under the cloud of an unexplained rumor was going to be hell. I might as well be wearing a ‘Hi I’ve

got multiple personality disorder’ button” (Oxnam 238)

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Multiple Personality DisorderMultiple Personality Disorder(Dissociative Identity Disorder)(Dissociative Identity Disorder)

Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is a fairly common effect of severe trauma

during early childhood, usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, and/or

emotional abuse.

59-98% of people diagnosed with multiple personality disorder were either physically or

sexually abused as child

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“As my eyes fluttered, Baby emerged, speaking and

behaving like a five-year-old, forced to tell truths he wanted to forget. He was

reliving memory fragments, almost as if he were

replaying inner videotapes. Everything in his mind

seemed fresh and vivid. I can only guess when the events actually happened perhaps over a period of

time, maybe between ages one and four.” (Oxnam

140)

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“‘How old are you?’‘Two. I’m two…It’s sweeping

over me from somewhere. The dress wont stay down, he keeps pulling it up and I cant stop it!’

A low, howling sob began mingled with a soft, childish weeping, as if she were crying two sets of tears…the woman never saw nor experienced anything except the sunlight on the grass and the pressure of the stepfather’s body on her own. Rabbit was a very young and unevolved child who held the pain for almost the entire Troop Formation” (32)

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“Nancy’s mother also informed me it was soon after the rape she began to notice changes in Nancy’s behavior, ‘changes that were not at all like her.’” Page 62

“..after I asked her to report dreams of the personalities, that Nancy/Andria had dreamed of a tombstone on which was carved the words: ‘NANCY LYNNE GOOCH, BORN JANUARY, 1961 DIED OCTOBER 1982. SHE LIVED HER LIFE IN VAIN.’ Nancy’s birthday was November 11,1957, I wondered why she had chosen January, 1961 as date of birth-three years and two months later. Could that have been around the time the first personality was created?”Page 265

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AltersAlters

“MPD comes from the outside, from terrible things done by other people. That’s what causes someone to split

into multiple parts, sometimes into lots of alters” (Oxnam 53)

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AltersAlters

Many times when a young child is subjected to abuse, he or she spaces out or splits off

from what is happening, becoming so detached that what is happening may seem more like a movie or television show than

reality. This self-hypnotic state, called disassociation, is a defense mechanism that protects the child from thinking and feeling

overwhelmingly intense emotions. Disassociation walls these thoughts and

emotions off so that the child is unaware of them. In effect, they become secrets, even

from the child.

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A FRACTURED MINDA FRACTURED MIND

“The whole system was set up very early, probably between ages one and four, back during

Baby’s years. The terrible abuse gave rise to Bobby as naughty boy, Tommy as bully, and the Witch as apologist. Then the high expectations

suddenly intervened, prompting the emergence of Robbey the student, then Bob the leader, and

you, perhaps, ‘Robert the idealist.’” (Oxnam 156)

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A FRACTURED MINDA FRACTURED MIND11 Personalities of Robert B.

Oxnam Robert *

Bob Tommy

Young Bob Robbey Bobby * Witch Eyes

Librarian Baby

Wanda *

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NIGHTMARENIGHTMARE

“I do not know if there was any one moment I finally believed separate personalities did exist within Nancy. I think I became convinced because of the consistency of their appearance, attitude and behavior as well as the different roles each played. I saw unfold before my bewildered eyes a world of apparent magic performed by the human mind as it takes flight from a horror it cannot face.” (Freeman, 55)

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NIGHTMARENIGHTMARE

5 of 56 Personalities of Nancy Lynn Gooch

Nancy/Sarah Nancy/John and Nancy/Jennifer

Nancy/Sherri Nancy/Andria

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WHEN RABBIT HOWLSWHEN RABBIT HOWLS “The selves, depending on how many there

were and how damaging the cause of the multiplicity, handled what the first-born

child could not. So that degree of life which the first-born child might enjoy could range

from a lot to a little” (48).

“And for every statement I make to you, pointing out that or any viewpoint, I can give you twenty more, all in conflict with

each other. They all belong to me and none of them belongs to me” (51).

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WHEN RABBIT HOWLSWHEN RABBIT HOWLSThe Troop FormationThe Troop Formation

(30 of 92)(30 of 92) Rabbit Gatekeeper Buffer Outrider Interpreter Weaver Black

Katherine Mean Joe Seventh

Horseman Collector

Nails Catherine Miss Wonderful Olivia I Olivia II Ten-Four Sewer Mouth Suicidal

Warrior Recorder Rachel

Lamb Chop Elvira Brat Peacemaker The little one Grace (The

Zombie) Sister Mary

Catherine Ean Renegade Sixteen

MPD can greatly strain one’s life in many different ways. Those afflicted will be faced with the harsh views of society. However, as these victims go though

therapy they learn how to interact with their whole self. The ultimate decision

to remain a multiple or reduce their number of alters depends on the

individual.

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Today, MPD is a relatively popular diagnosis with 20,000 cases recorded between 1980 and 1990.

Researchers currently believe that from 0.01-10% of the general population has this mental illness.

MPD occurs from 3-9 times more frequently in women than in men.

Female MPD patients often have more identities than men, averaging 15 as opposed to males who average 8

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Works Cited Works Cited Chase, Truddi, and Robert A. Phillips. When Rabbit Howls. New York: Jove,

1987. Print

Diagnostics and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. American Psychiatric Association. 1980.

"Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)." WebMD. 16 Sept.

2009. Web. 2 Mar. 2010. <http://www.webmd.com/mental-health

dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder>.

Freeman, Lucy, Nancy L. Gooch, and Emily Peterson. Nightmare. New York: Richardson & Steirman,, 1987. Print.

Frey, Rebecca, PhD. "Multiple Personality Disorder." Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, 3rd ed. 3rd ed. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 2500-2503. Academic OneFile. Web. 1 Mar. 2010

"Multiple personality disorder." Gale Encyclopedia of Science. Thomson Gale, 2001. General OneFile. Web. 1 Mar. 2010.

Oxnam, Robert B. A Fractured Mind. New York: Hyperion, 2005. Print.