FREE ESSAY ON MULTILPLE PERSONALITY DISORDERS

MULTILPLE PERSONALITY DISORDERS

Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) or Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) was first
recognized in the 1700's but was not understood so therefore it was forgotten. Many cases
show up in medical records through the years, but in 1905, Dr. Morton Prince wrote a book
about MPD that is a foundation for the disorder. A few years after it was published
Sigmund Freud dismissed the disorder and this dropped it from being discussed at any
credible mental health meetings. Since then the disorder has been overlooked and
misdiagnosed as either schizophrenia or psychosis. Many in the medical profession did not
believe that a person could unknowingly have more than one personality or person inside
one body, even after the in the 1950's Three Faces of Eve was published by two
psychiatrist. In 1993, records showed that three to five thousand patients were being
treated for MPD compared to the hundred cases reported ten years earlier. There is still
as increase in the number of cases being reported as the scientific community learns more
and more about the disease and the public is becoming more and more aware of this mental
disorder. There are still many questions left unanswered about the disease, like Is it
genetic? or Is a certain type of personality more vulnerable to the disorder? but many
aspects of how people come by the disorder are already answered (Clark, 1993, p.17-19)
MPD is commonly found in adults who were recurrently abused mentally, physically,
emotionally, and/or sexually as young children, between birth to 8 years of age. The
child uses a process called dissociation to remove him/herself from the abusive
situation. Dissociation is when a child makes up an imaginary personality to take control
of the mind and body while the child is being abused. The child can imagine many
personalities but usually there is a personality for every feeling and or emotion that
was involved during the abuse (BoyyM, 1998, p.1). As an adult, the abused child finds it
hard to keep track of time and may have episodes of amnesia. Other symptoms that will
appear in adults with MPD are depression, auditory and visual hallucinations (hearing
voices) and suicidal thoughts. Another major symptom is when the adult has no
recollection of their childhood. The adult with MPD has no idea they were abused as
children and also unaware of the other personalities living inside of their head
(Multiple Personality Disorder-fact sheet, 1996-99, p.1). 
Multiple Personality Disorder is when there is the presence of two or more distinct
identities or personalities, each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving,
relating to, and thinking about the environment and self(BoyyM, 1998, p.1). There can be
anywhere from two to over a hundred different personalities. Usually each personality
will fall into one of the following categories: core, host, protectors, internal
self-helper, fragments, child members, preteen, teenager, adults, artistic/music,
cross-gender, cross-colored, animal members, inanimate members (BoyyM, 1998, p. 2-3). The
host personality is the person who is the multiple, this is the original personality, or
the one that created the other personalities, but is unaware of them. The most common
apparent identities are the child, persecutor, rescuer, and helper. The child is the
identity that is under the age of twelve. They behave as children often sucking thumbs,
twisting hair, like to eat cookies, throw tantrums, and use child-like vocabulary. The
Persecutor identity is the self-destructive identity that is violent and angry.
Persecutor identities usually have a drug/alcohol problem and generally put the host at
risk. The rescuer personality is usually devoid of emotion but logical, able, proficient,
and responsible. The helper personality knows the most about the history of the multiple;
they generally want to help everyone for the general good. The helper personality is the
personality that is most helpful in therapy because they usually know about all the other
identities (Clark, 1993, p.80-83). 
Subpersonalities are not only part of a person with MPD but they are also evident in
emotionally normal persons as well. Although, in a normal person, he/she remembers when
their subpersonality takes over, but in a MPD patient, the personality disconnects from
the host that the host can not remember what happens. When a traumatic experience
happens, whether positive or negative, a subpersonality will develop. In a normal person,
the splitting is broken into an ok self and a not ok self. In a multiple, the
personalities are more defined; they are broken into smaller fragments that disassociate
from the human host (Rowan, 1990, p. 7, 20).
In the book by Terri A. Clark, M.D., it shows the distinct the personalities are in
several cases. It also displays how each identity can be different from the other
identities and the host. In one of Clark's cases, Veronica, one of the personalities of
her patient Regina, showed up for the weekly appointment instead of Regina (note that it
really was Regina, but she was a different identity). Clark noticed a change in the
appearance of Regina on her arrival and noted the difference in her voice. Veronica
(Regina) continued to speak to Clark as if it was the first time they had met. Although,
Veronica knew about Clark, Regina's personal life, and therapy, this was the first time
Clark had met this personality. Clark discovered while talking to Veronica that she had a
separate business which she ran on the weekends, and when Veronica was in control of the
body. Regina had no idea about the business; Veronica used the fake name and an Art
Gallery's telephone number in which to run her business. Veronica even had a different
handwriting than Regina. According to Clark, each personality has its own distinct
features, such as handwriting, fashion taste, hobbies, and culinary taste. In most cases,
there will always be personality that writes with their left hand, while the host and
other identities write with their right. In Regina's case, Veronica wore different
clothes than Regina and she had an interest in fine art. Each personality of a host, when
asked, will tell you they have a certain type of hair color and cut, height, weight, and
even gender (Clark, 1993, p. 73-78). The problem with having all these personalities is
that they do not mesh well. Consequences can arise from having so many different traits
inside one body like eating and sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse
(Smith, 1993, p.1).
Each alter also has their own name, these names can come from anything but there are
three common factors that influence the alters name. Some alters are just born with the
name, this is when the alter is modeled after a real or fictional character. Some alters
are named after emotional responses, such as Sad One or Angry Janie. Many alters are
named for the specific job they are supposed to do, like Director, Helper or Avenger. The
names chosen have been created by a child so they are most likely modeled after a
fictional or real character. Although the host will have no idea of the other
personalities and will not respond to the names at first, the alters respond to the birth
personalities name (Clark, 1993, 90-91). 
The circumstances that the identities get the host into can also become a problem. The
different alters while in possession of the body can go somewhere where the host does not
know and then leave and the host is left with no idea how he/she got there and how to get
back. In Sybil, one of the first times she realized she had a problem was when she had to
leave her Columbia University Chemistry Lab when something broke. The last thing she
remembered was standing at the elevator but when she regained consciousness she was in
the warehouse district of Philadelphia. Miles from where she had been before in New York
and it was five days later (Schreiber, 1973, p. 23-36). The persecutor identity has a
tendency to leave the host in dangerous situations. Carla, one of Clark's patients, had a
persecutor alter named Godiva. Godiva was always putting Carla in sticky situations like
Godiva would pick up men at bars and bring them home or go home with them. Carla would
come to consciousness with an unknown man in her bed and she would pass out, another
alter would have to come out and rescue Carla. CJ (Carla's big burly male alter) would
come out punch the guy and leave. Christine (Carla's logical alter) would come out and
handle the situation using her negotiation skills. At other times Timmy (the young boy
who was an escape artist) would come out talk his way out of the situation, leaving the
man so bewildered because he was with a woman who thought she was a young boy. When this
occurred it would leave the other alters upset at Godiva (Clark, 1993, p.99).
There are three different types of relationships that alters can have between each other.
The first one is, one-way amnesia, this is when alter number one knows about alter number
two but alter number two does not know about number one. The second relationship is
'two-way amnesia' exist when neither alter know about each other(Clark, 1993, p. 87).
Cocognizance, the third relationship, is when all the alters know about each other but
the host personality knows about none of them. The host will hear conversations in
his/her head, these conversations are between the alters. This is when the alters know
the host personality but is unable to affect it as long as the host is in control (Clark,
1993, p. 87-88).
The cause of MPD is severe trauma, most of the trauma happens at a young age and the
violator is usually someone who the child knows. In satanic cults, children mistreated
and abused, to intentionally cause MPD, do not know everyone who is involved in the
abuse. Examples given by Clark are children put in a coffin with rats, snakes, and bugs
then buried alive. Later the satanic cult leader or priest will rescue the child
therefore making the child feel obligated to that person. In satanic cults, children are
also raped. During the rape, men and women would violate the child they would also
violate the child with objects such as a knife, an upside down crucifix, and other
objects (Clark, 1993, 181-198). The child gets to the point where they think they are
going to die, and they disassociate themselves from the situation, this is when the
personalities are born. Other types of abuse are emotional and psychological abuse by a
parent. One of Clark's patients remembered under hypnosis a time when she was two. Her
mother took her outside put her in a tree and told her to jump, the child after a slight
hesitation did so, and the mother stepped back, watched the child fall to the ground, and
laughed. These traumatic events and others are the cause of MPD (Clark, 1993, 105-106).
No matter how bad the abuse was and how many different personalities are present; a MPD
patient can be cured. The process to recovery for a MPD patient is long and hard. The
personalities are not being made to disappear but to become one. There has to be a fusion
of all the alters into the host, the host has to learn to express all the emotions, that
for so long, another alter would take care of for them. Although some MPD patients are
harder than others to fuse, but all patients can be cured. Patients that were subject to
Satanic Ritual Abuse are more difficult to fuse due to the threats that the cult made or
are making on their lives. A patient that was in a cult must have lost all contact with
the cult before successful fusion can take place. When fusion is successfully
accomplished, the host person can handle their emotions as where before fusion they were
unaware of many common emotions (Clark, 1993, 208-213).
Research is continuing to be done on this disorder. Many people still doubt the realism
of the disorder, especially as more people fake the disorder to get out of judicial
problems. About 1% of America's population has MPD, but many are scared to see
Psychiatrist, and many fake the disorder (Smith, 1993, p. 1). As awareness for the
disease is becoming more prevalent, more patients are discovering after years of
misdiagnosis, they finally can start the right kind of therapy.
Multiple Personality Disorder is not a disease or mental illness, it is a disorder caused
by traumatic events in early childhood. MPD is treatable and a MPD patient can hope to
one day live a normal life with every part of his/her personality fused into one. A MPD
patient is not something to be afraid of as where they usually just inflict pain upon
themselves and not on others. MPD patients can be your next door neighbor, parent, and
even spouse. They do not seem that different from normal people, and many do not even
know they have the disorder. Awareness is the key, not only awareness of MPD but of child
abuse, if child abuse is stopped MPD will not be a problem.
Biblical Response
Multiple Personality Disorder is often brushed aside by Christians who think that MPD is
demon possession, but MPD and demon possession differentiate in many ways. MPD although
it can be caused by satanic ritual abuse is not evil, it is a process of the mind.
Possession on the other hand, is when a body is taken over by an evil spirit. It is the
physical body that the demon has control over not the mind. In MPD the only part affected
is the mind, the body is not changed and does not convulse as it does in possession. In
Ephesians 6:12(NIV) it is written, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against rulers, against authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against
the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Demon possession is the fight
against the flesh MPD is the fight against the mind. In Matthew 8:28-31 we see demon
possession, When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two
demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could
pass that way. What do you want with us, Son of God? they shouted. Have you come here to
torture us before the appointed time? Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was
feeding. The demons begged Jesus, If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs. He
said to them, Go! So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down
the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. This shows that demons are first only
in possession of body and second afraid of Jesus Christ. If a Bible is brought into a
room with one that is possessed they will immediately ask for the person to leave. I do
not believe that MPD is demon possession, I do believe that they are more susceptible to
it if they have been involved in a satanic cult. MPD patients are gifted, smart
individuals who suffered greatly as children and they used their only defense their
imaginations to alleviate the pain. In Mark 10:13-16 says, People were bringing little
children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw
this, he was indignant. He said to them, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not
hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth,
anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.'
He took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. 
REFERENCE LIST
BOYY M. (1998). MPD/DID in Simple Terms [on-line].
Clark, Terri A., M.D. (1993). More Than One (1st edition). Nashville, TN: Oliver-Nelson
Books, 17-19, 73-78, 80-83, 87-88, 90-91, 99, 105-106, 181-198, 208-213.
Multiple Personality Disorder; helpline fact sheet (1996) [on-line]. Rockville, MD:
National Institute of Mental Health.
New Student Bible, New International Version (1991). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House.
Rowan, John (1990). Subpersonalities: The People Inside Us (1st edition). New York:
Routledge, 7, 20.
Smith, William H., PhD. (1993). Overview of Multiple Personality Disorder [on-line].
Schreiber, Flora Rheta (1973). Sybil (1st edition). New York: Warner Books, 23-26.