My concern was less with the number of selves she had than with how those selves worked together-or not-in her daily life. Ella looked to me like a community-a dysfunctional one at that moment but a community, nonetheless. Given my anthropological training, I approached Ella's DID symptoms differently than many clinicians might. People in many other cultures see the body as host to several identities. This is not a universal human belief, however. This is still the most common approach, and it reflects a Western view of the world in which one body can have only one identity. So how to help her? Therapists have traditionally treated people with DID with the goal of “integrating” them: bringing the fragmented parts back together into one core self. Her personalities would sabotage one another, ruining relationships and threatening her school performance. Notably, fakes have something to gain by faking. My diagnosis of Ella was based on the DSM-5 criteria, her score on various psychological tests of dissociation, and our years of working together. This kind of skepticism has been fueled by the case of “Sybil,” who became the subject of a 1973 best-selling book later evidence indicated she was faking her condition. Patients with DID symptoms are frequently dismissed by clinicians and laypeople alike as faking or neurotic, or both. Most of the time the different parts were not aware of what was happening when another part was “out,” making for a fragmented and confusing existence.ĭID is a highly controversial diagnosis. Some communicated in words, and others were silent, conveying things through drawings or using stuffed animals to enact scenes. Each part had a different name her own memories and experiences and distinctive speech patterns, mannerisms and handwriting. Over time Ella manifested 12 different personalities (or “parts” as she called them) ranging in age from two to 16. Popularly known as “split” or multiple personalities, DID and its criteria are listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the authoritative psychiatric compendium published by the American Psychiatric Association. Ella, it eventually became clear, had dissociative identity disorder (DID), a clinical condition in which a person has two or more distinct personalities that regularly take control of the person's behavior, as well as recurring periods of amnesia. She experienced intense thoughts, emotions and urges that felt like they were coming from someone other than herself. She “spaced out” unexpectedly, “waking up” wearing different clothes. She had nightmares, flashbacks and anxiety, and she engaged in various forms of self-harm, among other symptoms. She was a survivor of long-term, severe childhood sexual abuse by a trusted religious leader. We worked together for four and a half years.Įlla came for help with complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Ella and I began meeting for twice-weekly therapy sessions, which eventually increased to three times a week. Ella (I have changed her name here to protect her privacy) was referred to me by a concerned university colleague who taught her in one of her classes. I am also a cultural anthropologist with expertise in the intersections of culture and mental health. I'm a licensed clinical social worker specializing in trauma, eating disorders, self-harm, personality disorders, and gender and sexuality issues. Acting on a hunch, I asked her how old she was. As it continued, I felt a growing sense of unease. I heard it, too: her voice sounded different, pitched just a teeny bit higher than usual, with a new singsong quality. But then I saw it: a slight shift in how she held her body. There was no dramatic change, no shuddering or twitching. She was sitting comfortably in a chair, her hands folded, her back straight and her feet flat on the floor. When Ella time traveled in my office for the first time, I did not realize what was happening right away.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |