Dissociative disorder, better known as split personality, is a very rare mental illness in which several different personalities coexist in the body of one person.
According to scientists, dissociative disorder is first manifested in a person at an early age in response to cruelty and violent actions. Unable to cope with the traumatic situation on its own, the child's consciousness creates new personalities who take on the whole burden of unbearable pain. Science knows cases in which there were several dozens of personalities in one person. They can differ in gender, age and even nationality, have different handwritings, characters, habits and taste preferences. Interestingly, individuals may not even be aware of the existence of each other.
Juanita Maxwell
In 1979, in the hotel of a small American town of Fort Myers, an elderly guest was brutally murdered. On suspicion of murder detained the maid Juanita Maxwell. The woman did not plead guilty, however, during the medical examination, it became clear that she was suffering from a dissociative disorder. She had six personalities in her body, one of them, named Wanda Weston, and committed murder. At the court session, the lawyers secured the appearance of a criminal person. In front of the judge, the quiet and taciturn Juanita turned into a noisy and aggressive Wanda, who with a laugh told how she killed an elderly woman as a result of a quarrel. The criminal was sent to a psychiatric hospital.
Herschel Walker
A player in American football in his childhood suffered from excess weight and problems with speech. Then in the complete and clumsy Herschel settled two more personalities - "warrior", who has outstanding abilities in football, and "hero", shining at social events. Only after years Herschel, tired of the chaos in his head, asked for medical help.
Chris Sizemore
In 1953 on the screens there was a picture "Three faces of Eve". At the heart of the film is the real story of Chris Seismore - a woman in whom 22 persons have been living for a long time. Chris noticed the first odd behavior in her childhood when she discovered that there were several little girls in her body. However, the doctor asked Chris already in adulthood after one of the individuals tried to kill her little daughter. After many years of treatment, the woman was able to get rid of the restless inhabitants of her head.
"The most difficult thing in my recovery is a feeling of loneliness that does not leave me. In my head suddenly it became quiet. There was no one else there. I thought I killed myself. It took me about a year to realize that all these personalities were not me, they existed outside of me, and it's time to get to know the real one. "
Shirley Mason
The story of Shirley Mason was put in the basis of the film "Sybil". Shirley was a teacher at the university. She once turned to psychiatrist Cornelia Wilbur with complaints of emotional instability, memory dips and dystrophy. The doctor managed to find out that Shirley suffers from a dissociative disorder. The first subpersonalities appeared in Mason at the age of three after the cruel mockery of a schizophrenic mother. After a lengthy therapy, the psychiatrist managed to integrate all 16 personalities into one. However, the rest of Shirley's life was dependent on barbiturates. She died in 1998 from breast cancer.
Many modern psychiatrists question the reliability of this story. It is suspected that Cornelia could simply instill in her impressionable patient a belief in the presence of her many personalities.
Mary Reynolds
1811 year. England. 19-year-old Mary Reynolds went to the field to read the book alone. A few hours later, she was found unconscious. Waking up, the girl did not remember anything and could not speak, and also became blind, deaf and forgot how to read. After a while, the lost skills and abilities returned to Mary, but her character completely changed. If, until she lost consciousness, she was quiet and depressed, she now turned into a witty and cheerful young woman. After 5 months Mary again became quiet and thoughtful, but not for long: one morning she awoke again energetic and cheerful. Thus, she passed from one state to another for 15 years. Then the "quiet" Mary disappeared forever.
Karen Overhill
29-year-old Karen Overhill appealed to Chicago psychiatrist Richard Bayer with complaints of depression, memory dips and headache. After some time, the doctor managed to find out that 17 persons live in his patient's place. Among them - two-year-old Karen, a black teenager Jensen and 34-year-old father Holden. Each of these characters had a voice, character traits, behavior and skills. For example, only one person knew how to drive a car, and the rest had to wait patiently for her to free herself and take them to the right place. Some of the personalities were right-handed, others were left-handed.
It turned out that as a child, Karen had to go through terrible things: she was subjected to bullying and violence from her father and grandfather. Later, the girl's relatives offered her to other men for money. To cope with all this nightmare, Karen created virtual friends who supported her, protected from pain and scary memories.
Dr. Bayer worked with Karen for more than 20 years and eventually he managed to cure her by combining all the individuals into one.
Kim Noble
The British artist Kim Noble is 57 years old and for most of her life she suffers from a dissociative disorder. In the head of a woman there are 20 personalities - a small boy Diabalus, who knows Latin, young Judy, suffering from anorexia, 12-year-old Ria, who paints dark scenes of violence ... Each of the characters can appear at any moment, usually one day in the head of Kim have time to " "3-4 subpersonalities.
"Sometimes I manage to change 4-5 outfits in the morning ... Sometimes I open the closet and see clothes there that I did not buy, or I get pizza that I did not order ... I can, sitting on the couch, after a while find myself in a bar or driving a car without a single thought as to where I'm going ยป
Doctors have been watching Kim for many years, but so far nothing has been able to help her. The woman has a daughter Amy, who is used to the unusual behavior of her mother. Kim does not exactly know who the father of her child is, she does not remember either her pregnancy or the moment of birth. Nevertheless, all her personalities are good for Aimee and never offended her.
Estelle La Guardi
This unique case was described by the French psychiatrist Antoine Despin in 1840. His eleven-year-old patient Estelle suffered from severe pain. She was paralyzed, lay motionless in bed and all the time was half asleep.
After the treatment, Estelle began periodically to fall into a hypnotic state, during which she got out of bed, ran, swam and made walks in the mountains. Then again there was a metamorphosis and the girl remained bedridden. "Second" Estelle asked the people around her to regret the "first" and fulfill all her whims. After a while, the patient went on the mend and was discharged. Despin suggested that the split personality was caused by magnetotherapy, which was applied to the girl.
Billy Milligan
The unique case of Billy Milligan was described by writer Ken Kies in the book "Multiple Minds of Billy Milligan." In 1977, Milligan was arrested on suspicion of several rapes of girls. During the medical examination, the doctors came to the conclusion that the suspect is suffering from a dissociative disorder. Psychiatrists revealed in him 24 persons of different sex, age and nationality. One of the dwellers of this "hostel" was the 19-year-old lesbian Adalan, who, if I may say so, committed rape.
After a long trial, Milligan was sent to a psychiatric hospital. Here he spent 10 years, and then was discharged. Died Milligan in 2014 in a nursing home. He was 59 years old.
Trudy Chase
From an early age Trudi Chase from New York was subjected to violence and abuse by her mother and stepfather. To adapt to the nightmarish reality, Trudy created a large number of new personalities - original "keepers of memories." So, a person nicknamed Black Catherine kept in memory episodes associated with anger and fury, and a person named Rabbit was full of pain ... Trudi Chase became popular after she published an autobiographical kigu "When the rabbit howls" and became the guest of the transfer of Oprah Winfrey.