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Who Are You Today?

The Minds of Billy Milligan:

Philip, a petty criminal; Kevin, who dealt drugs and masterminded a drugstore robbery; April, whose only ambition was to kill Billy's stepfather; Adalana, the shy, lonely affection-starved lesbian who "used" Billy's body in the rapes that led to his arrest; David, the eight-year-old "keeper of pain"; Arthur, the Englishman; Ragen, the "keeper of Rage" who possessed incredible strength; Allen, the con man; Tommy, the escape-artist, and all of the others, including men, women, several children, both boys and girls, and the Teacher, the only one who can put them all together (Keyes 1).

I found this information on a website by Daniel Keyes, the author of The Minds of Billy Milligan. He stated that Billy Milligan was a man that had no control of the things he did. Billy, a man with twenty-four personalities that were battling to take over his body, woke up in jail one day. Billy was brought into jail because he was charged for the raping and murdering of three women. Because Billy suffered from multiple personalities, he was found not guilty of his crimes by reason of insanity. This marked the most remarkable multiple personality case in history (1).

This is one of many cases involving Dissociative Identitiy Disorder, also known as Multiple Personality Disorder. People with Dissociative Identity Disorder may have many different symptoms, including amnesia and depression; causes, including sexual and physical abuse; and treatment, including hypnosis and psychotherapy. There are also many different types and numbers of alters in a person with this disorder. An example will include the alters in the story of Sybil Isabel Dorsett.

Dissociative Identity Disorder, also known as multiple personality disorder, is a mental disorder in people that have two or more identities or personalities that work to over take the person's behavior and mind (Spiegel 1).

What is the cause of Dissociative Identity Disorder? As Davidson and Reed both stated in their books, the cause of Dissociative Identity Disorder results in physical and/or sexual abuse during childhood (Davidson 175, Reed, 773). Emotional abuse, psychosocial stress, shock, and trauma are all reasons for this disorder to occur (Reed 773).

Again, Davidson's book stated that symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder consist of dissociative symptoms such as amnesia and depersonalization along with depression, substance abuse, self-abusive behavior, suicide attempts, phobias, hallucinations, and memory gaps (Davidson 172-173).

Also, as mentioned in Alejandra Swartz's article that I retrieved by doing research on the internet, people with this disorder may hear voices but it is actually the different personalities within their mind trying to associate with one another (4).

Often times, the MOD is misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic due to "hearing voices", but the multiple personality hears the voices inside their head in contrast to the schizophrenic which hears from the outside of themselves (Swartz 4).

Swartz also states handwriting differences and physical differences among the different personalities (4).

Along with symptoms, there must be some sort of treatment to treat this disorder. According to Reed, treatments include time-management programs and exploration. These time-management programs consist of self-care activities and daily living activities. Treatments in productivity are also encouraged by exploring work interests and work capacities. Also, basic work skill training may be established if needed for a patient with this disorder. (Reed 776).

"The best treatment for the disorder is long-term psychotherapy aimed at helping patients to gain insights into each of their personality states" (Spiegel 2).

It is the treatment of emotional, behavioral, personality, and psychiatric disorders based primarily upon verbal or nonverbal communication and interventions with the patient, in contrast to treatments utilizing chemical and physical measures. (Dirckx 817)

In addition to psychotherapy, "Hypnosis may help a person control spontaneous switching of personality states" (Spiegel 2).

As I read in a medical dictionary written by Dirckx, hypnosis is an artificially induced trancelike state, resembling "somnambulism, a form of hysteria in which purposeful behavior is forgotten" (Dirckx 915), in which the subject is highly susceptible to suggestion and responds readily to the commands of the hypnotist. (Dirckx 473)

A person is usually hypnotized to cope with stress by entering the dissociative state. "Typically the person is hypnotized and encouraged to go back in his or her mind to events in childhood-a technique called age regression" (Davidson 179). The reason for doing this is letting the adult know that the events during childhood are no longer present in his or her life (Davidson 179).

There is a specific name for the different personalities within a person. "A generic term used to denote a fragment or personality" (Reed 774) is called an alter.

Every alter has its own memories, behavior patterns, and relationships with other alters. When certain alters are in command, they determine the individual's nature and actions. The personalities of the individual are usually quite different from one another. One alter may wear glasses with one prescription and the other alter may wear glasses with a different prescription. Also one alter may have allergies to one thing and the other alter may not be allergic to anything (Davidson 173).

According the Swart and Reed, there are different types of alters. "The personality seeking treatment is the presenting personality. The host personality is the personality that maintains control of the body" (Reed 774). The host is also usually depressed and exhausted (Swartz 2).

Other types of alters include: a strong, angry protector; a scared, hurt child; a helper; and an internal persecutor who