{"quotes":[{"text":"Once I had found the courage to tell Rebecca about the children in my head, it wasn't so hard in the coming months to tell Roberta. On the train from Huddersfield one day in May I made a roll call of the usual suspects: Baby Alice; Alice 2, who was two years old and liked to suck sticky lollipops; Billy; Samuel; Shirley; Kato; and the enigmatic Eliza. There was boy I would grow particularly fond of named limbo, who was ten, but like Eliza he was still forming. There were others without names or specific behaviour traits. I didn't want to confuse the issue with this crowd of 'others' and just counted off the major players with their names, ages and personalities, which Roberta scribbled down on a pad. Then she looked slightly embarrassed. 'You know, I've met Billy on a few occasions, and Samuel once too,' she said. 'You're joking.' I felt betrayed. 'Why didn't you tell me?' 'I wanted it to come from you, Alice, when you were ready.' For some reason I pulled up my sleeves and showed he my arms. 'That's Kato,' I said, 'or Shirley.' She looked a bit pale as she studied the scars. I had feeling she didn't know what to say. The problem with counsellors is that they are trained to listen, not to give advice or diagnosis. We sat there with my arms extended over the void between us like evidence in court, then I pushed down my sleeves again. 'I'm so sorry, Alice,' she said finally and I shrugged. 'It's not your fault, is it?' Now she shrugged, and we were quiet once more.","author":"Alice Jamieson","tags":["dissociation","dissociative","dissociative-identity-disorder","mental-health","mental-illness","multiple-personality-disorder","psych","split-personality","therapy"],"id":1015,"author_id":"Alice+Jamieson"},{"text":"Early identification of patients who suffer from dissociative symptoms and disorders is essential for successful treatment, because these disorders do not resolve spontaneously.","author":"Marlene Steinberg","tags":["diagnosis","dissociative-disorders","dissociative-identity-disorder","mental-health"],"id":12071,"author_id":"Marlene+Steinberg"},{"text":"Patients with complex trauma may at times develop extreme reactions to something the therapist has said or not said, done or not done. It is wise to anticipate this in advance, and perhaps to note this anticipation in initial communications with the patient. For example, one may say something like, 'It is likely in our work together, there will be a time or times when you will feel angry with me, disappointed with me, or that I have failed you. We should except this and not be surprised if and when it happens, which it probably will.' It is also vital to emphasize to the patient that despite the diagnosis and experience of dividedness, the whole person is responsible and will be held responsible for the acts of any part. P174.","author":"Elizabeth F. Howell","tags":["complex-ptsd","dissociative-identity-disorder","mental-disorder","responsibility","responsible","system-responsibility","trauma-therapy","traumatized"],"id":18581,"author_id":"Elizabeth+F.+Howell"},{"text":"With DID patients, if they feel hostility or aggression they take it out on themselves with self-harm... They’re self-destructive and repeatedly suicidal, more so than any other psychological disorder. So that's what's typical – not this wild aggression, or stalking women [or robbery].- Dr Bethany Brand, on Billy Milligan and Multiple Personality Disorder (DID).","author":"Bethany L. Brand","tags":["billy-milligan","dissociative-identity-disorder","insanity","mental-disorder","mental-illness","misconception","misrepresentation","multiple-personalities","multiple-personality-disorder","self-harm","self-injury","split-personality","stereotypes","stigma","suicidal","suicidality","suicide","the-crowded-room"],"id":28670,"author_id":"Bethany+L.+Brand"},{"text":"Mary was my first encounter with dissociative identity disorder (DID), which at that time was called multiple personality disorder. As dramatic as its symptoms are, the internal splitting and emergence of distinct identities experienced in DID represent only the extreme end of the spectrum of mental life.","author":"Bessel A. van der Kolk","tags":["dissociation","dissociative-identity-disorder","mental-health","mental-life","multiple-personality-disorder"],"id":44044,"author_id":"Bessel+A.+van+der+Kolk"},{"text":"The DID patient should be seen as a whole adult person with the identities sharing responsibility for daily life. Despite patients’ subjective experience of separateness, clinicians must keep in mind that the patient is a single person and generally must hold the whole person (I.E., system of alternate identities) responsible for the behavior of any or all of the constituent identities, even in the presence of amnesia or the sense of lack of control or agency over behavior.From p8 International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. (2011). Guidelines for treating dissociative identity disorder in adults, third revision: Summary version. Journal of Trauma \u0026 Dissociation, 12, 188–212.","author":"James A. Chu","tags":["amnesia","dissociation","dissociative-identity-disorder","law","legal","responsibility","responsible-people","system-responsibility","treatment"],"id":68358,"author_id":"James+A.+Chu"},{"text":"Parts of you are phobic of anger and generally terrified and ashamed of angry dissociative parts. There is often tremendous conflict between anger-avoidant and anger-fixated parts of an individual. Thus, an internal and perpetual cycle of rage-shame-fear creates inner chaos and pain.","author":"Suzette Boon","tags":["angry","chaos","conflict","cycles","dissociation","dissociative-identity-disorder","fear","inner-conflict","phobia","rage","shame","trauma"],"id":69458,"author_id":"Suzette+Boon"},{"text":"Somatic Symptoms:People with Complex PTSD often have medical unexplained physical symptoms such as abdominal pains, headaches, joint and muscle pain, stomach problems, and elimination problems. These people are sometimes most unfortunately mislabeled as hypochondriacs or as exaggerating their physical problems. But these problems are real, even though they may not be related to a specific physical diagnosis. Some dissociative parts are stuck in the past experiences that involved pain may intrude such that a person experiences unexplained pain or other physical symptoms. And more generally, chronic stress affects the body in all kinds of ways, just as it does the mind. In fact, the mind and body cannot be separated. Unfortunately, the connection between current physical symptoms and past traumatizing events is not always so clear to either the individual or the physician, at least for a while. At the same time we know that people who have suffered from serious medical, problems. It is therefore very important that you have physical problems checked out, to make sure you do not have a problem from which you need medical help.","author":"Suzette Boon","tags":["complex-ptsd","dissociative-identity-disorder","hypochondriac","medical","physical","ptsd","somatic","survivors","trauma"],"id":78107,"author_id":"Suzette+Boon"},{"text":"People with Complex PTSD suffer from more severe and frequent dissociation symptoms, as well as memory and attention problems, than those with simple PTSD. In addition to amnesia due to the activity of various parts of the self, people may experience difficulties with concentration, attention, other memory problems and general spaciness. These symptoms often accompany dissociation of the personality, but they are also common in people who do not have dissociative disorders. For example everyone can be spacey, absorbed in an activity, or miss an exit on the highway. When various parts of the personality are active, by definition, a person experiences some kind of abrupt change in attention and consciousness.","author":"Suzette Boon","tags":["amnesia","attention","complex-ptsd","day-dreaming","dissociation","dissociative-identity-disorder","memory","personality-types","ptsd","survivor","trauma"],"id":78734,"author_id":"Suzette+Boon"},{"text":"Identity confusion is defined by the SCID-D as a subjective feeling of uncertainty, puzzlement, or conflict about one's own identity. Patients who report histories of childhood trauma characteristically describe themes of ongoing inner struggle regarding their identity; of inner battles for survival; or other images of anger, conflict, and violence. P13.","author":"Marlene Steinberg","tags":["dissociation","dissociative","dissociative-identity-disorder","dsm","mental-health","multiple-personality-disorder","multiplicity","psychiatry","psychology","reference-works","scid-d","steinburg","textbook"],"id":86649,"author_id":"Marlene+Steinberg"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":85,"pages":9,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}