Splitting personality - what is a multiple personality syndrome?

Mental abnormalities are many. There are those that occur often, but there are rare violations, which include the splitting of personality. In this disease, several individuals live in the human body, and it can, if desired, "switch" from one to the other.

What is the splitting of personality?

Splitting or splitting an individual is a mental disorder in which a person can have two or more ego states. They freely coexist in one body, although they can belong to different age categories, be of different sex, etc. This pathology is referred to the group of dissociative (conversion) disorders, characterized by violations of such functions as:

• memory;
• consciousness;
• own identity.

The essence of the phenomenon is that the processes in the psyche of a person with conversion disorder cause the effect of combining several individuals. Each of them separately can not be considered complete and independent. At a certain time, the psyche switches from one ego state to another. An active person does not remember what happened when the first "I" was in the foreground.

Is there a split personality

Multiple personality disorder in medicine has different names. Most people have a vague idea of ​​this syndrome, do not believe in its existence; Some consider it a consequence of drug addiction and are confused with schizophrenia. The frightening pathology interests people not one one hundred years. Even in the rock paintings of the Paleolithic, where shamans "reincarnated" in animals or spirits, the plural personality manifested itself. The phenomenon of split consciousness can also explain such concepts as:

1. The introduction of souls, otherworldly essences.
2. Possession of demons.

In past centuries, with the above-mentioned phenomena, they fought their own methods, sometimes cruel (up to burning at the stake). With the development of medicine and psychology, the methodology has changed. In the 18th century, on the example of the story of the sick Victor Ras, who did not remember what he was doing during sleep - ie. in the altered state of consciousness - a split personality began to be considered as a syndrome that can be diagnosed and treated.

Splitting personality - reasons

Syndrome of split consciousness is considered rare. For the last hundred years, only 163 cases of this disease have been recorded, and science can not yet answer the question of what motivates one person to turn into another. The exact reasons are not named, however it is proved that multiple persons can generate such factors:

• regular violence (sexual, physical, etc.);
• severe emotional trauma experienced in early childhood;
• mental illness;
• use of amusing gas;
• hypnotic state or trance;
• falling out of reality (movies, online games, etc.);
• insomnia and stress.

Split personality - how it happens

Multiple splitting of personality is associated with the concept of dissociation - a mechanism of psychological defense , in which the event begins to be perceived separately, as if events happen not with the person himself, but with someone else. Dividing consciousness is an extreme manifestation of dissociation. This is done unconsciously, to guard against negative emotions. When the protection mechanism is activated time after time, there are conversion disorders.

Split personality - signs

The syndrome of personality dissection is affected only by adults who have suffered trauma in childhood. Dissociative disorders cause discomfort and confusion in the patient, interferes with the conduct of normal social life. The disease has three forms: light, medium and heavy. At an early stage, it is difficult to diagnose multiple personality splits , especially in oneself. And yet some signs indicate the disease:

1. The patient says something that is completely uncharacteristic of him.
2. His actions are contradictory.
3. In this case, the second person does not manifest himself in any way. Man realizes himself with her as one whole.

At the more severe stages of the development of the disease, the personality disorder is characterized by the following symptoms:

• memory impairment, partial loss of memories;
• speech and logic disorder;
• mood changes;
• decreased response to external stimuli;
• headache;
• profuse sweating;
• imbalance.

How to cause a split personality?

Syndrome of multiple personality is not always acquired disease and the consequence of the mechanism of protection in a stressful situation. Sensation of lostness can be felt even by healthy people after full immersion in another reality: virtual (online games), book, cinematographic. In some cases, the holding of religious rites and the introduction into trance can help to find a short-term dissociative experience.

How to treat a split personality?

Splitting personality is a chronic, less common, acquired disease that can last throughout the life of a person. An accurate diagnosis is difficult to make, and often people with dissociative disorders spend many years in a psychiatric hospital. Treatment of pathology is of three types:

• medicamentous;
• psychotherapeutic;
• set of both methods.

Sometimes practicing hypnosis, art and exercise. If we talk about the use of drugs, people who are diagnosed with a multiple personality are more often prescribed antidepressants and tranquilizers. They relieve depression and reduce the excess of activity. The only drawback of this method is quick addiction.

Splitting personality - interesting facts

Multiple personalities living in the same person - a unique phenomenon that interests professionals and ordinary people for many years. There are some reliable facts about him:

1. People with a split personality are mistakenly considered dangerous. Rather, they do harm to themselves, than to others. Many admit that they tried to commit suicide by "order" of one of their hypostases.
2. Switching from one "I" to another usually occurs when a person feels threatened. "Fitting" of another person gives him confidence.
3. In the process of treatment of the disease it is recommended to treat all individuals with the same respect.
4. The most popular image of a person with a split personality is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
5. From 1 to 3% of all people in the world suffer from dissociative disorder.

Famous people with multiple personality

According to statistics, the disease is more common among Americans, although people of any age and nationality are affected by the syndrome. The first patient who was diagnosed with personality disorder was a 45-year-old Frenchwoman, who had three independent and dissimilar individuals. The most famous person with multiple personalities and the most unique is Billy Milligan. The cleft consisted of 24 individuals, 10 of them were basic, including Billy himself, the rest are secondary. Other famous people with a similar diagnosis:

• the maid Juanita Maxwell, who killed the lodger while she was in one of her six hypostases;
• Englishwoman Kim Noble, who had 20 personalities;
• American scientist Robert Oxenem (11 ego states);
• Chris Sizemore, "owner" of three to 22 individuals;
• Trudy Chase and her 92 personalities, strikingly different from each other.

Books about the splitting of personality

The phenomenon of splitting is interesting to many, but not sufficiently studied. Answers to endless questions about this diagnosis can give autobiographical books about the multiple personality and artistic works:

1. "The strange story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Lewis Stevenson (1886) is a classic story about a man with two personalities.
2. "Fight Club" Chuck Palahniuk (1996) - one of the most popular books, subsequently filmed.
3. Daniel Kees's "Multiple Billy Milligan minds" (1981) , based on real events.
4. "Sybil" Flora Rita Schreiber (1973) - a real story about the multiple personalities of one woman.
5. "When the rabbit howls" Truddy Chase (1981) - a story told from the first person.

Disorder of multiple personality - movies

People with a split personality and their amazing stories are reflected in the cinema. Many popular books were transferred to the screen and told fundamentally new stories on this topic. Among them:

1. Thriller Hitchcock "Psycho" (1960).
2. Biographical tape "Sybil" (1976), the first adaptation of the novel by Flora Rita Schreiber.
3. "Voices" (1990) - on the memoirs of Truddy Chase.
4. "Fight Club" (1999) based on the novel Palanika.
5. Mystical thriller "Identification" (2003).
6. Horror "The enemy in reflection" (2010).
7. Split (2016) is a psychological thriller about a guy with 23 personalities.

Series about the splitting of personality

Split personality is a disease, about which a lot of thrillers, dramas and horror films are shot, but not only full-length ones. Mental disorders - fertile soil for serials. And the diagnoses of patients with splitting syndrome are an excellent basis for the plot. Some series, whose characters are people with multiple personalities:

1. "Jekyll" (2007) is a modern interpretation of the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
2. "Such different Tara" (2008-2011) - the story of a girl with six "I" -states.
3. "Motel Bates" (2013-2017) is the television prequel of Hitchcock's "Psycho".

Today, the diagnosis of splitting personality does not surprise anyone. About him much is told and not less is shown. However, the syndrome is a rare disorder of the psyche, which is difficult to put and even harder to cure. In some cases, dissociative disorder becomes chronic. Patients require continuous treatment for five or more years, so that the number of individuals is reduced to one.