Multiple Personalities

Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D. or multiple personality disorder) is a disorder that psychiatrists don't diagnose too easily:

"A person with dissociative identity disorder will have two or more separate identities that each have their own way of thinking and relating to the world. To have this disorder, a minimum of two of these identities must also take control over the person's behavior again and again. The person with dissociative identity disorder may also have difficulty remembering personal information that, like dissociative amnesia, goes beyond simple forgetfulness."

This is because there are many skeptics who feel that people make up these personalities in order to blame wrong-doings on them.  Often with D.I.D. the victim will suddenly switch personalities and do things that they do not recall.  Skeptics seem to think this is a made up disorder which promotes blaming mistakes on imaginary alternates of yourself.  But this disorder is very real.

A great model of this disorder is Herschel Walker.  He is a formal college and professional football player, who also won the Heisman Trophy.  But sadly, he doesn't remember receiving this great honor.  During his football career, Walker says that was a different person.  In the interview above, his ex-wife also speaks out.  She talks about how he pulled a gun on her and that his alternates were often violent.  But she goes on to say that she felt she had to be there for him.  She knew that this disorder was real, and that that man was not her husband.  

All of his friends and family didn't even notice something wrong with him.  Walker explained that he developed coping mechanisms throughout his football career.  He tried to keep himself as the confident and game-winning alternate.  But after his career his ex-wife says that he wasn't himself.  Changing his routine affected him greatly because he was used to his old coping mechanisms.  His therapist states that it is common for D.I.D. victims to hide the disorder and feel that they're crazy for thinking that they're crazy.  So with time, it gets worse.  That is what happened with Walker.  

After  8 years of therapy, Walker has written a book explaining his experience witht he disorder.  D.I.D. isn't a disorder that goes away, it's a lifestyle that you must live with.   In this book Walker discusses how he copes with D.I.D. and his struggles that were never revealed before.  He explains all of his violent thoughts, which exemplifies that D.I.D. isn't a made up disorder.  Herschel Walker, even throughout his violent breakouts, remains a person with great strength and courage.

The World is Crazy

This is a saying that I've heard plenty of times.  You see someone walk by on the street doing something abnormal, and you think to yourself, "The world is full of crazy people."  But interestingly enough, these are the people that fascinate me.  They interest me so much I'd love to sit down and spend time with them.  My family calls me crazy because usually you would attempt to avoid these types of people, but I want to embrace them.

"Shutter Island" is the movie that sparked my interest in the most hopeless of all psychiatric cases.  It is about a man who has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  In the movie, his wife has Bipolar Disorder and it is actually so severe that she drowns her own kids.  Leonardo DiCaprio plays the role of the man with PTSD very well.  He exemplifies every emotionally symptom very accurately so that the viewer understands his side of the story.  The movie takes you through a couple days at the psychiatric hospital with DiCaprio, who believes himself to be sane and only present in the hospital to solve a mystery.  He thinks that he is a detective and that the hospital is simply trying to claim him as insane so that they can do tests on him.  Unfortunately toward the end the viewer sees the truth, that DiCaprio does have severe PTSD and avoids the memory of his wife killing their three children.


DiCaprio held my interest throughout the movie but I couldn't help but wonder, "Who is in Ward C?"  Ward A, B,C refer to the parts of the hospital in which the patients stay.  Separated by : women, men, and I guess you can call them, other?  Ward C (other) houses the most dangerous patients.  But to me, the most interesting. They don't scare me because I know that we are all just people and we all go crazy sometimes.

The Real Fear Factor

There are plenty of phobias out there.  Some are stranger than others; ranging anywhere from papaphobia (fear of the pope) to arachnophobia (fear of spiders).  Before writing this blog I understood that there are a lot of phobias, but I did not realize the extremity of them.  There is a phobia for almost anything.  But my fear is that these phobias aren't being faced. (I wonder what kind of name they could come up with for that fear.)

It's easy to say "I have a fear of doctors, I am Iatrophobic."  This makes the fear seem concrete and potent in one's life.  When people have a slight fear of something, most people will stay away from it.  They just accept the mindset "Well, I'm afraid of that."  We name our fears as if they're our pets; nurturing to their needs by avoiding any factor of that phobia which may consequently lead to some form of discomfort.  Giving names to these fears make them seem as if they cannot be fixed.  People aren't meant to diagnose themselves, especially without fighting back..  A true diagnosis would consist of the three D's (deviant, dysfunctional, and distressful).  Once a fear is intrusive in one's life, affects many areas of one's life, and causes one great stress, then a diagnosis may be made.  Without these indicators, a problematic fear may not be considered a full-blown disorder or phobia.  

Here is a website with comments from people with strange "phobias."  Some tell their source of the fear which makes those phobia appear more valid.

One example from that website is the fear of cars.  He says it is the result of having nightmares of being run over as a child.  This is the source of his fear.  Perhaps with enough exposure to automobiles, and by coming to the realization that the nightmares weren't real, he may be able to combat his fear of cars.  Here is an article about the idea of simply facing your fears, which offers great advice.  

Finding the origin of the phobia may lead to the triumphant end of it.  One method is reducing your heart rate by breathing in the presence of your fear, which results in a reduction of anxious discomfort.  There are plenty of universal ways to cope with fear, so check them out before diagnosing yourself as a lost cause.

What's My Name?

Memory loss is a scary thing.  Can you imagine not knowing the faces of your own loved ones?  Not being able to recall your most precious memories?  It's incomprehensible.  But it's one of the many reasons to appreciate every second.


Alzheimer's disease, dissociative identity disorder, and post-traumatic disorder are few of the many psychology disorders involving memory loss.  The common factor with these disorders is that your memory is usually slowly taken away from you.  But what if by impact all your memories dissappeared?

While this is a more extreme example, it does make you appreciate your loved ones a little more.  After seeing the trailer for this movie I became interested in finding real life experiences of this type of situation:


Meet Jeff.  A 19 year old who discusses his life after being pushed down the stairs by his brother as a child.  He can't remember any of his childhood memories and soon he discovers that he has Long Term Memory Loss.  Jeff has trouble recalling things from his past, however, his short term memory was not as injured from the accident so he can remember things like what he ate for breakfast.  Although that may not seem important to us, memories seem more crucial once you start forgetting.

Kathy is the wife of a victim of a form of extreme memory loss, encephalitis, which is explained further in her story.  She discusses the struggle of losing her husband before her eyes and not being able to do anything but simply be there for him.  But toward the end is an excerpt from her husband, Simon.  He discusses how great his family has been and refers to his memory loss as "fits."  He says that after these fits he has no recollection of what has happened.  It is an inspirational story of love and loss, memory loss to be specific.


Memory loss isn't just loss of memory.  It's loss of experience, feelings, and thoughts which makes us who we are.  Hearing about experiences like in Jeff's blog, Kathy's story, and "The Vow" makes me feel appreciative of every experience I've had and of the loved ones in which I've shared them with.