First Person Plural: My Life as a Multiple
Dissociative Identity Disorder, which was previously known as multiple personality disorder, is a result rooting from severe trauma. This trauma usually occurred during childhood and had to do with sexual or emotional abuse. First Person Plural: My Life as a Multiple is a memoir written by Cameron West. West gives us a first hand account of discovering, accepting, and treating Dissociative Identity Disorder. Cameron West successfully takes the reader through his analysis, personal thoughts, and his treatment in dealing with Dissociative Identity Disorder in his novel, First Person Plural: My Life as a Multiple.
The story begins with introducing Cameron West, or Cam, his wife Rikki, and their son Kyle. They seem to be leading a normal, healthy life, other than the fact that Cam has an allergy disease. As Cameron learns to deal with his new disorder, he has to hide a lot of the facts from his son because he is so young. Therapy sessions eventually bring out the fact that his mother, grandmother, and others sexually abused Cam. Cameron has no conscious thought of these occurrences but begins to have multiple flashbacks to the incestuous episodes. With the help of his therapist and wife, Cameron attempts to learn how to survive with his multiples. Each multiple has different names, ages, and even handwriting. We eventually learn that there are twenty-four multiples in total. In the second part of the book, Cam, Rikki, and Kyle move to San Francisco, California. They begin to settle in, but not long after they moved there, Switch, one of Cam’s multiples, takes a knife and cuts three gashes into his body. After this, Cam is checked into Del Amo psychiatric ward in Los Angeles. He has to be admitted here twice because his multiples got out of hand. However, it wasn’t until he was checked into a psychiatric ward in Texas that he truly began to accept who he was. Cameron’s denial of having Dissociative Identity Disorder made his condition worse and it wasn’t until he saw him and his alters on video that he began to accept what he had. He learns to deal with his condition and is awarded a Ph.D. after studying psychology. His wife and son supported him through everything and are still happy today. Cameron West has been on many talk shows including Oprah. He says that being able to write this book was one of his biggest accomplishments.
The Essay on Multiple Personality Disorder 4
Multiple Personality Disorder More than two million cases can be found altogether in psychological and psychiatric records of multiple personality disorder also called dissociative identity disorder. It is often thought that multiple personality disorder is a trick, a bizarre form of "play-acting" that is committed by manipulative, attention-seeking individuals. It is not. Multiple personality ...
Cameron West used his own experiences with Dissociative Identity Disorder to write this novel. By using first person omniscient, the reader learns about the disorder directly from the source. In the epilogue, Cam explains that he hopes this novel will help others suffering with DID and will help psychologists and doctors learn first hand about the qualities of the disorder. “A sad fact is that people with DID spend an average of almost seven years in the mental health system before being properly diagnosed and receiving the specific help they need. During that period, many of them are repeatedly misdiagnosed and incorrectly treated simply because clinicians fail to recognize the symptoms. If this book provides practicing and future clinicians certain insight into DID, then I will have accomplished another goal” (West, 1999, pg. 318).
Individuals who suffer from abuse need others who can be understanding and having a willingness to help.
While many people have experienced some dissociation in their life, such as daydreaming, In effect, the child goes into a new state of mind in which it seems that the abuse is not really occurring to him or her, but to somebody else. “Research has shown that the average for the initial development of alters is 5.9 years” (NAMI, 2000).
After prolonged maltreatment, a child may begin to split off into alter identities. Dissociative Identity Disorder is one of the most severe manifestations of the dissociative disorders.
The Term Paper on The Connection Between Child Abuse And Dissociative Identity Disorder
The Connection between Child Abuse and Dissociative Identity Disorder I my essay I will discuss the controversial issue of Dissociative Identity Disorder and how it relates to child abuse. I will provide with the definitions of the psychological terms needed for my argumentation. They will be the following: Dissociative Identity Disorder, schizophrenia, amnesia, and fugue. Also I will argue if ...
Dissociative Identity Disorder is a severe condition and can be extremely frightening to someone who has it. Cameron West efficaciously illustrates a memoir on his personal experiences with this disorder. By reading this novel, one learns about all aspects surrounding DID and has personally left me with a greater understanding of the condition. Multiplicity can be petrifying to outsiders as well, however extremely fascinating at the same time. Nevertheless, the fact that children are being abused everyday, to the point where they must completely detach themselves from the trauma, is absolutely heartbreaking. The book was shocking, disturbing, upsetting, yet absorbing at the same time. The details of his hospitalizations, his discovery of being sexually abused, raising a son, and working through his condition, while still getting his Ph.D. sheds light on how strong Cameron West truly is. This novel provided me with such insight towards the inner workings of the dissociated self and has left me with a desire to learn more on Dissociative Identity Disorder.
