Читать реферат по английскому: "Behind Closed Doors The Correlation Between Multiple" Страница 1

(Назад) (Cкачать работу)

Behind Closed Doors: The Correlation Between Multiple Personality Disorder AndChild Abuse Essay, Research Paper

Behind Closed Doors: The Correlation Between Multiple Personality Disorder and

Child Abuse

“Each day that we pretended,

we replaced reality

with lies, or dreams,

or angry schemes,

in search of dignity?

until our lies

got bigger than the truth,

and we had no one real to be”

From “For Children Who Were Broken”

by Elia Wise

Have you ever wanted to be someone else? Throughout history the idea of not

being just us has intrigued everyone from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde. But imagine

having no control over who you are. Imagine having 30 people inside of you, and

every one of them wanting to be in control. This is the case with Multiple

Personality Disorder, and it effects thousands of people in the United States

alone. But why does MPD fascinate us? It has often been found quite

interesting. Movies, books, and even talk shows have been made trying to show

the harsh reality of the disorder, but how seriously are we expected to take

Truddi Chase and the “Troops” when they are on The Oprah Show? How worried are

we for Sybil when we remember Sally Field as Gidget? As grim as this disorder

is we often don’t realize the severity unless we hear it from “the voices.”

Using the psychoanalytical approach, I will show how past abusive experiences

have driven some to MPD. Citing case studies from such books as When Rabbit

Howls, The Truddi Chase Story, Sybil, and Jennifer and Herselves the correlation

between MPD and abuse will be made. There are more similarities to these

examples than just MPD, all were driven to MPD due to excessive physical, ual,

or emotional abuse from a parental figure. Also, each of these studies show the

cause and effects this disorder has on .

Most MPD sufferers are , in fact female MPD sufferers outnumber men by a

ratio of nine to one (Hales, 1993). This may be true because will keep

their feelings of hostility toward others to themselves, whereas men would be

more likely to lash out in random acts of . For instance, Anna doesn’t

want to believe that she is getting beaten, so she believes if she becomes

someone else, it is not really her that is taking the abuse. However, it is

only a matter of time before the abuse increases or takes another form. The

effect compounds, one more personality develops, and so on until “the voices”

have consumed Anna and left her broken, with every facet of her personality now

being an independent mind.

With statistics showing that some form of abuse happens to as many as one out of

every four s (Hales , 1993) it is almost impossible not to understand why so

many are affected by MPD. Not every form of abuse causes as dramatic of results

as MPD. Children who survive less personal traumas, such as concentration camps,

are far less likely to develop the disorder than someone who is suffering at the

hands of a loved one. Since 1970, the reported rate of growth in multiples and

incest cases has been parallel. Almost as if when the bond breaks, the

personality shatters. The alter personalities create a safe haven where the

pain cannot reach. Each personality is specially equipped to deal with a

specific type of crisis, depending on whatever was happening when they came into

existence. The make-up of most multiples is usually the same. Each body

generally consists of the same people. There is a small child, who was born

when the abuse started. A flirtatious side who exhibits the repressed ual

feelings. A male, who is either protector or abuser. A strong female, who

doesn’t need anyone, and assorted other personalities.

But are the personalities just personalities? Not in their mind. Multiples

believe that they are all different people, they just happen to be sharing the

same body, they can be brothers, sisters, or just close friends. As strange as

it sounds, this statement may have some bearing. Psychologists have long been

able to tell their patients apart from “the others,” just by their faces, body

language and posture change, they actually look like someone else. Tests have

also shown that each personality has its own blood pressure, heart rate, and so

on. It appears that multiples go through some sort of self-hypnotism when they

can no longer handle reality. They go into hiding and someone else, who is more

capable to handle the situation takes over. When later questioned about what

happened while they were not in control, most multiples are clueless. They

report long blackout periods, if they admit to “losing time” at all. Losing time

is one of the most obvious signs of MPD. When multiples “wake up” wearing

different clothing or eating food they know they did not buy, admission of the

disorder is easier. It is when multiples begin to want their lives back that

they start to wonder what caused them to end up the way they did.

Scientists have long wondered what causes MPD. The cause was first thought to

be the result of mental deficiencies or a defective gene in the make-up of

multiples. After extensive testing proved that multiples are extremely gifted,

few with an IQ of less than 120 (Schoenewolf, 1991), that possibility was thrown

out. It has now been shown that traumatic experiences in life cause Multiple

Personality

Похожие работы