My mother had D.I.D. (a.k.a. Multiple Personality Disorder). It manifested itself a month before she died of cancer six years ago, it was the only time anyone had seen her outwardly manifesting the condition, that her alters openly took control, one at a time. I believed it was a result of the stress of what she was facing and going through. Anyway, I had already given up my belief in God before these events came along, but this was yet another considerable piece of evidence going against the concept of a single soul responsible for all the actions of a person as a universal rule, about so many of the ideas that we're given about personality, identity, free will; so much of it is an illusion.
All the alters were interesting and quite different than my Mom, the last one was terrifying (well a couple of them were) because it attempted to cobble together pieces of my Mother's personality to convince us that she was back to normal so she could be let out of the hospital, she had me warily convinced for a couple of minutes, but it didn't take long to figure out that it was a ruse. And my Mom was not an actor, not like that.
6
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I am a therapist, I have a DID client and have studied the phenomenon. It is not only real, but as you point out it can teach us so much about how the brain works, what is a self, identity, the effects of trauma on the brain, will-power, etc. There is a kind of therapy called Internal Family Systems (IFS) which treats all of us as having many “parts.” I’m sorry for all of the difficult times you must have experienced with your Mom, but I’m glad you got some real understanding of her different aspects before she died (surely, she had it and hid it since her childhood).
JamieH
Level 4
June 20, 2018
1
My ex suffers from borderline personality disorder. One of the symptoms is disassociation. Usually it was pretty mild, slight personality shifts, but on two occasions she reverted to a little girl about 5 years old for several hours (one resulted in involuntary commitment). Extreme stress was her trigger too.
Humanity4all
Level 6
June 20, 2018
0
I had an online college student several years ago who stated that she was 8 individuals and preferred to be addressed as you (plural). In the beginning assignments were missing. They indicated that they could not agree on how to respond. I told the school administration that I was way out of my league and needed some guidance. They (the eight) eventually dropped the course.
Freeofcancer
Level 6
June 20, 2018
0
My younger brother and my nephew both have schizophrenia but my older brother and my mother are JW's and don't believe in mental illness, just demonic possession. It makes a difficult issue even more difficult to deal with because of medieval ideas perpetuated by religion.
Surfpirate
Level 9
June 20, 2018
2
I am sorry to hear your Mom passed away and that she struggled with DID as well. That is a VERY interesting article, however.
OpposingOpposum
Level 9
June 20, 2018
2
The concept of a non-material soul and the concept of God are loosely related but separable. As you say, what you saw is a considerable piece of evidence going against the concept of a single soul responsible for all the actions of a person as a universal rule. In his books about children who remember past lives, Dr Jim Tucker relates at least one story about a child who was possessed by multiple distinct personalities. I wonder if any of your late mother's distinct personalities had any characteristics that could be used to identify someone else who had actually lived.
doug6352
Level 7
June 20, 2018
1
@Renickulous I didn't observe the mother's behavior. I just accepted the report as posted here as a subject for discussion.
As for children who recall past lives, some of the reports are strong evidence of souls not attached to a physical form, because the children have knowledge they could not plausibly have gotten from another source. I refer you to the books by Dr Jim B Tucker of the University of Virginia,"Life Before Life" and "Return to Life". And here's a link on one of the more famous stories recounted in the books: [facts-are-facts.com]
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