4347 The Other Side 316

"Under a certain condition in the split personality disorder, a single personality can split into two, and two personalities into four, and so on. As for how many times this can take place, there's no detailed record to-date. The highest known record is twenty-one personalities."

"Can a split personality disorder really become a multiple personality disorder?"

"A split personality develops, simply put, when there is too much pain for a person to bear. Therefore, the mental state gives rise to the development of a second personality out of a self-protection mechanism. Then, when the split personality evolves into multiple personalities, it means that the mental mechanism has already begun to create a personality society. This personality society can be self-created by the patient, or it can be created through manipulation by some external means."

Some theories suggest that the multiple personality disorder is associated with childhood trauma. Internationally, it's recognized that the most likely time to develop this condition is before the age of seven. If a child suffers serious emotional trauma before the age of seven, it is likely to result in mental illness. Multiple personality disorder is one possibility.

When a person encounters a strong impact that is difficult to handle, he may go into a state of denial to convince himself "this didn't happen to me". Then, it might create a personality capable of withstanding the great trauma in place of the victim.

The personality may retaliate immediately, he may turn blind or deaf, he may start shouting, or he may curl himself up into a ball. Each time a similar stress or trauma repeats, there is a chance that these personalities will automatically complete the transition.

Take Youyou as an example. He had suffered the bullying of Li Qin and Yun Na in his childhood. These tragic experiences mentally tore apart a healthy Youyou, prompting the formation of another personality. The two personalities could each do their own job and deal with different situations in place of the boy.

Each personality of a person with multiple personalities is stable, complete, and has different thinking patterns and memories.

These split personalities are all-encompassing and can vary in gender, age, race, and even species. They take turns manifesting behaviors that control the patients.

When any of these secondary personalities take over control of the body, the primary personality may be unaware of what he had done during this period, which would lead to a serious phenomenon of "lost time."

If split personalities knew of each other's existence, they were called coexisting consciousnesses. They could even sit down for a meeting.

"My suggestion is that we currently observe the multiple personality patient through brain imaging. The brain images of patients with dissociative identity disorder and those with a tendency to hallucinate are remarkably different."

"So, what do you think we should do about Youyou's condition?"

"My advice?"

Alice nodded grimly.

"If you really wish to retain two personalities, it's not impossible."

The treatment of multiple personalities is a painstaking and very personal process. Scientists and doctors have tried many methods for different patients, the most popular being personality integration: by understanding and analyzing the different personalities of the patient, the therapist finds an inner personality that is familiar with all personalities, often called an inner self-help person, and makes it the core personality.

At the same time, the other personalities are allowed to communicate with each other and understand each other. Consent is then being obtained to fuse two or more similar personalities, thereby gradually reducing the number of inner personalities. Finally, multiple personalities would become one.