Multiple Personality Disorder
What if you had not one single personality but 14 human personalities plus two animal personalities
embedded in you? What would it be like, you wonder. But that is precisely how many personas exist
in Kathy, 39 a part-time preschool teacher.
Kathy (not her real name) suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or Multiple Personality
Disorder which is quite rare among those with mental disorders. It is thought that DID is developed
in people who were abused as children, in their bid to cope with the trauma and pain.
Kathy was reluctant to delve into the issue of childhood abuse though she shared that her late father
was very religious, strict and wielded the cane often and her mum a submissive figure. She said the
bear persona in her developed to help withstand pain and the cheetah persona emerged in
childhood when she was always late for school and had to run after the bus. The cheetah gave her
speed and strength to reach her goals.
There were more personalities in Kathy before she received treatment and more and more of them
are learning to integrate to hopefully just one personality that is Kathy. Among her personalities are
male and female ones and some are Muslims while others are not.
Said Kathy, “ I was diagnosed in 2005. Before that for years I had been sick, my family thought it was
due to evil possessions. We went to several bomohs (witchdoctors) and ustazs (religious teachers) to
seek help. “
Since her teenage years Kathy has been having symptoms of depression. She is currently being
treated for depression too.
“My symptoms are crying, feeling very low like there’s nothing to look forward to. Looking back I had
depression beginning from my teenage years. At that time I thought it is OK to be depressed as my
hormones are going haywire and I hoped it will be better in adulthood,” said Kathy.
She exhibited most of the symptoms of DID, such as depression, insomnia, compulsive eating,
auditory and visual hallucination, anxieties, panic attacks and suicidal tendencies. Once in 2003, she
wrote a suicide letter and overdosed on sleeping pills and was treated at Changi Hospital. However,
she was not diagnosed with DID then.
Kathy has many personalities and when one is dominant, there is a change of speech patterns and
subtle behaviors. Kathy’s most favourite persona is that of a 6 year old boy, Shuaib who is cute and
mischievous and says exactly what he means and is very frank with people. There is also a four-yearold girl who is more reserved and quiet.
Quite a few of the personas in her are negative and cause her to feel depressed. “These are
unpleasant personalities. They have negative thinking, use negative words, begrudge people, are
resentful and have strong dislike for people,” said Kathy.
Typical of many ‘mental cases’, Kathy visited many bomohs with no results. One especially took
advantage of her, with demands of boxes of cigarettes and incense and food each time she visits him.
He said she was possessed by several jinns(genies) in her body and after a year when Kathy did not
improve he turned against her saying that she had re-opened the portals in her body to let the jinns
move into her again.
Finally she saw the Imam (spiritual leader) of Ba’alwie mosque who said there were 7 personalities
in her and she was suffering from a psychological disorder and needed psychiatric help.
Her sole caregiver, her mum, was at her wits end on how to help her and finally sent her to IMH
where she stayed for 28 days when she was diagnosed with DID. That was in 2005. She, however,
changed her treatment venue to Singapore General Hospital, where she greatly improved with the
help of medication and psychotherapy.
Even with her condition, Kathy worked for a very long time at a pre-school for 6 years as a teacher
and she quit on her own accord after feeling that she was not up to working so hard and hiding her
illness well. Now she paces herself and works on weekends earning $250 per month. Her recurrent
expenses for food and shelter is being taken care by her younger sister.
Kathy has been attending Club Heal’s program for almost all of the eight sessions and find it
worthwhile as she learns new things about managing one’s health and also mostly because of the
companions that she make there. “I saw Dr Radiah Salim, Club Heal’s President, on Suria TV
channel’s Akhir Kata talking about Club Heal. For a long time I have been praying for something like
that. My doctor is a non-Muslim, there are certain things I don’t feel comfortable sharing. On the
other hand I have approached ustaz or ustazah and apart from giving some prayer water, they are at
a loss of how to help me.”
“I was looking for something which combines medical sciences and spiritual healing. I found that
everyone in Club Heal are facing religious issues, are struggling to stay on the straight path and so
am I too, I find it difficult to pray for instance and I think the non-Muslim personas in me must step
aside and let Kathy pray in peace,” added Kathy .
Kathy who also teaches Quran reading to some students feels very happy to be a part of Club Heal
and she feels blessed to be able to travel independently and have a part-time job caring and
teaching 3 to 7-year-old kids. Her aim is for the personalities in Kathy to integrate as one, eventually
through psychotherapy. She would like to return to full-time teaching when she is better.
For the record, when I conducted an interview with Kathy for this story, she appeared absolutely
normal and nice and she said at that time there was only Kathy around. I was with her once at Club
Heal when she said that Shuaib was with her then, but it is not easy to recognize the differences in
persona for a stranger or new friend.
ABOUT DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER
Dissociative Identity Disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder) is an effect of severe
trauma during early childhood, usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, or emotional abuse.
What Is Dissociative Identity Disorder?
Most of us have experienced mild dissociation, which is like daydreaming or getting lost in the
moment while working on a project. However, dissociative identity disorder is a severe form of
dissociation, a mental process, which produces a lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memories,
feelings, actions, or sense of identity. Dissociative identity disorder is thought to stem from trauma
experienced by the person with the disorder. The dissociative aspect is thought to be a coping
mechanism -- the person literally dissociates himself from a situation or experience that's too violent,
traumatic, or painful to assimilate with his conscious self.
What Are the Symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder?
Dissociative identity disorder is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct or split identities
or personality states that continually have power over the person's behavior. With dissociative identity
disorder, there's also an inability to recall key personal information that is too far-reaching to be
explained as mere forgetfulness. With dissociative identity disorder, there are also highly distinct
memory variations, which fluctuate with the person's split personality.
The "alters" or different identities have their own age, sex, or race. Each has his or her own postures,
gestures, and distinct way of talking. Sometimes the alters are imaginary people; sometimes they are
animals. As each personality reveals itself and controls the individuals' behavior and thoughts, it's
called "switching." Switching can take seconds to minutes to days. When under hypnosis, the
person's different "alters" or identities may be very responsive to the therapist's requests.
Along with the dissociation and multiple or split personalities, people with dissociative disorders may
experience any of the following symptoms:
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Depression
Mood swings
Suicidal tendencies
Sleep disorders (insomnia, night terrors, and sleep walking)
Anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias (flashbacks, reactions to stimuli or "triggers")
Alcohol and drug abuse
Compulsions and rituals
Psychotic-like symptoms (including auditory and visual hallucinations)
Eating disorders
Other symptoms of dissociative identity disorder may include headache, amnesia, time loss, trances,
and "out of body experiences." Some people with dissociative disorders have a tendency toward selfpersecution, self-sabotage, and even violence (both self-inflicted and outwardly directed). As an
example, someone with dissociative identity disorder may find themselves doing things they wouldn't
normally do such as speeding, reckless driving, or stealing money from their employer or friend, yet
they feel they are being compelled to do it. Some describe this feeling as being a passenger in their
body rather than the driver. In other words, they truly believe they have no choice.
-www.webmd.com