By NiteOwlDave
niteowldave@gmail.com
Explaining Multiple Personality Disorder to someone can be a very difficult challenge. Why are there many personalities – or alters - in one body? How do they communicate? What is integration? Here is a skeletal explanation. Warning. There are trigger words.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), which is the same as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), is a coping mechanism that children - generally under the age of six – are given to deal with extreme trauma such as repeated sexual abuse.
DID is of God. It is not Satan spawn although demons can attach to an abuse survivor under certain circumstances. We will not address Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) here. See http://www.scribd.com/doc/10125792/The-ABCs-of-SRA-and-DID-PDF-File
Very few will let anyone know they have DID. They feel others will judge them as being crazy. They are not cracked in the head. They are survivors.
A person with DID has one soul and a system of split mental parts called alters. God will integrate the personalities if He is asked to by the main one known as the host or core. It often takes months, even years, of trusted counsel before the personalities will be ready to merge. A person may have hundreds of alters.
The alters take the abuse and other stressful situations, and they keep the hurtful memories from the host person. The personalities refer to themselves as alters, insiders, friends, or others.
Dissociation is a process in which the host person mentally leaves a hurtful or stressful situation and takes on a new personality. The host will switch with one created part to deal with stress, anger, or harm. The one who leaves goes to an “inside” safe place in the mind.
If God hadn’t created this ability to switch, a child would likely commit suicide or wind up in a mental institution. DID allows an escape route for a person to retain their sanity. Without it, their mind would blow.
Someone with DID will make an automatic personality switch whenever there is real or perceived danger to the body. The danger is dealt with by tougher personalities, called protectors, who take on that role. Protectors are usually immune from triggers and don’t hesitate to lash out. During happy times, the young alters will be allowed to switch and come out to play, like color. For more about triggers, see below.
Alters come in all ages, male and female, and each has his own personality and abilities. Because of the memories they hold, they are a mix of protectors, scared young ones known as littles, and older ones.
TRIGGERS
Being “triggered” is especially hard on an alter. A trigger is a word, visual image, sound, smell, touch, and taste that is linked to a horrible memory of past hurt. As a child, if a survivor is repeatedly taken to a basement and abused, the word basement will likely become a trigger to one alter or the entire system. When they hear that word – even 40 years later – a survivor with DID will flash back and relive the details of that horror. They will emerge from the flashback shaken.
NIGHTMARES
Those with DID generally get very little sleep because of vivid nightmares of past abuse. Some gouge themselves. Many survivors sleep in a chair or a sofa. They find it impossible to sleep in a bed because it has a bad memory.
SELF-INJURY
Because of self-imposed guilt, alters and the host body usually self-injure (SI) as in cut, burn or smash the body. Under Satanic Ritual Abuse, a demon – using an alter whom it controls - can harm the body as well. As mentioned above, we will not discuss SRA here.
An abuse survivor with DID self harms because she/he has been told they are bad, even though they are not at fault. A survivor cuts and burns to let the bad out and/or to “feel.” Childhood abuse makes them zombies. Their emotions shutdown and they are unable to cry or laugh. Despite the pain, SI becomes the only way they can feel anything.
We must remember that DID self harm is not, by itself, a demon thing; it is a coping mechanism.
ALTERED STATES
Alters have their own names, ages, memories, abilities, interests, and other identifying features. Some age, some don’t. Some are left landed, some are right handed. Some may smoke. Some may stutter, wear makeup, and dress differently. When the host body or an alter who is out get stressed or triggered, they will rock which they find soothing.
THE BRAIN
A psychiatrist familiar with DID will tell us the brain of a young child is forming neural pathways, setting up long-standing habits, personality traits and mapping a great deal of information for life-long use. When there is severe trauma, things get messed up.
As they grow older, an abused child may continue to create new alters to deal with added stressful situations, loneliness, fear, and other obstacles in their life.
INTEGRATION
Total integration is when all the alters agree to merge into one, the host body. To be correctly healed by God, integration should take place after the host has learned and dealt with the details of his/her past abuse as revealed by the alters, and God. Even with a gifted therapist, this process can take years.
It helps the host become a more grounded Christian if all the alters are saved when they integrate. The personalities have to agree with the salvation beliefs of the other saved ones in the system.
WELCOME TO ALTER WORLD
Let me restate that alters are created to help the host body deal with trauma during childhood and later years. One might wonder how all those alter personalities crammed into one brain allows a person to function, how they communicate with each other and how they interact with "normal" people in the outside world.
One website writer suggests we view alter world from the perspective of a modern day office setting, complete with cubicles.
In an imaginary office, the external world is the waiting room. The internal world starts behind the window at the receptionist's area. One could walk up to the window and interact with whomever is in that area at the time.
The alter who is present in the receptionist area would be in control of the body, aware of the external environment, and would be referred to as the alter who is "out" or "up front." Usually, an alter who is out is able to talk or hear the alters who are not out.
In real life, there can be more than one person in the receptionist's area, and the same is true in our metaphor. If a personality gets threatened, confused, or stressed, the personalities will switch. A person with DID will tell you if there is too much switching, or if it is done too rapidly, the body will wind up with a throbbing headache.
INSIDE SAFE PLACE
Multiples have inside safe places, like a inside house, woods or cave created where the individual alters can retreat. Feeling safe is of paramount importance to an abuse survivor with DID. The inside place will usually have rooms or layers where alters live.
If a system has no safe place, a therapist or knowledgeable friend should as God to establish one and direct the alters to live together. In this safe place, the alters will bunch together by commonality such as age or by degrees of past harm.
PROTECTORS
Protector alters are vital in keeping a DID system safe and functioning well. Like an office, there are the bosses in the multiple world. Protectors are assertive and seldom trigger.
They direct alters in and out, help create new alters, and try to help the body sleep. They are inside safe cops.
SIGNS OF DID
Here, with no detailed explanation, is a general overview of someone with DID traits –
1. They say "sorry" often.
2. The majority of the alters will not wear a dress.
3. They hate mirrors and photos of themselves.
4. One or two “girlie” alters do wear makeup.
5. There is always one insider who likes sex. Others hate it.
6. When they sit, they often rock in their chair or swing a foot.
7. When stressed, the host body or an alter may sit on the floor and rock.
8. They may chew or poke holes in their cuffs.
9. A dramatic mood swing, audibly and/or physically, is seen if a tough protector takes over to defend the system.
10. They never feel clean.
11. They shower but most never bath. They see bathing as too risky.
12. Usually, at least one insider deals with Manic Compulsive Disorder which means they are obsessed with cleanliness, or repetitive things like flipping a light off and on a certain number of times when they enter or leave a room.
13. They self-injure (SI).
14. They HATE to be touched or hugged except perhaps by someone whom they trusted. It can take a long time to establish trust.
15. They have a problem accepting compliments or gifts because they feel they will owe something such as a sexual payment.
16.They hate the “love” word. In their past, it was likely used as a trick word.
17. They often sleep in a chair, or hidden in a closet or under a bed.
18. When scared, they will switch or hide, rock and often hum.
19. Many alters find comfort with their "blankie" and "stuffy.”
20. They are always tired because they have vivid nightmares.
21. Acquaintances may notice they talk to themselves, when it really is one alter talking to another.
22. They might have a drug or drinking habit because they were forced to take them by abusers.
23. Because of switching, the host often loses time of hours or days.
24. Alters change clothes a lot because of the different tastes.
25. A system is often composed of Christian alters and non believers.
26. Alters are created male and female.
THE BIBLE AND DID
The Bible does not clearly address the subject of Dissociate Identity Disorder. It hardly says a thing about the unborn and children going
to Heaven, either. We presume they do.
An alternate personality is a split part of the soul. It has a mind, will, and emotions. We believe in our minds and hearts. The heart is the deep part of the soul. Therefore, the host body, and alter personalities can be saved.
MUST THE HOST AND ALL THE ALTERS BE SAVED TO GAIN HEAVEN?
A question often raised amongst those who work with those with multiple personalities is; must the host person and all the alter personalities be saved for “them” to go to Heaven upon death (or the Rapture?)
A spokesperson with Haven of Hope, a non-profit ministry since 1995 with much experience of working with DID and SRA survivors, says, “The answer to that question is not easy. God has established the rules."
God's word, the Bible, says that all who believe in Jesus Christ - trust in, rely upon what He did on the cross-for their salvation. I have never known of a healed system where the host person and the alters did not accept Jesus Christ as Savior.
BIBLE REFERENCES
There are a several Bible passages that could refer to DID (and Satanic Ritual Abuse).
Isaiah 61: 1 says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening to them that are bound…”
Psalm 147:3 says, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Heals means mends or repairs. Brokenhearted means hurt or crushed into PIECES. Wounds mean sorrows.
Psalm 86:11 says, "Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name." Unite means make one or join.
In the Hebrew language, the word “heart” is sometimes used interchangeably with “soul,” which includes mind, will, and emotions.
Thus, one kind of broken-heartedness is someone whose soul has been shattered by deliberate trauma. The modern concept of a “shattered mind” is also a good description of DID.
Other Scripture passages possibly refer to DID. In Matthew 22:37, Jesus instructed us to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with our entire mind.
In Ezekiel 34:4, the “binding up” refers to binding wounds and bringing comfort to the distressed. The brokenhearted could be seen as those “shattered” in heart.
It is a struggle to love God fully when one’s soul is shattered into many pieces. It is comforting to know that God will make repairs if a multiple will seek Him and a Christian counselor who understands for help.
A final thought: Let me suggest it is of great value to involve the Lord Jesus Christ in helping those with DID to heal and integrate. This applies more so when dealing with healing from satanic ritual abuse.
