A Fractured Mind: My Life with Multiple Personality Disorder in Plurals in Pages

Dec 01, 2019 Iamshadow rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: autobiography, multiplicity, nonfiction

This book starts slowly - the initial sections with Bob describing his life and career in Asian studies and diplomatic relations are quite dull - I would ask that you give this book time to develop, because it's a rare bird in the field of memoirs that deal with multiple systems, and I'll try to explain why.

Firstly, this is not a book about trauma. Yes, trauma is mentioned, as is Bob's struggle with addiction, but they are mentioned in passing and are not the focus of this work.

Secondly, what I This book starts slowly - the initial sections with Bob describing his life and career in Asian studies and diplomatic relations are quite dull - I would ask that you give this book time to develop, because it's a rare bird in the field of memoirs that deal with multiple systems, and I'll try to explain why.

Firstly, this is not a book about trauma. Yes, trauma is mentioned, as is Bob's struggle with addiction, but they are mentioned in passing and are not the focus of this work.

Secondly, what IS the focus of this work are the system members, their inner world, their dynamics with each other and with those around them, primarily, their therapist. I find it hard to recall another work where the system members each get such focus of pagetime, and the opportunity to talk about themselves, their experience, and their identity as individuals.

Thirdly, this is a book that shows that multiple systems - even those with unresolved trauma and amnesia about their multiple state - can be high achievers, excelling in their chosen careers. In fact, this system excelled to such a degree BECAUSE of their multiplicity, because different system members handled different aspects of their work, knowledge base, and goals. They struggled with burnout and addiction, yes, but so do many high achievers. They sought treatment because of these things, and in doing so, revealed their multiplicity and were able to formulate a healthier way of being. And they didn't do this in their youth - the body was in its fifties before this happened. They were dysfunctional but successful, the epitome of a covert system.

And finally, this is a book where the integrations and inner world changes are something that happens relatively organically and naturally. It's understated, not melodramatic, and it results in the stable triumvirate that presents to the world at the close of the work.

Small quibbles - like I said at the beginning, it is slow to start and I don't share Bob's interest in his career. I also think at times that the system's therapist doesn't understand the difference between integration, communication, and co consciousness, evidenced most clearly when he tells them that he thinks they've had a seven-way fusion rather than three, simply because he thinks it 'makes sense' and hasn't seen the other system members lately. Also, later in the book, an angry system member thought previously to have integrated temporarily emerges to raise hell, making me think that perhaps some of the system aren't integrated, but went deeper in-world or dormant after sharing their memories with the others. But, like I said, these are small things, and do not devalue the importance of this work, or the significance of the system's decision to tell their story in this measured, matter-of-fact, public way when they had a career that was significantly impacted by the rumours of their multiplicity. They could have buried their plurality; instead, they shared it, openly, and that takes a particular strength of courage. ...more

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