Do you know what it is meant by When Rabbit howls...?.

[Storm's]

I read this book many years ago but the story still touches me. The main character ... well, you have to read the story to know what I think about her.

[Patricia]

Rabbits only howl right before they die. So they say.

[Angela]

I thought it had something to with Rabbit being one of Trudi's personalities - a child. I could be wrong though.

[Barnerd]

Rabbit is a personality that only speaks once during the story. She is the one that holds most of the childhood trauma. The howling refers to the sound she makes. It resembles the sound a rabbit makes when it is dying. Since rabbits don't have vocal cords, it is a very haunting and unique sound.
The title is meant to portray the severity of the trauma she experienced.

[Astraea]

In the book the Troops talk about the fact that the sound is also made by women who have been raped, and child abuse survivors. In their case, it may be caused by trying not to cry. I once heard a woman make that sound when she was trying to describe the death of her child.

[Sharon]

Rabbits have no vocal cords but somehow they can cry out when being killed. If you have ever heard the sound it will haunt you for the rest of your life.

[Robin]

They also scream/howl when hurt. It's not strictly a death noise.

[Mike]

Rabbits DO have vocal cords. They grunt, growl, hiss, squeak, click, and squeal. The squeal sounds like a scream. I agree with Barnerd on the naming of this book.

[Sas]

I can remember passages from this book, years after reading it. A very powerful book.

[Faefae]

I read this years ago, and think I might re-read it....I have heard the sound that they speak of, the rabbit howl, and I agree, its not strictly a death noise. I was watering my flowers one spring, and heard one of the saddest noises I have ever heard, it was a baby rabbit, and I had hit it with the cold water...guess it was more scared than anything..

[Diane]

rabbit howling is tied into the childhood trauma this young girl suffered. the howling scene made my skin crawl actually...

[Sheila]

Yes, "Rabbit" is one of the many "Troops". D.I.D. amazes me. This book; and the fact Truddi has so many personalities that refuse to integrate is fascinating. I've read it 3 times and have seen Truddi a couple of times on t.v. Have to wonder what is must be like, living like that? The book describes some instances of the abuse she suffered, that created the Troops, and is very difficult to read through. Appalling there are adults who would do such things to little children. Mind boggling how D.I.D. works - as apparently the only way they manage to survive.

[Astraea]

Many multiples nowadays refuse integration. Doctors are starting to catch on that cooperation is the key.

Bluejay

[Sheila]

I did a paper in college on the subject and had a "woman" w/D.I.D. willing to discuss it w/me for research... which only compounded the feelings I gained from THIS book...because she was first person to me w/her experiences... and some "personalities" came through w/support... AMAZING!

[Sheila]

I realize that there is A PERSON, who suffered so much trauma - "split" to deal with the horror. BUT... each personality is sooo defined and has their own character, beliefs, feelings... making each one unique (within a single body) It is engrossing... and such a confounding defense; the mind (our brain is capable of this) to create such an elaborate way of coping.

[Astraea]

Sheila wrote: "I realize that there is A PERSON, who suffered so much trauma - "split" to deal with the horror. BUT... each personality is sooo defined and has their own character, beliefs, feelings..."

That is because we are individuals in our own right. As you read in Truddi&'s account, it is a matter of the mind "giving birth" to other minds, not just "splitting".

Andy

[Sheila]

Astraea wrote: "Sheila wrote: "I realize that there is A PERSON, who suffered so much trauma - "split" to deal with the horror. BUT... each personality is sooo defined and has their own character, beliefs, feelin..."

Astraea wrote: "Sheila wrote: "I realize that there is A PERSON, who suffered so much trauma - "split" to deal with the horror. BUT... each personality is sooo defined and has their own character, beliefs, feelin..."

Yes, but research D.I.D. - and really understand... whether it is called splitting, broken or "birth" of another personality... sometimes these victims ARE NO LONGER INDIVIDUALS; even within their own world/mind.

[Astraea]

sometimes these victims ARE NO LONGER INDIVIDUALS; even within their own world/mind.

Quite true. They become essences, influencing and informing other people in the system, as the second Olivia did with the Troops. She was dead, only her essence lived on.

Sometimes there isn't even an essence. People die, completely and utterly. And this can happen to any of us within the group. Has happened here. And we have also had people return from the dead, sometimes after many decades.

Multiplicity is all about this kind of reality. We cannot prove empirically that what we experience is real, actual; yet it is real nonetheless. The Troops talk about this in the section where they criticise Stanley for his notion that Mean Joe only exists in the woman's mind:

"I know you're comfortable telling the woman that she lives in two separate worlds, ours and reality, the latter of which I assume is your reality, too. But have you ever wondered how real your world actually is? As you sit there, you perceive things in a certain way and assume all of it is real. That's only natural; it's your frame of reference. But how can you be sure that somewhere another world doesn't truly exist wherein your reality, as you perceive it, is just as ridiculous, or at least as strange, as you perceive ours to be?"

I'm enjoying this conversation very much; would you care to take it to email?

Andy

[Thomas]

Astraea wrote: "Many multiples nowadays refuse integration. Doctors are starting to catch on that cooperation is the key.

Bluejay"

Our book "Which One Am I?" is about my husband Darrell's life with DID and we do quote "When Rabbit Howls." Of the DID memoirs I read researching our own story and the history of DID in society as Darrell was growing up, "Rabbit" is probably the best representatiion of what it is like to experience DID.

The problem with "Rabbit," and the problem in the psychiatric community as a whole these days, is a confusion in terms. You note that patients are refusing "integration." When the term is used in "Rabbit" and when it is commonly used by psychiatrists today, it is used incorrectly. The Troops think integration is the destruction of those people inside in order to create on new persona as Dr. Wilbur tried to do with The New Sybil. That now-discredited technique is more properly called "fusion." Integration is more the establishment of an internal hierarchy where the main personality -- the "first born" in DID perlance -- is recognized as being in control of the body and of those who live inside.

This doesn't always work. Truddi Chase, for one, had no "first born" as that personality had been kept asleep by the others since childhood because her protectors didn't feel she was capable of handling the world. I know at least one other DID patient like that, an artist in England.

Do the personalities ever fuse? No and most people with DID wouldn't want them to. As the Troops ask their doctor during one passage of "Rabbit" that we quote: "Who among us would you kill?"

[Astraea]

We've been very glad to hear that today's professionals don't insist on forcing everyone to try to merge, the way too many did in the past.

"Integration is more the establishment of an internal hierarchy where the main personality -- the "first born" in DID perlance -- is recognized as being in control of the body and of those who live inside."

We and most of the groups we know refer to that as cooperation. Electing the firstborn as the one in control is one of many possible operating systems. It's probably excellent for groups in chaos. As you point out, it wouldn't necessarily have to be the firstborn. In our case, any number of people can run things, drawing on a common memory/skill pool. We know several other groups that use this form of government.

[Thomas]

"Cooperation" is a term I hadn't heard before in this context. Thank you! If there is a second edition of our book, we'll certainly make note. It seems the terminology keeps changing. It's so hard to keep up.

Because our book by necessity focused on Darrell's experience, we didn't explore how others organize. We did suspect some process like the one you describe actually existed but it just wasn't the case here.

It was hard enough to get Darrell and those inside him to tell about his journey that we didn't explore every avenue we might have. Perhaps there is another book on the subject in the back of my brain.

Thank you for the comments. It's really good to talk to you.

[Sheila]

Astraea wrote: "sometimes these victims ARE NO LONGER INDIVIDUALS; even within their own world/mind.

Quite true. They become essences, influencing and informing other people in the system, as the second Olivia d..."

Andy asked to "take it to email?" (albeit a while ago) but yes I would and the following is my facebook email, where I am most likely to be in contact.

100002521911805@facebook.com