We wish to act differently from time to time. Whether it is being more creative in our job, paying more attention to the details when we wrap a present for our partner or not having to worry about every single word when people criticise us every now or then.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if we adapted these thoughts instantly or even better, have several characters in ourselves that we can control and actually switch to each of them when they prove to be most suitable?

The reality of such a condition is today referred to Dissociative Personality Disorder (DPD) and describes people possessing several characters (or alters) however with the cost of individuals having no control over such characters. Today’s case is about exactly that, a woman that had to deal with several alters in her head.

Today’s case is about Christine Costner Sizemore (*1927 – †2016), a woman who claimed to have experienced 22 different alters which emerged over a time period of 40 years. In her head, always 3 different personalities existed separately and each one appeared at different times of the day. After a certain time they were replaced by new alters which caused her to suffer from headaches and facial contortions.

The story begins already in her childhood in which she was confronted with macabre incidents involving violent injury and death. Chris faced a series of events such as having to experience her mother being badly cut in a kitchen accident and later she saw a man severed in three by machinery at her dad’s working place. Those were only two distracting incidents, however there were other incidents she had to deal with. The problems began when she perceived her first alters. In school she constantly had to deal with problems caused by her alters. They were carrying out an action, however those incidences were never remembered by the real Chris. Obviously everyone considered her a liar and they thought she would play some kind of game. Lectures that were attended by her alters, were therefore also not remembered by the real Chris leading her to be completely unprepared for a test.

Only at the age of 24, she sought medical help and the doctors mistakenly diagnosed her to suffer from atypical schizophrenia and recommending shock therapy for Chris. Eve Black (the name of one of her alters) objected. After a year had passed, Chris was referred to Thigpen and Cleckley which correctly diagnosed multiple-personality disorder. During her treatment, she managed to discover artistic abilities that earned her a living selling paintings drawn by different alters.

In 1970 and eight doctors later, she met with therapist Tony Tsitos who began to gradually integrate the different personalities in a four year period. Eventually, Chris was cured and in 1993 she stated that “it was alright to be herself and that she didn’t need these personalities to function”.

But what were her alters like?

They were indeed quite different, for instance the Strawberry Lady was 21 years old and could only eat strawberries without exception. The Banana Split Girl as you can guess was only consuming that dish and was a temperamental child. The Spoon Lady collected spoons and the Virgin wore no makeup and felt uneasy when she was touched by her husband. These are only a few examples, but the list goes on. Sometimes it would therefore happen that one alter drove her child somewhere but failed to drive back as the other alter was not able to drive a car.

Especially this aspect, together with the whole case, triggered a series of questions in me. The fact that one personality behaved a certain way and did not have the same abilities as other alters is very mysterious. I would expect automatic processes, e.g driving a car, to be maintained. However, due to the fact that her mental state does not allow this to happen, she believes she cannot do it. This shows the overly important role of the mind in these patients. This observation adds to the significance of the mindset when carrying out actions in the general population. Another thing that struck me was how her different personalities affected her love life. Only one personality was able to love one partner, but not all alters at the same time. However, the ultimate question is what in particular triggers this disorder. Though it is safe to say her macabre childhood contributed to its development, a sound scientific explanation remains to be found.

If you want to read more about this case, make sure to check the links below.

In the next case, I will turn my attention to a guy that has assigned feelings to a range of numbers allowing him to perform amazing calculations.

See you next time.

Patrick

Obituary – The Telegraph

Article Washington Post