Article~Multiple Personalities & Unresolved Emotions

The theory of multiple personality disorder and how unresolved emotions play a role.

Multiple Personalities & Unresolved Emotions
by Angel Shadow™

The theory of multiple personalities has been present in our society for a great number of years. There have been books written on the subject, and movies with characters who are trying to deal with the issues its caused. But rarely have I seen someone diagnosed with multiple personality disorder (MPD) truly healed. Is it possible to heal someone with MPD?

When dealing with MPD, you are dealing with the reality of an individual's mind. Whether that reality makes sense to you isn't the issue. The issue is it's real to that person. That's the key. What lives in an individual's mind and created through that individual's thought process, IS a reality to them. In an extreme situation, the human mind is capable of creating an unhealthy reality so the original mind does not have to deal with it. So who's to say this unhealthy reality doesn't take the form of an alternate personality; taking over when the original mind has had enough? Is it possible to heal this alternate personality, so the original mind can once again function on a healthy level? Is it possible to access this alternate reality, become one with it and heal the issues that caused its inception? I believe it is. But to do so, you need to step into the reality of the individual mind that created it.

So what is reality? Can we trust what we see? What we feel? Can we trust emotional reactions that are usually based on unhealthy programming? Is your reality the same reality that others see and experience? Probably not. If it was, humanity wouldn't be experiencing segregation. We all see what we want to see, and this is based on programming and a need to survive.

Emotions function on healthy and unhealthy levels. So how do we define what is healthy? Who gets to determine that? Is it possible that all of humanity will agree (100%) on what healthy emotions consist of? Most likely not. What one considers healthy emotional projection, for their own survival, may not be viewed as healthy by someone else's standards. One individual may see their situation as healthy and balanced, while the majority of the population may disagree. This doesn't make that one individual's reality any less real. In that individual's mind, their reality is all there is, and that reality is vital to their survival. Emotional reaction to a situation plays a huge role in MPD, because extreme situations can cause the mind to shatter.

I believe multiple personalities are a reflection of an extreme emotional reaction to a situation. This reaction causes the mind to become fragmented and alternate, unhealthy realities (personalities) come forth to take over for the overwhelmed original mind. If we would take the time to dig into these alternate realities, we would find an issue that needs to be healed and once this healing fully takes place, the unhealthy reality (alternate personality) can be released.

An alternate personality (emotion) has a job to do, and it remains focused and dedicated to that particular job. If its job is to protect, it will protect. If its job is to be defensive, it will come forth when defense is needed. The emotional reaction of an alternate is specific. Heal the issue under the emotional reaction and the emotional reaction will change. The alternate reality will change. The individual will begin to see their reality in a different light. What was once a mind filled with shadows, becomes a mind illuminated to the truth of its own situation. This is not an easy task. Alternate realities (personalities) are there to protect and defend against future harm to an already fragmented original mind. It will not loosen its grip without a fight. Cooperation and acceptance on the part of the original mind is mandatory for healing to take place.

Getting to know each individual personality/emotion will give you clues as to why they exist. When do they come out? What role do they play? Do they have a specific name? These are just a few of the questions that need to be answered. But it can't stop there. The original mind needs to see and accept the alternate, unhealthy emotional reaction for what it is. It's the original mind that needs to heal the alternate realities, not the other way around. Unless the original mind is ready to accept the truth of its own situation, healing will not take place. The original mind has to get to a place where it's in control and not taking a back seat to its own emotional reactions. It needs to be able to make healthy, conscious choices. It needs to learn to accept responsibility. What happened in the past, does not have to control how the mind reacts today.

On some level, we are all multiple personalities. Look at the many different emotional levels you shift through throughout your day. When you're angry, how do you react to the situations around you? When you become calm again, do you not become a different person? How about when you're sad? After the sadness ends, do you not become yourself again?

Different emotional reactions create different personalities. In a healthy, original mind, we can float back and forth between the extremes without a significant amount of damage. But an unhealthy, fragmented mind won't. The emotional reactions take on a mind of their own, becoming their own person. In extreme cases, the original mind will even go so far as to give the alternates names and black out the alternates experience completely, never recalling the events that took place while the alternate was in control.

Medicating an individual with an emotional issue will not solve the problem. The medication simply masks the underlying issue, numbing the overwhelmed nervous system. We have to dig deep, becoming one with the individual's specific reality and solve the emotional puzzle. The answer is there... hidden in the individual's original mind.

Copyright © March 2007 Angel Shadow, All rights reserved.

(Angel Shadow has written a short story about a woman's battle with MPD called, "The Shadow People[1]," also published at Trans4mind.com on the Emotional Intelligence[2] pages.)

This page is online at:
http://www.trans4mind.com/counterpoint/angel20.shtml

Additional articles by Angel Shadow can be found in the CounterPoint Library under the Happiness & Wellbeing and Spiritual Development topics:

http://www.trans4mind.com/counterpoint/index-happiness-wellbeing.html

http://www.trans4mind.com/counterpoint/index-spiritual.html

© Copyright 2007 Angel Shadow™ All rights reserved.