Billy Milligan Case Analysis | Is Dissociative Identity Disorder Real?
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- Опубліковано 8 лип 2024
- This video answers the question: Can I analyze the case of Billy Milligan?
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References:
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In the documentary, there is a poignant moment where a police officer asks "what about the victims?" And it's so true - in the rush to make Billy a celebrity, the victims were forgotten and disrespected...
I was at Ohio State when he was stalking about the area. My roommate and I had to be wary when we were out for early morning runs or other activities we participated in as Navy ROTC midshipmen.
Yeah the victims the victims!!! But he was the biggest victim man!
Don't forget the true victims: The mental health "professionals" who fell for this nonsense. They will never recover from the embarrassment and shame.
We as a nation don't care for victims. Dahmer get's an entire Netflix series... not one of his victims. It's not like we *WANT* to focus on the victims... they're just normal people who met this 'interesting' person. It's purely OUR fault that this happens.
@@aarondavis8943 nigga it's actually proven he insane
I went to a therapy group to help me overcome severe depression. There were 19 patients in the group. The therapist started by saying she handled depression with tough love. She wasn't going to coddle us. So we better choose to be happy...right now! The following week, not one person showed up for the group session. Maybe some therapists are helpful, but many are just nuts.
@DeusVult1683
That is actually not how depression works. I think I get how you talk about people sensationalising it and then getting over it in one second but especially for the op it doesn't seem to hold any truth. You're denying the complex and sad reality depression is for many people.
So, I don't know if you just want to make people angry but in case you're genuinely interested even in the slightest I will try to counter argument your statement.
1. Depression does not equal sadness. Maybe you were just oversimplifying for the sake of not having to overexplain and all but it's still a false statement. A depression can include feelings of sadness but the reality of it is far more complex than that.
Symptoms can be: restlessness, Insomnia/oversleeping, eating less/more than usual, hopelessness, emptiness, irritability, loss of interest, suicidal thoughts/attempts, tiredness, self-blaming, worthlessness, guilt etc.
2. Multiple people's depression being cured in one session just like that? Extremely unlikely. Especially if the op actually did have a pretty severe one - propably at least some of the others did, too, as it was a group they had to supposedly fit in.
I had a pretty depressive phase as a teenager and even for me it took months of working on myself to get sort of out of it (I still have some rather regular depressive episodes). I know anecdotal stuff is no proof for anything but in this case I just wanted to mention that I know myself how hard it can be to get better (It is never really easy).
What the op actually meant to say (in case you really are just clueless) is that you should NEVER be forced out of... anything, really. When you feel like shit all the time and someone comes up to you being like "STOP BEING SAD, HAPPY IS THE WAY TO GO".. it doesn't help. It isn't as easy as that. It can make you feel even worse about yourself ("Why am I too stupid to just be happy? What is wrong with me?").
3. "Change the situation that's MAKING YOU SAD. Depression disapears"
You stated depression is caused by a "situation". Which is not entirely wrong but like I said at the beginning already: The reality of it is far more complex than that. Causes can be for example: Poor mood regulation in the brain (which can be caused by many other things), genetic vulnerability, stressful life events, poor overall health etc. Often many of these factors come together to cause a depression as many tiny pieces of trash can still amount to a load of junk.
To your second statement: Removing oneself from a stressful situation can infact be liberating. But it does absolutely not make a depression disapear just like that (it _kinda_ does when it's an atypical one tho. But that's a different story). Your brain learned certain behavious and moods as a reaction to this situation. It will still react this way in future "situations" if you don't do something about it - and have you ever tried unlearning something? It is HARD af. Especially if the situation lasted for years.
4. I purposfully searched it up now to be comepletely sure and I found something out that I myself didn't know yet. Apparently it isn't confirmed if depression can be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain as there are way too many specific chemical reactions involved and "removing" one of them has lead to nothing (as I understood it at least). Most new research suggests it might be the other way around. Which is why medication still works for some people but in this case it treats the depression's symptoms rather than its source.
I don't know if you actually read all this as it is rather long but if you did... you might just be able to understand the reality of depression a little more. Even I oversimplified some parts to get an easy understanding of it but if you really care you should inform yourself better.
What I wanted to say at the end tho. The 90% for situational depression is no real number. If you don't know anything specific, try using terms like "most" or "almost everytime" rather than a number as it looks as if those numbers were real. That's just a sidenote tho.
@DeusVult1683 you reveal your own ignorance.
Clinical depression isn't being sad, it is being incapable of feeling happiness. You can change your situation all you like, you can do things that you love deeply, and feel nothing. If you are depressed for long enough you would probably start to be sad however the two aren't directly connected.
@DeusVult1683 that isn't how either of those things work. Sociopaths have a lack of empathy not ability to feel happiness. That is depression. Depression is a chemical imbalance in your brain that makes happiness not register.
Do you enjoy being wrong or is it just a hobby of yours?
@DeusVult1683 you are wrong and unwilling to learn. A scary combination. You can't mislead me because I know what I am talking about when I speak on mental issues. The same can't be said for others who don't need to know what I do and would believe your self-fellating drivel that is down right harmful.
If you enjoy being so confident in your knowledge go make sure it is right first. Because you are just blatantly wrong.
Sometimes, it works well. People don't want to participate at the start because they don't want to or because they don't have the energy for this so therapists put some mandatory exercises and activities and tasks that everyone in the group need to do. After a certain time, patients will do more and more because it's encouraging and gratifying, that's a good method. When I had my burnout/depression in 1998, they did exactly that and it worked pretty well for almost everyone who were participating correctly. You can't fix depression by encouraging people to stay in theirs beds and say poor you and do absolutely nothing, validating the disorder. Many people will feel better with challenges to overcome and to be given a purpose than, like you say, being coddled.
I struggle with one personality. If I've even got one !
😄❤️
Funny, John. My alter comes through when I have had a strong cup of coffee. Like right now. Just call me Wonder Woman.
@@dianamarie5663 I had a couple drinks on a boat one time then turned into Aquaman...
Same lol 🙏
@@dianamarie5663 I can even tell when I switch
Just a reminder I’m not diagnosing Dr. Grande in this comment, only speculating about what could be happening with an identity like his. Dr. Grande may have multiple personalities living with him due to his enormous and frequent output of content, including but not limited to: nonfiction books, novels, videos, and podcasts. The research tells us that this is nearly impossible for one individual to accomplish _and_ sustain over a long period of time. In addition to all this, we see that Dr. Grande ostensibly reads every comment posted on his UA-cam and podcast channels- _many_ to which he responds. Lastly, the main personality, or core personality which is Dr. Grande, can be described using the acronym OCEAN! 😘
I think you hit every single thing there is to hit lol except maybe the lizard space alien people…
I think the good doctor and Chevy email should join up forces and make some videos because Tammy email does more or less the same thing explaining stuff and then always we end up… In the emergency room where we are now…
Stupid smart phone did not get the name of chubby emu correct and put all kinds of other things that are none of the words that I was trying to stick in hereg
If you really are in the ER hope all will be well soon?
@@BenFoldsFan421 gotta admit that you are not alone! Can’t seem to control microphone while txting and iPhone mixes up what I am trying to say. Thus, my txting to grandkids don’t make sense and fear they are now concerned about grandma’s sanity. lol. Keep telling them it’s not me-it’s really the iPhone. Sadly, I am not believed. Think a regular call or return to letter writing is needed. 😁
LOL...Love this!
So are you going to continue to watch the Dr. ‘s videos?
"Unexpected plumbing renovations"...nearly choked on my coffee.
It's a pity that none of his alters had any interest in DIY.
@@Spiritofdarkandlonelywater Alters are only good for one thing...the insanity defense.
@@5p674 I was misdiagnosed with having DID and one lady in the group had embezzled money from a bank. Another had called in a fake bomb threat to a military base.
🤣🤣🤣👍🏻
I find it worrying how different mental health professionals have vastly different diagnosis opinions on a client.
They don't know enough about the brain so they just go by lists of symptoms which overlap a lot.
A diagnosis is only as helpful as the resultant treatment. One of the counselors on his podcast purposefully avoids giving diagnoses in most cases because he doesn’t believe they are helpful, and if his patients are satisfied with that then it’s as legitimate as treatment that strictly follows diagnostic criteria of the DSM. Mental healthcare is by nature highly individualized and while it’s an evidence-based field, it’s important to remember that no disorder exists in a vacuum and every case of a given diagnosis is going to be different.
This is also why many clinicians believe we should move to a dimensional model of diagnosis. Look it up, it’s very interesting!
@@Mouse_Lyne I'm a psychologist so I am familiar with the flaws in the concepts. I have people come to me who have been damaged by diagnosis being rushed. A diagnois can be very helpful to some people as it gives them some answers, and to some a diagnosis can be unhelpful as they feel labeled. This profession needs improvements.
I find it weird that every single person who visits them has a valid diagnosis, whereas every person who avoids them is validly undiagnosed. You’d think some of the people who come in would turn out to be validly mentally fit and a portion of those who fail to seek treatment would turn out to be validly unfit, but the system seems to be so perfect that if you walk into their office you automatically get a presumably correct diagnosis, and if you avoid walking in there they never offer you treatment for a diagnosis they made by observing your behavior in public settings. I’d almost say clinicians are assigning diagnoses for insurance payouts to themselves rather than from any motive of improving society by treating those most afflicted by the most debilitating mental illnesses, but of course I know better.
You shouldnt be too worried. This is a ridiculously rare and understudied condition, coupled with acts and good lawyers who try deceiving the professionals from judging it objectively.
I was diagnosed with D.I.D many years ago. To be honest with you, I truly agree with what you shared here. Im very tired of trying to understand all of this. I think the problem for many is black and white thinking. Reality is rather gray. I hope this makes sense. Yes, dissociation is real. Yes, there’s some type of disconnection in my identity. But I have never been able to relate to those who are ‘famous’ with the diagnosis. I was abused. I don’t remember much of it but my mother has confessed & my siblings bore witness to the abuse. I was often drugged so any of those memories would be very unreliable. Recalling what happened wasn’t the cure. What helped me heal? My decision to be as honest with myself as possible.
It comes down to the benefits of CBT that helps tremendously. What are my fears? What are my beliefs? These 2 questions are pretty important.
I set aside diagnoses & focused only on my core fears & beliefs. Abuse isn’t what traumatizes people. It’s the false fears & beliefs one concludes in its midst that traumatizes. So, work to change what is false & replace it with truth. I have to do this replacement work daily. But it has become easier over time. CBT & EMDR have made a real difference for my mental health.
I don’t focus on any diagnosis or labels nor my childhood trauma. I do care about my childhood but I’ve decided to focus on the positive & healthy experiences in my past. People sometimes don’t believe this exists but it does (reality is gray).
I care mostly about embracing today & using the only real power I do have. It is found in the present. In the present I can make decisions. This is where there is power & control. What I can’t control, I let go of. What I can control I do my moral best. I give myself grace & mercy. I also extend that to others. We are all broken in this world. In one way or another despite all good efforts people experience some kind of trauma. How do we heal? I know I’m repeating myself. But healing comes from identifying false beliefs & replacing them with true beliefs. Healing also comes by way of finding joy in life; whether in the past or present or future. It’s good to have hopes & dreams. Thanks Dr. Grande for this very down to earth analysis. Thanks for keeping it real. 💕
I was misdiagnosed with DID also. Some people might have it, but not me.
@@Catlily5 I am glad you have put things together.
Thank you for your very honest and informative post!
I have Borderline Personality Disorder n CPTSD from childhood trauma. 100% agree with you on most of reality being gray; n no, most people don't understand that. 💯
I burst out laughing, too funny!
"Wilber tried to help Billy by telling him to combine certain personalities right at that moment, that was it. She just said "combine them right now", that was her sophisticated treatment strategy. This could be added to her other amazing treatment strategies like for depression she could say "sadness no more" and for anxiety "feel calm right now""
I would have asked him to do that in order to find out how easy it was for him to do so if it served his purpose. In my uneducated opinion, this kind of forced compartmentalization would have partitions too thick to mary outright. If he could combine personalities on a whim he never would have needed to split them in the first place. I believe his "alters" are all aware of one another at all times. The prime mind is aware and in control. But he uses the partitioned characters he has created to represent certain feelings or needs. They are representations of how he sees the world and how it is to be moved and manipulated. I do not believe him. I have exaggerated a sub personally in order exploit its traits and motivations and I use them like they are tools in my toolbox. Maybe I think that because I am aware of them and they come when needed. The difference in my opinion? Personal accountability.
homeless? buy a house. make urself a home duh
As if she could simply wave a wand and it would be gone. 🤦🏽♀️
Poof! Be gone!!!😂
This is an actual disorder and it causes a lot of pain. It is not something to be laughed at! Just be thankful that you don't suffer from it.
i was diagnosed with DID. it is not as dramatic as a lot of the media portrays it to be. it is real, it is a struggle. i think each person with the disorder has very different ways of coping with the trauma. for me, it helps avoid high emotion situations until i can mentally deal with it, although this is not always a good thing.
the victims are the victims. just because the perp has "interesting" mental health does not remove the fact that the victims were innocent people who were killed. great analysis as always.
Hi
Great analysis? No one with DID need people claiming to be professionals even saying is it a real disorder!
Greetings to the Grande cactus collection.
I read the original book about Billy Milligan, so I'm more prepared than usual for today's topic.
I am a65 yr woman who was diagnosed with BP when I was in my 40s. Have done a lot of moving with my husband over the years( always job related) . Came to the east coast after being on the west coast all my life 10 years ago. Started seeing a psychologist who diagnosed me with DID. Have been to Sheppard Pratt trauma unit 5 times, never really understanding my did diagnosis. The drs at SP confirmed the diagnosis, but with intensive tx never got better. Suicide. Attempt s constantly. Was hospitalized at a local psych unit in Feb 2021 and new diagnosis of BPD. Had stopped seeing my therapist who initially diagnosed me with did during the shut down didn’t like video meetings. Currently going to DBT since April 2021 and it has been life changing. I’m not so concerned over my “diagnosis “ so much as finally just feeling better. Love your content.
I'm so happy you're addressing this. Netflix loves to take interesting cases and then make awful documentaries that focus on nonsense. They could have made a great son of Sam doc but they chose to focus on weird debunked conspiracies. They could have made a great doc about Billy Milligan but they chose to focus on satanic panic type nonsense. Like why can't they just make a good normal doc series. They're great at it I just don't see why they keep focusing on pointless/bogus aspects of famous cases
What makes me think he may be being authentic with his DID, is his mother said he would say "why are you calling me Billy thats not my name or why is my name Billy", also he reportedly had amnesia at school and in his youth...whether it was a learned manipulative behavior to get out of being blamed for things...but if it started young before multiple personality disorder was even though about...he may have had it for real...or maybe he would just dissociate as a means of survival. Then the disassociation's formed into separate personalities when he saw they became an alibi for him. Like that Dr Carl guy said, and other psychs noted, when they profiled his personalities heavily, more began to emerge ...prob becaause he was being reinforced for having them
I really appreciate how you mentioned that his clinicians, although unwittingly, dismissed and undermined the suffering of his victims. All I could think about this whole video was, imagine what it feels like to be told 'you were assaulted not by Billy, but by someone else inside Billy'. As if it changed anything, other than made you feel even more isolated. Knowing the person who this to you, then even more people, is now in talks of a movie being made of his life, and he's treated like some kind of special, misunderstood case. Meanwhile he's just a run of the mill dirtbag who happens to have significant acting skills, and lots of access to reading materials to learn how to manipulate people.
I've haven't gotten to his sentencing, but like it matters if another "identity" did it, his body did it and all that is encompassed in that body
"She had to say I do 24 times, plus there was the paperwork "Dr Grande you are the best
Great deadpan humor!
@@nhmooytis7058 Yes I wouldn't be able to do it.
I actually laught out loud at that comment! hahah
@@marykepierce769 I'm glad you got a good laugh from it 😂
Perfect timing for the bus ride to my field trip, u never fail me Dr.Grande
Talk to you classmates. Put your ear buds in your backpack.
i loved field trips, i went to elementry school in D.C. Air and Space was the best place on earth. Have fun!
This is a wholesome comment. 💯
@@mrt1957 I went to grade school in McLean. All of our field trips were amazing, but I remember the Air & Space field trip in 1975. It was brand new that year. Good times 👍
If you're an introvert it may be great to escape a bit. But otherwise yeah! Talk to other people. What you learn can be priceless!💎
Hello Dr. Grande, I was wondering if perhaps you could analyze the case of Cindy James, the woman who claimed to have been stalked, harassed, and attacked for years by an unknown assailant that no one else ever saw, before being found dead under mysterious circumstances.
Wow, that one sounds fascinating!
I've never heard of that. I'd like to hear about it too
Yes!
Yes!!!!
Crafty southpaw
Would you please tell More?!!
Billy Milligan sounds like a character from a nursery rhyme.🤣
Or a limerick:
There once were 24 people inside Billy Milligan, who weren't always there,
but came back with freewill again.
When asked to just write,
they had dupers delight,
But only knew English,
and their accents were shite.
@@skepticusmaximus184 When toxic masculinity makes you invent a new personality, so you can finally and in peace draw your butterflies. /s
Willy Gilligan had an Island TV show! LOL
🎶”There were twenty four men named Billy Milligan, they grew whiskers on they’re chin-igan...”🎶
@@skepticusmaximus184 great one!!!😂
I said outloud the other day, "I sure wish Dr. Grande would cover the Billy Milligan case." Finally, having my phone hear everything I say paid off.😂
I was also searching for a decent analysis of Billy Milligan story a few days before this video was uploaded and found nothing. Huh.
It’s sad when some clinicians force their patients into a mold so they never get the help they need. In Billy Milligan’s case, he was essentially a bad seed. Yes, he had psychological issues (everyone does to some extent), but he’d have been better off in prison than a hospital.
@Seven Inches of Throbbing Pink Jesus Well then, that would mean the mentally ill are less robotic than the average person.
What the fuck do you know
@@MrBoothyboy1988 chill man
His subsequent victims sure would have
There is no "bad seed". Nobody is born being evil or bad. Given his childhood extreeme trauma, nothing he did was really surprising in any way.
Your ability to explain with clarity the foibles and afflictions of the human mind with just the correct and precise measure of levity, all the while maintaining an even tone and straight face causes a smile every time.
Dr. Grande has prob always been the life of the party at any event! Witty & entertaining, he has certainly honed and mastered his skills and seems content to downplay his subtle levity-bet he'd be successful at live, impromptu stand-up comedy❗
These two comments are the bomb!💣
He sure does!!!! He could have a whole ass stand up show and I would certainly be one of the first to get a ticket!!! @@grandmabenti8516
DID is real from my experience. My best friend in high school’s mom had it. They never knew who was going to be “out” when they got home from school. Plans were constantly having to be canceled or changed. She didn’t tell us what was going on for a long time but eventually we’d seen enough and we were close enough that she decided to tell us the family secret.
Her mother suffered from severe childhood trauma which was the cause. No child should ever have to endure anything like it.
sounds like she was just unstable.
@@thurin84 some of the personalities were violent (one practiced self-harm while another one harmed her children) and life was very unstable. Others were childlike and my friend had to take care of them. It was indeed a very unstable childhood for my friend and her siblings.
Cool non-clinical story. Your friend's mom sounds like a person who had invested in a fantasy and had a need for attention and control. I feel bad your friend had to grow up with that.
I wasnt there obviously, but someone having violent episodes or not being able to commit to plans, doesnt automatically equal DiD. There are a slew of mental disorders that could lead to such behavior.
Sounds like typical bpd woman
I am confused about how DID can be in the DSM-V and even have its own section yet be not considered not scientific? The science of psychiatry and psychology seems to be more sociocultural than it wants to admit and is often avoiding its' philosophical roots to catch up with natural sciences.
It's the same with fibromyalgia. It's in the ICD, or British equivalent and yet a large number of doctors clearly state they believe it to be psychosomatic.
Because scientific data does back up DID whether or not people want to believe in it. There are biomarkers in the brain for DID. Biomarkers is how medical science proved PTSD was real when nobody believed in that. It’s very frustrating watching people espousing such falsehoods about a disorder with more hard medical evidence than disorders far more accepted.
@@DIDHatchery Quit spreading this BS. DID is fake, you're faking, and you're enabling others to fake it.
@@wmdkitty agreed, I’m sick of all these people LARPing their “headmates” when there is NO science to back it up. The DSM is not infallible, it’s basically a guide used by insurance companies to bill for medications lol.
DSM-V not well rec'd by most ppl in the profession. Only the USA relies on it.
We lag so far behind other countries in our reactive thinking.
More progressive countries are much more holistic in their approach. They do not separate psych probs from their physical expression.
Well, IMHO, Billy was insane to even try to keep up with all these personalities. LOL
Hi Dr Grande, love your videos. As a neuroscientist, though, I wanted to comment on when you talk about the evidence for DID. There are studies showing differences between simulated fantasy and DID (you said the studies failed to show differences), and many other interesting studies of neurodevelopmental and neurostructural differences. All these results, though, support DID as an ‘extreme way of PTSD’ (so, supports the so called ‘trauma model of DID’ - that extreme childhood trauma produces this dissociation). Even though more research is needed for sure, I wouldn’t be so quick to brush off the idea that DID is real under those terms (under those terms ! So, not like, what Cordelia Wilbur was bubbling about XD). I agree that probably Billy was an opportunist and made it colorful to avoid responsibility, but I wanted to add this information since you didn’t mention it on the video.
Fascinating profile, Dr. Grande, as usual. I read the book "Sybil" in the late 1970s and found it fascinating and horrifying. At the time, I had no idea it was a lie and a fraud. It's terrible that an entire generation was encouraged to believe this lie. Thank you for your good works, Doctor.
It's not weird or surprising that the alters' biographies were so fleshed-out. He probably didn't have anything else to do while he was in prison.
I was cracking up at the part of the film where the therapist’s ‘treatment’ consisted of clasping her hands together and say “Fuse!!” or whatever the word was. I think he’s full of sh**. Plus, it drove me crazy that having DID qualified as Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity. A person could actually have DID or any other mental disorder and still know right from wrong at the time of the crime. I don’t think they proved he had DID and certainly didn’t prove that he didn’t know what he was doing was wrong when committing the crime.
Sounds like an inspiration for Primal Fear.
I really like that movie
Nup. Watch Switch
What a coincidence that all his personalities sound like dramatic movie lead characters. I'd love to see him do some physics and chemistry.
Yay this is the earliest I've ever caught one of your videos!! Thanks for the great content Dr. Grande. I like to listen to your videos while I work
In my research of DID for several courses in my master's program, I learned that people who do have DID often don't have discrete personalities or "alters" but have an aggressive persona that emerges. When that persona appears, they lose consciousness of their actions. Further, these people are loathe to admit that they are not in control of their actions and will vehemently deny having DID, avoid the subject, or accuse others of gaslighting them.
This idea of discrete alters seems to fly in the face of everything the scientific literature has to say about DID. It seems that, instead of focusing on personality and amnesia, clinicians would do better to focus on behavior and amnesia--that's the hallmark of DID: how the client behaves during a lapse of consciousness. They way I've described to people is that real DID looks like "blackout drunk behavior minus the drinking followed by vehement denial afterwards."
I have known someone in the past who admitted to faking their alter when we were young and they got over it, and ever since then I’ve had a hard time giving people with discrete alters the benefit of the doubt. There is one particular UA-cam person with DID (I forget their name, but it has an A in it??) who admits to sexually assaulting someone as their “lustful” personality, and each personality conveniently has their own wardrobe and makeup style and they all cooperate in a timely fashion to come forward to make this video and know the point of it. I never want to alienate someone who is actually struggling or experiencing something I just don’t understand, but I’m very skeptical when manifestations of disorders are too “aesthetic” and convenient rather than the debilitating and unsettling thing that disorders I’m aware of actually are. Losing your temper and having a level of consciousness go out for a second sounds like a brain malfunction and makes more sense to me than some character forming that the person understands right away and can describe fully when a lot of trauma responses can be a little less straightforward and bleed into everything. I still don’t know what to think but I’m skeptical
I've been in treatment for DID for a while (which I can speak about semi-openly now, although I tried very hard for a long time to convince myself nothing in that realm could be true for me) and first, if you have any research recommendations I'd be super interested, because I'm curious and because I'm invested in getting a good handle on my life and my symptoms and I've found a good understanding of what's going on with my brain helps with that.
Besides that, I'm just sort of thinking aloud here.
I know I have trouble with aggression and I have dissociative parts that store/experience our anger. I was totally dissociated from anger for years before I was able to reconnect with it and start learning how to express it in healthy ways. I have amnesia for some of my own experiences and much of the experience of switches and other alters, but it's more or less indiscriminate - not selective for anger or aggression, specifically.
*That said,* it reminds me of something I've heard elsewhere, which is that in individuals with BPD, which also often involves dissociated parts, low distress tolerance and chronic dissociation lead to dissociation when intense emotion is experienced, which can create amnesia for anything from arguments to aggressive behavior. So I wonder if amnesia after anger/aggressive experiences could be caused by the intensity and unpleasantness of anger as an emotion?
I do understand it's also a convenient excuse - I do think at least sometimes a person's amnesia is actually happening, although it doesn't excuse them from their behavior. (I've known someone who *often* gaslit and would never claim to have anything like DID, but had a traumatic history and would speak about "blacking out" and becoming extremely aggressive; in her youth it was sometimes a necessity to escape physical harm, but as an adult she seems to genuinely not remember episodes of aggression toward me. There's a quality to the denial that seems a little different from her regular gaslighting.)
One of the things you learn about DID is that each alter/part is part of *you;* the system of alters is contained in one brain and you are all parts of the same person, even if you experience yourselves with degrees of separation from one another. You have to learn to work together if someone exhibits problem behavior, because ultimately not just that one alter, but the whole system is responsible. It does make you as the person with DID vulnerable to gaslighting, though, too, because other people can, if they so desire, use your amnesia to manipulate you and claim you (or an alter) said or did things you never did. This hasn't happened to me yet (that I know of) but it's something I'm wary of and one of the reasons I don't tell most people irl that I have DID.
94% of DID sufferers have discrete (covert) alters who aren’t just manifestations of anger. 6% of sufferers have an overt form of DID. I have that, and I don’t enjoy it. It’s quite embarrassing! People studying DID need to do more and better research. We are a mental health population who deserves the utmost care, since we didn’t do this to ourselves. Take care.
@@jazwhoaskedforthis DID is not some character forming. According to childhood development, all children have a number of personality states prior to the ages of 9-10. Around 9-10, these different personality states coalesce into the most advantageous personality for survival. With DID, trauma prevented the personality states from coalescing into one. Hence, multiple personalities. Also, it doesn’t look like those Tiktok liars.
But how would someone be able to tell the difference between DID, and a person who just denies their actions and personal responsibility? (Ex: someone who gets drunk, not necessarily blackout drunk, and is hateful, nasty, sometimes violent, and later claims they were "sleepwalking" or behaves in a really nasty, hateful manner when they are sick, because they somehow got the idea that they are allowed to behave that way when they are sick, everyone else around then is just supposed to accept it, and later claim it never happened? ) Or just gaslighting? I have in the past had to deal with this, but I noticed this person never behaved that way in public, or to anyone else except me.
Hello Dr Grande. There's a specter haunting the field of psychology: pop analysis! I think psychologists on UA-cam sometimes say scandalous things to generate revenue. I appreciate your very balanced approach because it is honest about the field and its limitations. You yourself seem to strive to remain intellectually honest and it is very appreciated. Thank you for your hard work and insights, to me they are invaluable!
I agree, Billy strikes me as extremely manipulative and creative, like his alters are extremely convenient and the stuff he admitted later revealed his arrogance that hed found a perfect cop out. His claim that his lesbian alter was the sexual assailant was also super sensationalized and I think purposefully so. I find it especially hard to believe.
People with false claims of DID have severe mental health issues and I don't think they are helped by calling them out or shaming. But I also don't think the attention seekers are doing the mental health community any good by furthering the stigma against this group of barely understood people.
There are some people who are very supseptible to "catching" exciting sounding things like DID. I, unfortunately, dated such a person. Excuses for behavior immediately began: you can't blame me for something my alter did.
@Over It since it's hard to prove or disprove, people often do shame real sufferers too. And dog piling shame often drives people further into ignorance, anger and hate. Even if someone is faking, some of these people don't know they are faking. They're fed stuff by therapists or their other mental health problems make it feel real. Generalized shaming may be okay but attacking specific people can just stir up more negativity. Especially if they are narcissists and the response to criticism is vengeful and aggressive.
@@eyeshadowlady Quite insightful. Looks like ya know the both sides. That's quite a bit of full circle empathy. Good Luck !
How do you explain the results from his EEG? They presented scientific evidence in the documentary and people don’t even believe that lol. How could he have faked his brain activity?
Some of the, are just bored teenagers who want to feel special.
As a psychotherapist, you have no idea how much I appreciate you.
I'm so glad you're 'speculating' on this case! I watched this series recently and was reminded of it when you covered 'Forgetting Dad'. I wondered what your take on 24 faces guy would be. ❤
So close to a million! Thank you for all of your hard work, Doctor.
I KNOW!!! omg, im so happy for the Grande Family! No one deserves it more! I hope his success lasts a long time, and that he's able to put lots of money away for his retirement someday, so that he can take his wife traveling around the world like a big shot! haha!
🏕🏖🏜🏝🏞
G ram the gramma
@@youtubeuser206 I am, in fact, a “gramma”.
Doctor in _"Counselor Education and Supervision",_ not a medical doctor or psychologist. He has no credentials in these fields.
I’m from Columbus and recently found out that Billy Milligan bought a house in the same neighborhood as my family when I was growing up. We had no idea. Sends a chill up my spine.
Let’s just say my parents are relieved he’s dead now.
As usual, a very interesting commentary! Thanks for taking the time to give us your insight!🙏
Thank you Dr.Grande! For always being consistent.
i believe i had did. before i was in therapy at age 13 1/2. through child hood i did things like not know if i performed at a church reading. my parents told me i did. i remembered standing there and doing nothing. they told me i read. i was 5. when i was 12 i turned my own purse into lost and found at a hotel we stayed at. at school i would go from nervous but behaving properly to sucking my arm and crying. i did not remember some of those episodes until age 15 to 17. so when i dissociated i was either dazed and confused and possibly not remembering after what i had done or extremely upset and remarkably younger than myself. i became hospitalized at 14 and a psychologist became a parent to me and dealt with my younger self. in not that many days i was trying hard to pull myself together because i started remembering what that part of myself was doing and became aware that i was overmedicated and (i saw danger in) fainting because of probable overmedication and immediately felt distrust and danger at being there. this helped me to "hold it together" because i didnt want to be vulnerable to any of that anymore. so i believe it was dissasociation without any formed personalities save for my own
Hey Dr. Grande ❤️ would you ever analyse the long running and very public sibling feud between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher from the band Oasis? Thank you for your great videos!
Oooooh! Fantastic request!
@@DrLC. thanks! It would be interesting hey?! I'm just imagining the joke or two Dr. Grande would probably have as well.
@@billie6814 You’re welcome! I think Dr. Grande will have a field day with that one!
You read my mind👀. I've been thinking about those two a lot lately, its nice to know that I'm not the only one intrigued by that dynamic from the perspective of a professional❤️
Great request. I'm Team Liam these days, but it has been a rollercoaster.
I really enjoyed this episode! Great analysis!
It’s so depressing living with something like this then constantly having to read comments from a “professionals” prospective which is to only make the disorder more controversial. Fuck I wish everyone had DID for a day.
Why do we have to go through the worst things just to be questioned for the rest of our lives about something we can’t help.. I’ll just never understand.
When I watched that documentary, I laughed at how he was faking. I can't believe people fell for it. The victims fell to the wayside which was an abomination. You nailed it right on the head! Thank you for the humor as well ;)
This is a fascinating case and analysis. I've never heard of him before. Thanks Dr Grande as always!
Netflix has done a great mini series
@@user-wickedflower Great, thanks for letting me know 👍🏻
Book was big when it first came out.
Thank you Dr. Grande. I can't thank you enough for my daily kick-start with your Video Content.
Have to say this is one of your best analyses, doc! :-)
Interesting analysis and topic. Thank you, Dr. Grande, I've learned a lot about it. 🖤
I expected a joke about how if he tried to hurt himself with a urinal he must've really been pissed! 🤔🚽
After watching Dr Grande rip Dissociative Identity Disorder apart over the years, I couldn't believe the way the Netflix series was covering Milligan. I had missed this episode, but I knew he must have covered it so I came to find it! Thank you for being so damned reliable!
Thank you for giving the input. I too am skeptical of Billy Milligan’s case, and despite having the disorder myself, I’m appreciative of your concise and constructive comments relying upon it in different forums. With DID being treated with such disregard, I’m happy to see a nice, formal understanding from the good doctor himself. Be well, Dr. Grande.
Trying to use it as a “get out of jail free card” is disgusting, and system responsibility is something that we learn that we have to take which is why integration (not the same as final fusion but about communication) is a goal for healing and being able to live a functioning life. Because it hasn’t been so far due to getting the wrong treatment for over fifteen years, we’re finally starting to stabilise, don’t need to be drugged into oblivion anymore but are more alert and rational than before according to our doctor. Weird.
The human mind is truly fascinating, isn't it? It would have been interesting if you, Dr. Grande, could have interviewed him (Billy Milligan). The dry joke exchange would have been epic!
Maybe the good doctor would not have taken any bs?
My great aunt worked as his psychiatrist those two times he was in Athens, and she said there were almost countless instances of him dropping his act on accident or when they'd intentionally distract him. I think she wrote a book about it, but I'm not 100% on that.
Acting is exhausting!
@@bthomson Especially when you're putting on such a complex show.
I love the fact that we get straight into the content. No music or else!
Dr. G calling out the fake Therapists. No wonder he catches hell in some places on the Web.
Considering the sensitive nature of mental health counseling, any questionable treatment or diagnosis should be called out for examination!
Dr. Grande, I greatly appreciate your perspective and your humor. You've helped both me and a close friend (who introduced me to your videos) a great deal with your knowledge and empathy. That being said, in order for a disorder to appear in the DSM, most clinicians have to believe it exists. It isn't exactly a groundbreaking text. It reflects prevailing opinion within the psychiatric community as a whole. Individuals who have this disorder struggle with accepting their diagnosis enough on their own. They face public scrutiny and disbelief from a layman's standpoint. They have been gaslit for the majority of their lives, certainly during the periods when their abuse took place. To face such outright dismissal on the part of a respected and well-known clinician can be extremely harmful. While I appreciate that your posts analyzing well-known cases are essentially for entertainment purposes, I would like to respectfully request that you consider the weight of your words when addressing these topics. We are all human. We are all worthy of compassion and empathy. To believe otherwise is to set ourselves up as an arbiter of who is worthy and who is not. That starts to sounds like its own pathology. As someone who has respect for you, I ask that you use your platform to support, rather than to pull apart
@ Brianna ... I'm pleased you made this point, as there too many casual, dismissive comments in the thread responses. Perhaps therapists are not seeing cases because they are "looking" wrongly? Or perhaps, having been continuously dismissed and undermined, clients are not particularly disposed to reveal their complexity. Rather at least be recognized partially, instead of being dismissed summarily as hoax. Dismissal begets invisibility, etc
@@ninan2670 I think you're really on to something with the idea of fear to come forward with your symptoms because you feel you will be judged as faking it. If someone is seeking help, the last thing we should be doing is shaming them. Thank you for your thoughtful response. I agree that a lot of these comments aren't coming from a place of trying to understand and communicate.
It seems like he went into this with a previous opinion that's supported by very shaky evidence and used that bias to call a psychologically accepted illness a "myth"
I think it's quite morally gross on his part.
@@RoboticFemboy I agree that it's belittling. I wish he hadn't approached the subject from a place of judgment. I don't think it's justifiable to speak for many or most clinicians without giving solid evidence for those assertions.
My best friend has DID. I've known them since we were 10. We're 33 now. I found out last year about the DID. It made a lot of things make sense. My mom said the same thing when I told her. There's no way my friend is faking. I've spoken with nearly all, if not all of the alters and they all are very distinct.
The reason I found out about their DID was because I had started questioning if I have OSDD or DID (DID is the end of the spectrum of dissociation with fully distinct alters, OSDD is next to it, with varying levels of alters and amnesia) and asked for their input since they've known me so long. That's when they shared they have it. I'm still questioning if I have OSDD, but I'm pretty certain I don't have DID. While it would be nice sometimes to have "me" go to sleep for a while and let someone else "drive", it's not something I'd ever truly wish for or fake.
I wish Dr Grande weren't so dismissive of DID. It hurts me personally and makes me angry on behalf of my friend and everyone else out there who really has DID. But I agree that Billy Milligan was more full of BS than personalities.
In ohio we pronounce it Lie-ma, not Lee-ma. Not saying it's the correct way, just lettin ya know! Hahaha
dude, i just wrote the same thing!
Like the bean, not the city in Peru! Another listener from southwest Ohio.
Hahaha came here to let him know the same, we say things weird lol.... Don't even get me started on how we Ohioans pronounce our city named Versailles 😂😂
Hey all of my fellow Ohioans & Dr. Grande fans! 🙋♀️
@@heidileigh7023 how do you say it?? I'd give it a nice Americanised "Ver Sie" with 0 subtlety or nuance.
I've been waiting for your opinion on this case for so long. Thank you x
Regarding your anecdote about therapists, to me it seems very obvious that if a therapist doesn't believe in DID, then they will say that none of their patients have DID because of course it isn't real. On the other hand, if a therapist has a number of patients who have symptoms of DID, and ends up diagnosing them with DID, they will most likely advertise themselves as someone who specializes in something like trauma and dissociative disorders and end up with a disproportionate number of patients with DID. Especially since people with this disorder will probably spread the word that the doctor is experienced with DID. I don't know if DID is real or not but if someone doesn't have anything to gain by saying they have it I don't think it's my business to tell them their subjective experience isn't real.
The same can be observed with autism and ADHD in adults amd/or women. And it's not even that experts don't believe in it, but adults dealing with their disorders for over 20 years don't behave like little kuds, so the symptoms are a bit different, often less obvious, but still there.
you will never know if they won't have anything to gain from it.
it can be cry for attention altough they will claim it's not.
specialist are quit clear that it doesn't exist.
they are borderline personality's who change in mood a lot.
so they seem like different person's.
but it still the same person in a different mood.
@@reinhardschneider9186 How can you say that "specialist are quit clear that it doesn't exist" when there are a multitude of clinicians who treat this disorder and there is a wealth of scientific and medical literature attesting to its existence. It's in the DSM for a reason.
@@ashleymiller7439 The conditions listed in the DSM come and go. It's considered the bible of psychiatric disorders, but one must remember its content is approved by a committee of mental health ' professionals.' My personal opinion is that it's simply a matter of semantics. Nothing profound at all. However, I do not claim to be a mental health professional, as my PhD is in mathematical physics.
Didn’t he say that none of them have ever treated someone with any symptoms that could even be interpreted as DID? I got the feeling that their opinion was formed based on their observations, not that their observations were influenced by their preconceived opinion on the disorder.
Hey Dr G! I love the thumbnail! I appreciate the scepticism, and in most cases I agree, nonsense. But the case of the woman in Australia, who survived horrific abuse by her father - her multiple personalities seem entirely genuine. And her trauma was such (I mean, really, really bad shit), that the diagnosis does make a lot of sense in her case. Her other personalities were allowed to testify in court against her father, 60 minutes Australia did a documentary about the whole trial etc. I'd love to hear your take on it. Although I guess it would perhaps be a problematic video to make, the woman in question being a victim, or survivor, rather than a criminal. Still, if you feel like you could talk about her case, I'd love to hear it. Big love from Scotland!
Yes, I saw that, it's wicked and I also believe her, it would be a good one for the good Dr to cover!😉
It’s definitely real and it comes from extreme extreme childhood abuse.
@@alyciamarie4163 well it makes sense in those cases, when there is genuine need to mentally escape an intolerable reality. An extreme coping mechanism that I believe starts in very young childhood, when the brain has not yet formed the personality entirely. Trauma shuts down "normal" development and everything is possible in very young brains because they haven't yet learned what isn't possible. So the brain does what's best in that situation and instead of one, strong personality growing like one thick stem, a tree of personalities grows, with one main stem of personality with branches of different personalities coming off it. Entirely impossible to prove though, just a hypothesis that makes sense to me.
I believe she was abused, but she is 100% faking the DID.
@@wmdkitty 100% huh? How'd you come to that level of certainty?
I was surprisingly vulnerable to Billy's charms when I watched the Netflix documentary. I think it was his artistic gifts and his intelligence that tricked me.
I like that! Severely intelligent!
I’ve been waiting for this.
Another very interesting, funny and intelligent video, Dr. Grande!
Thank you again for all your hard work and dedication You're are extremely rare and appreciated! ♡♡
Absolutely fantastic breakdown of both Billy and MPD/DID.
You articulated my feelings on both perfectly.
Great video, and great insights! 10/10 for the Doc. today (per usual 😄). 👏🏻
Great show, Dr. Grande.
People really do see what they want to see. Way too often.
Oh I have been waiting for this one!!!!
Using the Rorschach to detect DID is like using magic binoculars to detect Bigfoot. Damn if that’s not the greatest psychological burn I’ve ever seen!
You might find Robert Stroud, The Bird man of Alcatraz, interesting. I read a book about him when I was in high school. (many years ago)
Tasty and spicy doctor, you are a connoisseur. Common sense is a great asset. Well done for the clear analysis
More flirting?
Great analysis Dr Grande!!!
Dr. Grande's deadpan humor is something to live for. The Lorena Bobbit case had me rolling. I don't have a clue how he keeps the straightest face!
You always come up with really interesting cases that ive never heard of before, which is hard to do, because i only watch/read true crime in my spare time. Good upload today, doctor. Thank you!
Got a heart! Congrats!
@@bthomson haha! Such a total thrill! Dr Grande is so sweet about making his subs feel important, even tho he has close to one million already! I love this channel!
Hi Dr. Grande. Con artist is exactly right, I aree. Enjoy your videos, always interesting as well. Peace and fascinating times to you, Love, Janine Smiley😀🙂🤩😎😍
Mm. I can agree with Milligan being full of BS, but I can't agree with "DID doesn't exist". I'm sorry, I'm not particularly keen on believing one guy on the internet over the multiple works on DID. And I'm not talking about the anecdotal books-not a single person here has actually made a comment talking about actual books about trauma-related structural dissociation. Or, like, trauma in general. The Haunted Self, Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders, Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors, and The Body Keeps the Score are good places to start if you _actually_ want to educate yourselves outside of one video saying "I KNEW it, this ONE DOCTOR says DID doesn't exist so I can make fun of how stupid it is!". Do some research.
Also, friendly reminder that it's not like people with DID or OSDD are particularly happy with this either. Considering so many are survivors of physical and sexual abuse, seeing a disgusting rapist get thrust into the spotlight as _"representation"_ is sickening to so many people. But y'all are too busy with your "mehhh DID fake" rhetoric to even bother thinking about that.
People with DID do NOT think this is okay. Responsibility is a big deal, you don't get off scot-free with "my alter did it" because you're all parts of one whole, so you're all responsible. But like. Go off I guess.
Exactly. This is SERIOUSLY not okay. System responsibility is very important and if one of us were a rapist then we all belong in jail to keep others safe from that person. If anyone did something to hurt someone else then the rest of us are pretty much in agreement that people should be kept safe and being locked up if necessary is preferable over there being someone hurting others because that’s very wrong. Victims or potential victims safety first. I mean most of us know what it’s like to be a victim, why would we want others to suffer?
Dr. Grande, you have easily become my favorite UA-camr. I love true crime and your dry humor while keeping a straight face
@@glennbeck2559 uhhh, I think I'll pass
Yay! This is a great way to start my day!
I’ve found this subject fascinating after watching The Three Faces of Eve long ago
I wish you would meet more clients with d.I.d so you would be aware of how real it is and spread more awareness about it. It’s sad because many people are misdiagnosed and mistreated and the medicine actually makes them suffer a lot
🙄🙄🙄
They are seeing it but it will be under the umbrella of schizophrenia. It just isn’t called that
Yeahh fr
When I’m familiar with the documentary that Dr. Grande does the analysis for, I chuckle at even the title😂.
Fascinating case, thank you as always.
Milligan's art work, which is on line, is technically good, however there's no feeling in it. He was like the little kid who blames the dog or the so-called thing in the closet for every wrong he (the little kid) does.
@RJ Parkwood
take a look at his old hotmail stuff if you can still find it. exactly the same smell, exactly the same business. most of it isn't even too technically good ~ although more than a minimum is more than a minim odd, & 𝙣𝙤𝙩 in a good way.
at any rate {also elsewise}:
spot on, yr semi‐demi‐hemi‐dx, •👏• , if, indeed. you ask me.
Weird
I've never seen his artwork (I didn't know who he was prior to 30 mins. ago), but I'm not the least bit surprised; it falls right on spot with my experience and knowledge of people with anti-social personality disorder, psychopathy, sociopathy and (or) narcissistic personality disorder who engage in artistry - be it painting, sculpture or music. They tend to achieve a medium-high to high technical level, but since their inner - emotional - life is flattened with no real highs or lows to their affect and/or (depending on the diagnosis) have a psychological blockage that prevents connecting and experiencing true, actual emotions - both contributing to lack of self-reflection and, in sequence, reflection in general. Which, of course, makes any form of art or artistry of theirs suffering from a lack of genuine emotions, and therefore it doesn't really awaken any deep or significant emotion or reflection in the audience either. I.e. the artistry of the emotionally stumped fails to fulfill the purpose and criteria of art (and without art, there's no artistry - it's a quite sad and pathetic circle of futility when you think of it.
...
To round off and add to that - the "patheticness" of it all - you do at times come across attempts to mimic the true, real deal - which doesn't really works out well at all as it instead comes out as unnatural and "too much" or "over-the-top". You can't, in short, mimic truth.
Cheers!
P.s. If you haven't already: look up artwork by Hitler, and I think you'll find the same phenomenon as you describe in Milligan's art. In my experience, I've never come across any one who's had an opinion on Hitler's art work who's not just written it off as "bad", but as I see it, I believe they deem his art work based not upon the art and what they see, but upon what they know about his work when he didn't paint ... I personally find his art work to be fully sufficient and passing in it's technique, but utterly lacking in feelings of emotion and "life". Which, to be fair, renders it ... well, no, not necessarily "bad", but definitely very much Boring, and so... Mute. Non conversive. Futile.
@@deviantoutcast I think Hitler's artwork is very boring. Utterly unremarkable.
No, WHAT'S AMAZING is no one REMEMBERS the *three violent vicious rapes at gunpoint* he did to three *young* college students at the University of Florida in Gainesboro, Florida. The city was in terror and female college students walked with two male students not just one. Now how would anyone in Gainesville feel (and the country) feel that he got off on an insanity diagnosis? This is supposedly nearly impossible to get.
*SPOILER*
I know you didn't have enough time but didn't mention HOW Billy was able to escape, who *harbored* him in the two escapes? One who had several ID cards made for him in several different names. One was driver's licenses and others I don't remember. I think this guy was in the producer kind of TV position that must have had a crush on him or something.
And here in this top drag net looking for him, here he'd already crossed the border into Canada and lived comfortably with his brother. With no DNA at that time and an early CODIS finding him was nearly impossible. Harboring sure didn't help.
IMO he was only successful at that insanity farce by the mystery and fascination at that time with multiple personality.
First, the successful movie "The Three Faces of Eve", and then the bestseller book "Sybil".
Yes I think it was out and out *manipulation perfected* through the criminal and legal and mental health system. But most importantly so many of the near 100 shrinks who agreed with him.
I believe when he was on the lam he wasn't "acting a different personality" but just not a violent one.
Thank you Dr.Grande for another great video. 👍
“Unexpected plumbing renovations.” WHEEZE!
She had to say "I do" 24 times....very good Dr Grande.
As usual, fantastic presentation. Given your aversion to DID, everytime I listen to one of these "I don't think it was DID" reviews, I wonder your views on hynosis. Interested in hearing your thoughts on this topic.
One thing made me scratch my head a bit: if an alter claims skills unavailable to the host, should we be surprised if that alter demonstrates no actual competency in those skills while remaining delusional about their existence? If such a case happened, it may be consistent even if convenient for the alter to retreat when forced to confront the delusion of its conceit. Of course, in this current case, asking someone else to write Arabic for him reveals it to be a con and not a delusion. Had he scribbled out nonsense with complete conviction it was Arabic, it would have been more compelling to me.
Youre right, lol. But dont give them ideas
You answered a a question I've always wanted answered! Thank You!
Very interesting case Dr Grande! I love your breakdowns the best! Thank you for your analysis doc!💜💜
I met my Psychologist when my son was 12, around 1991. My son had some issues and the school set up the sessions. Years down the road, I suffered from situational depression and started going to him for therapy. It was situational depression , as I was under a great deal of stress in almost every area of my life. Fast forward 10-15 years, and according to my psychologist, who was very well respected, something triggered a change from situational depression to full blown clinical depression. The cause was though to be physical trauma that altered my chemistry. It’s like I fell into a hole that I had neither the strength nor ability to escape. It was obvious to everyone who was close to me that something was VERY WRONG. I was so completely overwhelmed and absolutely devoid of hope that I for the first time in my life began trying to choose a way to end my life. I didn’t want my family and friends to suffer, but I was powerless to help myself. I came home from work one day and completely had a meltdown. I could not stop crying. My husband was scared to death and took me straight to the psychiatrist who had put me on an antidepressant. It had no effect whatsoever, so she told my husband to take me to the ER, and not let me leave. I waited for hours, and I remember the key to the whole evaluation wasn’t just whether I was suicidal, but rather, had I thought about how I would do it, and I told them the different options I had considered. I drove a long commute for work, constantly looking for tree trunks sturdy enough to do the job, but I was afraid I’d just end up paralyzed and unable to finish the job. So I had several other options. Needless to sAy, I was transported to a psychiatric lockdown ward at a hospital that had an available bed. It was filthy, and I refused to even rest on the bed. I was scared to go to the bathroom, because I found nasty bathroom tissue with pubic hair IN THE SHOWER! I requested to be transferred to another facility, but as I arrived in the early morning hours on a Saturday, they simply ignored me. When I finally saw the “doctor”, he assessed me within two minutes as bipolar. He didn’t even speak to me! As a matter of fact, the staff would not even look me in the eye! It was as if I wasn’t worthy of human interaction. I decided after the first session of group therapy that the only way out was to play their game. I participated in group therapy as if I was the perfect patient. I knew what they wanted to see and hear, and I should have earned an academy award…I walked out in less than 48 hours, in worse condition than I had arrived. I no longer trusted my regular psychiatrist, because they had told me that they suspected I had “abused” my medication! I went to her office and asked her if she thought that, and she was appalled. So there I was.afraid for a couple of years to try again to seek help.
At work, a couple of years later, I reached the absolute breaking point. On my lunch break I usually went into a storage room and tried to nap, but that day I decided to hang my self with a leather belt in my locker. I knew by the time my lunch break was over, I would be gone.
Funny thing, my belt that had hung in my locker for almost 30 years wasn’t there. I search the entire locker room, then the storage room for an alternative. There was nothing so …
At the end of the day, as my coworkers and I closed out, my supervisor criticized me in front of everyone….for spending too long assisting a customer with a complicated transaction he had tried to do at least twice before. I finally decided it would take longer to explain the procedure than to just do it myself. When I was called out, all I could say was “I spent my entire lunch break trying to find a way to kill myself, and all you can do it bitch about is me doing the job I was trained to do??” You could have heard a pin drop.
I knew I could never go back to work after that, and I cried all the way home and couldn’t stop. My family knew I had to do something, so I self-admitted myself to a reputable Psychiatric hospital, and I told them how bad life had been, and I told the Dr that I was going to be absolutely honest, no holds barred. I told him that when he asked me if I was still having suicidal ideations, he would get the real real. He listened to me when I told him my medication had NEVER worked, and needed to be changed, and start from scratch. Where I was out of the previous facility in less than 48hrs, he kept me there for almost 3 weeks, until I could finally tell him that I no longer thought only of dying. When I left there, I was out of that hole that had followed me for years. I never went back to that “career”, and in spite of losing my husband, my best friend, y son, and my other best friend…I haven’t had a suicidal thought since the end of 2010. I am. very careful to take my medication, because I start going downhill if I miss one dose. I feel very blessed that I found the right doctor and medication…no side effects, and I’m NORMAL now. THANK GOD!!!
Thank you for sharing this!! I read the whole thing
I've been in mental healthcare for 20 years and I have never seen a single case. That being said, I do think that it is a legitimate diagnosis, just incredibly rare.
My niece had 2 personalities and I had a patient once who had a traumatic brain injury and split her into 3 personalities....other than that, it's extremely rare
@@mightymouse1005 my imaginary pet ostrich has nine personalities.
Times like these I laugh. The fact this disorder is so controversial makes it so much harder to live with. Because you know you’re facing literally sharing a body alone with nobody to help and understand. Its way way way more than just alters. I’m tired of people making the disorder just about the alters. It’s way more than that. Living with this with no help or understanding or proper treatment is so draining. Then you have doctors still asking “Is DID real” which is leading to more controversy smh. It’s proven to be real already. You wouldn’t understand unless you lived with it which is the part that sucks the most. I don’t think Billy Milligan had it but DID is definitely a real disorder. Just because people can’t grasp the fact the brain is capable of doing something so powerful shouldn’t affect people going through real stressful things.
Fascinating, gutsy and crisp.
Thank you Dr. Grande 🙏🌿😇
From an actual did perspective it’s scary to have this condition it’s terrifying. You feel possessed and unable to think straight and it’s scary to only have bits and pieces of what’s happening. The general issue with did is it’s a trauma based disorder and is hellish to suffer with it. It’s not a superpower or cool. It’s basically cptsd with the dissociation and feeling outta control.
So like, BPD/psychosis? Or cptsd with some mood thing like bipolar?
(All of the above can report the "terrifying" bit; goes with dissociation and lack of control.)
Do you think a calm down pill would help? Or that DBT therapy? Mixture of both?
I'm not sure if anyone claims psychosis, but really I think once psychosis is in the picture, a good old-fashioned anti-psychotic couldn't hurt. Clozapine with some valiums. Seems like it would be humane until "DID" gets properly classified and out of pop-psychology and movies, or until a pt finds a therapist who doesn't "believe in" DID and can treat pt without a desire to get some grant cash and clout.
When I first watched the Netflix documentary it smelled like fraud from afar. Great video!
Bravo. I scoffed so many times watching that documentary. I was waiting for your interpretation and I wasn't disappointed.
Nice shirt Dr. Grande! Loved the video. Thank you.
How to survive after escaping a mental health facility:
Step 1- read the manual
Step 2- open a hot tub business
Thank you, Dr. Grande! This is a topic that has always facinated me. You have managed to define and describe this supposed 'disorder,' in a very concise and understandable manner. Please continue with your educational videos.
Great video.
I LOVE your sense of humor!