Prologue (1)

There is one thing that I’m reminded of over and over again when I see patients with DID (Dissociative identity disorder). It is that their personalities are strangers to each other, each of them claiming to be treated as an independent person. As far as this issue is concerned, I don’t think I see many exceptions. I also consider that their claim is rational and reasonable. I think that there is no choice but to accept each personality’s independent sense of identity in order to function as their therapist. As I will discuss later, this issue is also what they are struggling with in their daily lives.

The illustration #1 that I’m showing here is what was on the cover jacket of our publication “Dissociation in Plain Language”(Seiwa Pub. Co.,　2010 [in Japanese]). This depicts their life which involves many different individuals inside of themselves.
“How can these alters be so unrelated and independent, although they are residing within a single person’s mind?” you might ask. “Can they really be strangers to eath other?”