The Truddi Chase case, the American author who had 92 different personalities

That of Truddi Chase (1935-2010), an American author, is the most famous case of dissociative identity disorder (commonly called “multiple personality disorder”), a pathological condition in which a person has two or more distinct identities who take turns controlling his behavior. It is an extreme defense mechanism that our brain puts in place to cope pain caused by repeated trauma. In Chase’s case, the sexual abuse and violence meted out by his stepfather led to the fragmentation of his mind in many ways. 92 different personalities. His autobiography, When Rabbit Howlstalks about the experience of being diagnosed and living with this disorder.

The story of Truddi Chase, the American writer with multiple personalities

Truddi Chase was born in 1935 in New York. From the age of two and a half his childhood was shattered by repeated sexual abuse, physical and psychological violence on the part of the stepfather and by the complete protective absence of the mother. To cope with this pain, her mind began to fragment: the first infantile identities were born (such as Rabbit and Little Dusty), which took the place of the conscious Truddi for endure the pain and dissociate completely in times of abuse. Gradually, his mind created other alter egos: some angry, others more caring, still others were sociable or on the contrary introverted and solitary. In later life, Truddi had memory lapses inexplicable: she found objects bought without remembering having done so, letters or notes written in handwriting different from her own or found herself in places without knowing how she got there. Friends and family said that sometimes he changed his posture, even his linguistic accent and tone of voice.

So he decided to ask for help and start a course of psychotherapy: while talking to the therapist, a voice different from his emerged. Then yet another. And another. From there he began to realize that his “empty spaces” had a meaning: they represented the moments in which “the Troops” (that’s what she called them), took control. They coexisted in her 92 different personalities: each had a role, a function and a distinct character; some were created to deal with violence, others to continue living when Truddi couldn’t make it. In those days, when we talked about dissociative identity disorder, the therapeutic goal was to integrate these personalities until they are recomposed into a single consciousness. Truddi made a different choice: those voices were born to save her from unbearable pain, so she decided to “not care” and live with them as “an internal family”.

What is dissociative identity disorder that Truddi Chase suffered from

Childhood is a phase during which the areas of our brain that should blend together memory, emotions and a sense of identity are still developing. If a child experiences repeated trauma, the mind can adopt a strategy extreme but, at least, protective: instead of build a single coherent self“divides” it into several parts creating separate identities having specific memories, emotions and personalities. From a neurobiological point of view, this means that circuits such as the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortexwhich are normally used for autobiographical memory, “choose” not to integrate traumatic events; the amygdala keeps alive a constant sense of alarm and fear. Thus, instead of a single story, many are created: the “identity” or him “alter-ego”. How does all this translate into daily life? When one identity takes control, the others remain silent and very often have no memory of what happened. On the outside, changes can be seen in posture, tone of voice, handwriting, character and even abilities: stories have been recorded of alter-egos who had different food tastes, who could speak languages ​​never known by the primary identity, different sexual genders and ages, right-handed or left-handed.

To date, DID has an incidence of between 1% and 1.5% of the general population, but in specialized clinical contexts the relevance is decidedly higher, not considering clinical underestimation. Very often it is accompanied by other disorders such as depression, anxiety and tall self-harm and suicidal risk. Specialist support with pharmacological and psychological therapy aimed at reintegrating the self is therefore essential.