The average number of alter selves within a multiple system is thirteen,
but some multiples have many times more than that. A few years ago, those
with twenty-plus selves were known as "super-multiples". These
days, however, therapists are being graced with the presence of more of
their clients' selves. The number now required to be considered "extra"
in the multiple stakes is 100-plus, and it is know by the more clinical
term "poly-fragmented MPD(DID)".
This increase is probably more a reflection of increasing knowledge about
MPD than of multiples actually becoming more split. Pioneer MPD therapists
were not as skilled as they are today in recognising switching and other
dissociative phenomena. Furthermore, MPD has been seen for most of this
century as a rare and bizarre psychiatric illness and clinicians have
tried to get rid of alter selves and cure the disturbance. These days,
multiplicity is generally recognised as a natural, creative defence against
extreme trauma, and this enables therapists to honour the multiple system
and allow it to unfold completely. Consequently, therapists are going
beneath the top layer of selves to find huge systems in some clients.
In addition to their size, these poly-fragmented systems are more intricate
than standard MPD in terms of structure and in their greater degree of
sequestration of information.
Many multiple systems have layers of selves and memory, but poly-fragmented
systems take this to the extreme. Layering is where, beneath one self
or group of selves, lies another group, and beneath that another, and
so on. The sub-layers may lie dormant until the issues of the above layer
have been resolved.
Usually, this layering has to do with organisation of traumatic material.
For poly-fragmented systems, however, there may also be layering for the
purpose of self-preservation. For example, a multiple may have a self
called Jane, and beneath her are other, identical, Janes, who declare
they are the same person, and yet are secretly independent. This creates
the same kind of effect as those trick mirrors in old adventure movies,
where the hero is reflected repeatedly inside the mirror and the baddie
doesn't know who the real target is. Similarly, layers of identical selves
can act as decoys and, even if one or many Janes are destroyed (by the
abusers or the therapist), Jane still exists within.
Poly-fragmented systems also have complex group formations. Often the
members of one group know about each other but are unaware of the existence
of other groups. For example, a multiple may have a group of selves who
suffered incest, another group abused by a cult, another who were bullied
at school, and another who go about the daily life with no memory of abuse.
When a member of one group is "out", the members of the other
groups lie dormant. In this way, a multiple can be in therapy for years,
working on incest issues, and then suddenly begin getting memories of
other abuse, of which she previously had no knowledge, as a different
internal group becomes active.
Poly-fragmented systems also contain sub-systems, where some alter selves
are a result of splitting off from another self, who was split from the
original self - in other words, the alter self of a multiple may herself
be multiple. So Anne may have a shy and traumatised teenager self called
Petra, who herself has alter selves Poppy (who expresses Petra's carefree
side) and Patrick (who cries the tears Petra never dares to show).
Additionally, the general fragmentation of information in these systems
is greater. Various selves each have a small piece of one incident, whereas
in standard MPD one self experienced the entire incident. So when a child
is beaten by her father, one alter self takes the beating against her
body, another feels the pain, another cries, another loves her father,
another hates him, and another watches dispassionately, recording the
information. Because the picture is broken into so many small pieces,
regaining complete awareness of what happened is very difficult, even
impossible. Often, the best the poly-fragmented multiple can achieve is
knowing that, at some time in her past, she felt the pain of a fist smashing
into her body, even though she does not know where, when or how. Fortunately,
having the complete picture is not necessary for healing.
Poly-fragmented MPD has been strongly linked to ritual abuse. This is
because ritual cults practice extreme, mind-boggling abuse purposefully
designed to shatter the self. It is also because many cults are aware
of the dissociative process and deliberately invoke it in children by
way of hypnosis, drugging, overstimulation and/or sensory deprivation.
They then create cult-loyal selves in the children and secure them, using
specific codes and triggers, from the children's conscious awareness.
For example, Anne may have a cult-loyal alter who only comes out when
she hears a certain word connected with a certain sequence of tones. As
these are never part of Anne's daily life, and as she automatically switches
into the cult-loyal alter when she hears them, she stays ignorant of the
fact that this alter is within her. As she grows up, however, breaking
away from the cult influence and beginning therapy, the security codes
start to weaken. They are not being reinforced by the cult and, at the
same time, face pressure from Anne's growing self-awareness. It is important
to always remember that, even though these alters were triggered and moulded
by the cult, they are the creation of the survivor. They belong to her,
not the cult, and ultimately it is she who has sovereignty over them.
Poly-fragmentation can be a daunting picture for therapist and client
alike. They may never be able to map the intertwined relationships or
get to know all the alters. But this doesn't mean treatment is impossible.
Although poly-fragmented systems seem chaotic and hopelessly dense, they
are infact the same mechanism as standard MPD. Therefore, they can be
treated in the same way. Therapists report that multiples with large complex
systems integrate with the same success as those with only a handful of
selves. Most poly-fragmented systems comprise mainly fragments, rather
than fully-developed "personalities", and these are easier and
less painful to integrate. The most common method for bringing together
a complex system is to integrate groups into one self who stands as a
representative for the group issues, then integrate the various selves
into one single person.
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If
you are going to work with ritual abuse survivors, you must also get educated
if you want to be effective. And you must learn to be humble. Trauma survivors
do not need to be around ignorant, modern-day Pharisees. Survivors in
pain need people who will connect with them on an emotional level, get
right down in there where they are, and listen. --Kathleen Sullivan