Remember when I was talking about Sybil? Of course you do––it was just a few posts back. Anyway, over this past weekend, sick in bed and literally voice-less, I decided to re-read the Debbie Nathan book––for research, and also because salacious psych exposes are my kryptonite. That’s beside the point. Anyway, in the book, Nathan mentions that during the MPD craze of the eighties and nineties, someone started a newsletter for multiple personality sufferers called Many Voices. And lo and behold, the entire archives are online. It’s equal parts legitimately sad and disturbing and, shall we say, meta-sad and disturbing, knowing now how many of these people were likely to have been manipulated in therapy. My favorite part of the newsletters––again, I know this isn’t technically funny, but… ––is the optimistic/humorous (opti-humorous?) koans offered by various contributors. Below, a selection:
“If we’re multiples, they’re monotones.”
“If someone says, ‘That doesn’t sound like you,’ it probably wasn’t.”
“Caution! Subject to rapid personality changes.”
“I found myself! And another, and another, and another… ”
“Maximum occupancy: 200 people bodies.”
“I had just learned that I am a multiple, and was feeling stunned and angry about it. ‘Forget this,’ I said, ‘I’m not playing host to all these people. Everybody OUT. Immediately.'”
“I’m a community. Who are you?”
“We’re not all multiples.”
“What is a multiple’s favorite fruit? Bananas––they come in bunches.”
“TV Guide: MPD––your alternative to MTV. We dance to the beat of a different drummer. Featuring The Dissociations, a hot new group from the Ego States. Like Madonna, they constantly reinvent themselves.”
“No longer alone. Supported by others, who have others!”
“How does a person diagnosed with MPD know they are completely fused? When they hear the word multiple and think VITAMINS!”
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