This is something I have been meaning to write about for a while as it very clearly shows how beliefs can affect our lives. I won’t be including links to research papers or case studies here as there is a lot on the internet already and as always I expect you to go do some background checking rather than believe everything written in one article!
Let’s understand first what a split-personality disorder is…
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is the new term used these days but in the past it was known as “split personality disorder” or “multiple personality disorder” which are the terms I am more used to having started studying this a long time ago.
DID is a complex mental health condition where a person has two or more distinct personality states, often called “alters”. These alters can be so different that you could consider them to be very different people even though they are using the same body. They have their own unique personal behaviours, desires, skills, histories and even physical attributes.
At the time of diagnosis there may be 2-4 alters that are apparent but over time more may be discovered. Most have fewer than 10 alters but because there are some that can have hundreds of alters the average sits at around 14/15 distinct personalities!
An alter may be present for an hour, several hours or even days before it disappears and another alter and thus a different personality takes over, though there are instances of switching happening within seconds of each other or after many years.
The cause of DID is known to be repeated or severe childhood trauma and medically it is thought that the mind compartmentalises itself in order to cope with that stress.
Switching in DID involves triggers
There is usually a trigger that shifts a person from one personality state to another. Stress is the biggest trigger and high and prolonged stress can make a DID sufferer constantly switch from one to another in a carousel fashion, hence why it is called “Carousel Switching”.
This stress can be in the form of physical stress, a traumatic event or a sight, smell, sound etc that reminds the person of a past traumatic event.
Certain times of year such as a birthday, holiday, anniversary etc can be triggers.
Due to the fact that each alter may have different abilities and skills, a switch can often happen when another alter can better handle the current situation. For example there are examples where only one alter has done driving lessons and passed their driving test whereas the other alters have not, hence that alter will come forth when driving is needed!
Switching can happen also due to positive events. For example, if a certain alter strongly likes what is currently happening, it can come forwards and take over from the previous alter. For example that alter may have a strong like of a certain toy or movie and be drawn forward due to those happening in front of them.
Awareness of other alters
Very often an alter has absolutely no idea that one or more of other alters exists. In fact this is usually the starting state before diagnosis.
Through interactions with others, and especially with therapy, the various alters can slowly become aware of each other. It may start off with some alters being partially aware of one other alter but not all, then gradually being aware of more. With time an alter may become aware that it is shifting to another personality.
The aim of treatment is to eventually unite or merge the different alters towards one identity, first by making the person safe then working through the traumas that created the DID before working on integration.
I find explaining DID is useful in helping people progress spiritually. While the vast majority of us do not suffer with DID, I find that there is a certain degree of separation and unawareness in all of us – we shift between different states of being depending on what we are facing, moving into different defensive or reactionary states when faced with challenges, such as the characterologies mentioned by Barbara Brennan in her books.
Because we are often not fully conscious when we do this and are often on “auto pilot” in our lives, we can do something akin to DID treatment aims if you wish to grow spiritually. We have to become more present in what we are doing, thinking and feeling in order to recognise all of our Self such that we can actually alter that behaviour and grow.
Noticing what triggers us into different states can be very helpful in being more aware of when our personality shifts or defences come into play.
Differences in alters… including beliefs
There are a huge amount of possible difference between alters way beyond what I could possibly write here, so please do go and look it up as it is absolutely fascinating!
Alters can have widely different beliefs. They can be of different religious faiths with some being atheist and others not. Some alters may be of a different gender persuasion than the others, there are even some cases where an alter believes it is an alien or animal.
Food preferences, health interest, clothing choices, hobbies and interests are all common differences. Emotional states can vary a lot with one having depression whilst another being very happy.
Skills can vary greatly too. One may be a musical genius yet another may be completely tone-deaf. One good at maths and another not. Even the handwriting, tone of voice or accent between alters can be a huge difference.
What really interests me though is the physical differences…
Physical differences between alters
Despite being in the same physical body and thus theoretically starting with the same genetics or cellular memory, different alters can show very different physical traits. Have a look at some of these examples:
Vision – some alters may be near or far sighted and the others are not. There is even a documented case of one alter being blind and the others not – the change in blindness to seeing happens within seconds of the switch!
Allergies – one alter may react to food, pollen or medications whilst others do not.
Cardiovascular – one alter may have high blood pressure or heart palpitations but others do not.
Right/left-handedness – the dominant hand and foot can be different between alters.
Body pain – an alter may have constant muscle pain or cramp in a part of the body whilst others do not.
Diabetes and other hormonal diseases – one alter can be type 2 or even type 1 diabetes yet the other alters have no diabetes.
Immune function – there are documented cases of different immune system markers and function between alters.
EEG readings – different alters have been documented to have different brain-wave states to each other.
Shoe size – there is one documented case where the shoes sized changed from 37 to 38 or 39 depending on which alter was present.
Neurological symptoms/diseases – paralysis, seizures and numbness can be very different between alters.
All of the above physical differences were measured objectively in a clinical setting and so they are considered strong evidence that those people were not acting or faking it in some way.
How do can these physical changes happen?
There has been a lot of theories and there is a lot of complex scientific explanation we could go into here but essentially these changes happen due to a shift in neurophysiological state as each alter comes forth.
Each alter believes they are something different to the other alters. They think differently, act and move differently and so the nerve impulses are different and interact with the body and thus dictate to the body how it should be and function differently. This includes what genes are switched on or off in any given cell, as which genes are active in a cell dictate what the cells does and becomes.
By the way, I will be writing in more detail this nervous tissue influence on the body and how we can use our thoughts to change that at a later date.
There have been a lot of studies around the world on how our thoughts and feelings affect the physical body and vice versa. I have written around this subject a lot on my blog and in fact the “spiritual significance” series of articles very much delves into each organ and what beliefs and emotions effect them, if you want to go into more detail.
Understanding belief to a deeper level
The main take-away from this is that your thoughts, emotions, actions and reactions to the external world are formed from your beliefs. These in turn have a big impact not only on your experiences but even on what your body is capable of and how healthy it is.
If diabetes for example, truly was all about what we eat and the damage caused to the pancreas and/or receptors of cells etc as we are told, how can diabetes suddenly disappear from one alter to another alter in a DID patient within minutes?!
Belief is far more powerful than many of us think!
The alter with diabetes holds a certain set of beliefs that results in diabetes whereas the others do not. Whether or not we delve into gene switching, altered dietry choices, altered nerve impulses or whatever, it is clear that disease and health is much more dependant on what we believe than on the official explanations given.
When it comes down to it belief is a choice, even if it may seem hard to choose a different belief.
The old English word for belief I was told in the past came from the word belie, though there does seem to be a lot of other opinions on this! For me, I like to think of belief meaning something you choose to BE in order to maintain the LIE of your existence.
I don’t mean lie in terms of telling a falsehood in the way most would understand it. I mean that our current realities are just a tiny part of all that is and our beliefs maintain us in a very narrow band of existence compared to what else is possible.
If you have diabetes for example, while that may be true right now and that you can for example do some laboratory tests to prove that, it is still a lie that you cannot be without diabetes.
The belief ties you to that experience of having diabetes, thus you could say that agreeing to that LIE makes you BE that person. BEing that person with diabetes also makes you habitually repeat the LIE over and over again, keeping your experience of having diabetes your truth and your reality.
I am using a physical example here but the same applies to our other beliefs. Many of us would love to see auras, contact beings in other realities and so on. Again our beliefs keep us tied to our experiences and only by curiosity, questioning, testing and choosing differently can we open up to new possibilities.
Sudden vs gradual changes in belief
Most of us gradually test out and change beliefs. For example learning about the official causes of type 2 diabetes, teaching yourself about diet and nutrition and understanding how that can change the biochemistry of the body etc etc may help you slowly come out of having diabetes through choices, actions and mechanisms you understand. Many people around the world have done exactly this by the way!
Many of us spiritual/new-age types of people have experienced or read about sudden consciousness changes or sudden healings that have happened to others. Despite knowing that sudden changes can happen and even if it has happened to us in the past, we often struggle however to make them possible.
I hope this article using DID patients as an example can help you understand belief to a different level and help you open up to bigger and more sudden shifts in your life.
Meditating such that you can see what is beyond what your ego/mind defines as your Self, see an alternate self, tap into all-that-is, feel your body in a different way or see it in a different way are some possible examples of how you can open up to a shift. For most of us that may manifest eventually by being consistent and repeating those exercises over and over but please do let me know if you experience a sudden shift in your life!
Contemplate on the DID sufferers who can go from blindness to seeing or from diabetes to non-diabetes within minutes of changing their conscious state if you want to heal something yourself. Contemplate about those changes in confidence, ability and skill between alters if you would like to improve you relationships with others or gain a new skill yourself. Can you tune into how that other you would think, feel and act?
For those who’s egos need to understand things more before letting a change happen I will soon write about how your consciousness can affect your nerve impulses and how that can change and heal your physical body.
