Mental health has been extensively explored by popular media and oftentimes they have their own take on mental illnesses. Conforming to the codes of psychological thriller and “detective story” narratives, films portraying Dissociative Identity Disorder has become a popular and enduring genre. While some movies may successfully highlight mental health conditions, others may reinforce misconceptions, stigmas and stereotypes such as the notion that people with D.I.D are violent and harmful. Although movies like “Split”, “Sybil’ and the recent Amazon Prime show – “Breathe: Into the Shadows” has received a lot of praises and criticisms for their portrayal of D.I.D in a certain manner, in reality, Dissociative Identity Disorder is much deeper and intricate that all of this.
KIM NOBLE : AN ARTIST DIVIDED
“A lot of people are very frightened of us until they meet us”
~ Kim Noble
Kim Noble is a 59-year-old mother who lives in south London with her teenage daughter Aimee, two dogs and more than 20 separate personalities.
Dawn is stuck in 1997, searching for her daughter Sky, who she believes was taken away.
Bonny had the strength to fight for her child through the courts.
Ken is a depressed gay man of 21.
Abi has loneliness in her life.
Ria Pratt is 12 or 13, and is thought to have been abused.
Judy is a 15-year-old anorexic and bulimic, and is often a bit cheeky, but is very good at painting.
Patricia, in her 50’s, is strict and sensible and is the narrator of an intriguing new book called “All of Me.” She is the most consistent personality of Kim.
While all these personalities appear independent, each is a part of Kim Noble, whose main personality is split into several parts, each having an amnesic barrier between them. Her other alter egos include Salome the devout Catholic, a little boy who speaks only Latin, an elective mute, a sensible Hayley, and a handful of children “frozen” in time. While many of the alters are unaware of it, some of the alters know that Kim has Dissociative Identity Disorder or D.I.D—the preferred term for Split Personality Disorder or what used to be called Multiple Personality Disorder.
From the age of 14, Kim spent twenty years in and out of psychiatric hospitals because of being diagnosed with everything from schizophrenia to depression, hysterical amnesia, anorexia and bulimia. Finally, she met Dr Valerie Sinason and Dr Rob Hale at the Tavistock and Portman Clinics and in 1995 she began therapy and was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder.
D.I.D is a rare reaction to severe trauma in which the brain splits into multiple personalities as a defence mechanism to cope with chronic trauma. Kim is believed to have suffered severe trauma from sexual abuse as a young child that caused her mind to split into these multiple personalities and develop D.I.D as a “creative way to cope with unbearable pain”.
In 2004, after spending a short time with an art therapist, Kim and 12 of her alter personalities developed an interest in painting despite having no formal art training. These 12 artists have their own distinctive artistic styles, colours and themes-
Bonny’s pictures often feature robotic dancing figures or “frieze people”, Suzy repeatedly paints a kneeling mother, Anon paints at night and uses texture in paintings, Abi’s paintings are usually people from a behind view, Patricia paints the desert landscapes which according to her are a “bit boring” and Judy’s canvasses are large, conceptual pieces which are usually portraits – some with their eyes open, others shut. Ria on the other hand paints very differently. Using bold bright colours, her childlike but disturbing pieces often reveal deeply traumatic events involving child abuse.
Art has definitely had a therapeutic effect on Kim and instead of coming out as words, the expression comes out in art. These personalities, combined, have had over 60 exhibitions, nationally and internationally.
Generally, Patricia’s personality switches around four or five times a day – a switch that can last five minutes, a few hours or several days. Stress or lack of sleep can increase the number of switches, as can painting – a sign, Patricia believes, that a personality just wants to come out and paint to express themselves.
Despite the fact that she has to live with several alter personalities –– Kim Noble is fortunate enough to be living a relatively normal life. To communicate with “Patricia,” “Judy”, “Salome”, “Ken” and the others, Kim’s therapist sends emails to each of them. All of the personalities have separate email addresses and passwords, and Patricia leaves notes for them. “Patricia” says her situation isn’t such where a single personality represents a specific mood (such as “anger” or “fear”). Instead, each of her 20 personalities has a full range of emotions and living with Dissociative Identity Disorder means “sharing a household—there are different clothes, closets and toothbrushes for each personality.”
In the past few years, Kim Noble was featured in national newspapers such as The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent and several others. She even appeared at the Oprah Show, This Morning Show, Anderson Cooper Show and BBC Radio1 with Victoria Derbyshire.
DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER
Dissociative disorders involve problems with memory, emotion, identity, perception, behaviour and sense of self.
Dissociative Identity Disorder is caused by “overwhelming experiences, traumatic events, and/or abuse occurring in childhood.”
The DSM-5 gives the following diagnostic criteria for Dissociative Identity Disorder:
- “Disruption of identity characterized by two or more distinct personality states, which may be described in some cultures as an experience of possession. The disruption of marked discontinuity in sense of self and sense of agency, accompanied by related alterations in affect, behaviour, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and/or sensory-motor functioning. These signs and symptoms may be observed by others or reported by the individual.
- Recurrent gaps in the recall of everyday events, important personal information, and/or traumatic events that are inconsistent with ordinary forgetting.
- The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
- The disturbance is not a normal part of a broadly accepted cultural or religious practice. Note: In children, the symptoms are not better explained by imaginary playmates or other fantasy play.
- The symptoms are not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (e.g., blackouts or chaotic behaviour during alcohol intoxication) or another medical condition (e.g., complex partial seizures).”
Treatment
Treatment typically involves psychotherapy through which people gain control over the symptoms and the dissociative process. Therapy aims at helping individuals integrate the different elements of identity.
Therapy for this trauma based disorder may be difficult and intense as it requires remembering and coping with traumatic experiences of the past. Cognitive behavioural therapy and dialectical behavioural therapy are two commonly used types of therapy. Like in the case of Kim Noble, art can have a therapeutic effect on individuals with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Hypnosis has also been found to be helpful in some cases. There are no medications which specifically threat the symptoms of D.I.D, but doctors may prescribe medicines such as anti-psychotic drugs or anti-depressants which may be helpful in the treatment of those specific symptoms.
Thus, with appropriate treatment, most of the people suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder are successful in coping with the major symptoms of this rare mental illness and improving their ability to function and live a productive and fulfilling life.
Very interesting and helpful content. Very well research done. Looking forward to reading more about such widely misunderstood disorders.