By Floyd Skloot
October 13, 2007
Switching Time
By Richard Baer
Crown, 360 pages,
$24.95
Early in 1989, Chicago psychiatrist Richard Baer
began
treating a suicidally depressed woman whom he calls Karen Overhill in
his book
"Switching Time." She was a married mother in her mid-30s, living with
an
abusive husband in the south Chicago suburbs, and her troubles included
periods
of time about which she could later recall nothing. She seemed to Baer
to be
"helpless" and to talk "as if each word has to be urged out, as if an
internal
force is interfering with her telling me what's wrong."
Within a
year,
Baer understood that Karen suffered from multiple personality disorder,
the
condition made famous by the 1973 best seller "Sybil." That internal
force
interfering with Karen was a small platoon of alternative personalities.
It took
four more years of slow, steady work together for those various
personalities to
begin revealing themselves to Baer, and for him to determine that there
were 17
of them. Karen's inner world was like a hall of mirrors, except that
none of the
apparitions was an illusion to her: They lived separately, had names,
had
identities, moved out into the world.
Some of Karen's alternative
personalities, such as Claire and Sidney, were those of small children.
Julie
and Sandy were adolescents. Several, including businesslike Katherine
and
protective Holdon, were adults of varying ages. Five were male. Youthful
Jensen,
an artist, was black (Karen is white), and he eventually drew a picture
of all
17 of them so Baer might keep them straight.
" 'We all have
different
sides to our personality,' " Baer eventually explained to Karen. "But
for you,
there are separations to the different parts of you, and they're not
fully aware
of one another."
By 1998, thanks in part to his empathetic care
and in
part to his use of hypnosis, Baer had led his patient to full
integration. He
helped her face a childhood history of savage sexual abuse, helped her
manage
her marital issues, helped her avoid suicide until suicide no longer
called to
her, and the 17 personalities finally merged into one -- Karen -- who
then gave
Baer permission to write "Switching Time," his account of her illness
and
treatment.
Using extensive progress notes he made during his work
with
her, incorporating the letters and journals and drawings and dreams
Karen
provided, and adding research into the limited field of professional
literature
on multiple personality disorder, Baer has written a book that is,
essentially,
a detailed case study of multiple personality disorder for lay readers.
"Switching Time" is meant to record "a remarkable human drama," and it
does.
Karen's shocking story, and Baer's account of what was involved in
"holding
herself together," make memorable impressions.
But the book can
be slow,
tedious, repetitious going. As it tracks the nuances of advance and
retreat
through the nine years Karen and Baer worked together, "Switching Time"
fails to
consider what needed to be left out to improve pacing or sustain
momentum,
especially in the early stages of treatment, when Karen is unable to
gain much
ground. Like the reader, Baer -- who compares his work with Karen to
rescuing a
non-swimmer drowning in a river -- is forced to "wonder if we'll ever
get to
shore."
Karen's story is certainly harrowing. Her father's
systematic
sexual abuse was unspeakably savage and included providing Karen to
friends and
extended family members, satanic cult rites and near-death experiences.
Her
mother not only failed to intercede, she treated Karen vengefully, and
both
parents' cruelties continued into Karen's adult life, even after her
father was
arrested for abusing others.
One of the book's most intense
moments
involves the mother pressuring Karen to testify on the father's behalf
during
his trial, swearing that he never abused her. We all know this sort of
thing
happens, though we may not understand the depths to which some
perpetrators will
go. Like Baer we may say, "I know children get abused all the time, but
it's
always been outside my personal experience to witness someone who's
survived
such a childhood." Bearing witness is one crucial aspect of "Switching
Time." He
witnesses, he listens, for us all.
Baer's capacity to listen, to
hear
Karen without judging her, to take the time to gain her trust, provides
the real
therapeutic breakthrough and makes the book work. It is important for
the story
he has to tell that Baer's presence be a part of the narrative. In
truth,
"Switching Time" is about Baer as well as Karen, about his reactions,
his
thoughts, his decision-making process and the way the two of them work
together.
Some readers may find his frequent inclusions of praise for his work --
praise
offered not just by Karen but by several of her alternate personalities
-- a bit
self-indulgent, but it does appear deserved.
Karen is something
of a
joint author of "Switching Time," since many crucial revelations are
drawn
directly from her writings. Especially powerful are her descriptions of
what it
is like to have multiple personality disorder. Here is her account of a
typical
day, where different actions seem to be performed by different
personalities:
"Karen had nightmares and we let her sleep all
day. Miles
went to the basketball game with James, Katherine colored eggs for
Easter, Sandy
made up the kids' baskets, Ann took the baskets to church to get them
blessed,
Juliann cleaned the house, and Holdon picked up the
ham."
----------
Floyd Skloot's book "Selected Poems:
1970-2005"
is scheduled to be released April. His memoir, "In the Shadow of
Memory," won a
2004 PEN Center USA Literary Award.
Copyright A9 2007, Chicago Tribune