Comment by Marita Erica Sophia on 30 Sep 2009 at 8:50 am

Dear Karen,

Multiple personality disorder is still called mpd right next to being call Dissociative identity disorder,what was the point of changing the name if the illness continues to be called both at the same time? There has been quite a bit of mentioning of what you call your condition, multiplicity in many series shows and comedy shows and others. I notice it more all the time which is why my curiosity led me to your story. I never heard of your book or much about multiplicity until the last few years but the other day I watched the show “Lie to Me”. The most recent episode talked about a woman who witnessed a murder through one of her alters. I founbd the show quite interesting and searched for more info and found Switching Time was listed. Bought your book on amazon after getting annoyed because Borders was out. How do book stores expect to make money when they don’t house the interesting books? Well, I learned so much from reading your story, and your blog. O My God! I notice people ask you if you watch certain shows so I will to Did you watch the episode of Lie to Me, the one I refer to? I notice you listed the show as one of your favorites. I think they stole a line from your book but don’t be mad it’s a compliment to have someone steal a line from you.

Marita Erica Sophia

Albany

Dear Marita Erica Sophia,

It’s true that Multiple Personality Disorder was renamed Dissociative Identity Disorder years ago, but for me, I was diagnosed MPD, and I will continue to use that term because it narrows my illness down to what my experience was. I even prefer the term “multiplicity” rather than using DID. My choice.

What’s the difference? In my opinion, when I hear DID there is a wide range of disorders that fit into that category. There are many types of dissociative disorders that don’t necessarily include alternate personalities as separate selves. Most of the time when people hear multiple personality disorder they know exactly that that means separate alter personalities. When DID is used, most people are left wondering what type of dissociation does that person have?

Shows like USoT are entertaining, and the cast does a great job trying to portray the life of a multiple, but they are not realistic. I did watch the show “Lie to Me.” I love that show! I have mixed thoughts about their portrayal of a multiple, but found it more realistic than not.

I am not one to judge. It would be nice for the writers who write for these shows to consult with a true multiple like me. I could surely add many entertaining episodes from my personal experience. It’s my hope that if any show decides to use multiplicity for their story line that they portray a multiple by adding a bit more fact than fiction.

I’m sorry that you had a hard time finding our book at Borders. I have no idea why some stores have the books on the shelf and others need to have it ordered. That’s always been a mystery to me. But I’m glad you ordered and received your book from Amazon.com. For some reason, most books I look for never seem to be available in the bookstore either.

Thank you for all your compliments, especially your interest to gain knowledge by reading more about the illness. And thank you for sharing that a line was stolen from our book! I wondered which line it was, but it doesn’t matter.  At least I know the writers are reading Switching Time.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and opinions. That’s important to me!

Karen