{"id":302,"date":"2008-10-21T01:43:19","date_gmt":"2008-10-21T01:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/switchingtime.wordpress.com\/?p=302"},"modified":"2008-10-21T01:43:19","modified_gmt":"2008-10-21T01:43:19","slug":"karen-answers-laura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/?p=302","title":{"rendered":"Karen answers Laura"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Comment by laura on October 18, 2008 7:15 am<\/span><\/span> <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Karen and Dr. Baer,<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you for givng a rat<\/span>ional voice to the horror of child molestation, abuse and incest. I am struggling with dissociative issues, have for a long time but find most of what is written about DID and dissociative experiences to be so bizarre I cannot embrace it I have been diagnosed with MPD, then DID after it was renamed, but it doesn\u2019<\/span>t matter what it\u2019<\/span>s called it is helll. I am a mental health paraprofessional so am more aware than many of the vast possibilities and capabilities of the human mind and the depth of courage it must have taken for you to seek therapy. I feel a kinship with you but am also humbled by your experiences. I do not know if others truly populate my head, sometimes I think there are others but most of the time it feels like a game, and i can stop at any time. My therapist and I both have doubts about the DID diagnosis, due mostly to the sensationalism that the media has painted. it was as you surely know the diagnosis of the week and some of the behaviors i saw and books I read did nothing to dispel my disbelief. this book along with Dr. Ross\u2019<\/span>s book have offered me some solace – I am not just trying to jump on the popular wagon so I can feel if only for a moment that I belong and am human.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am very deeply touched by your struggles, courage and compassion in writing this book and think maybe there is hope for me as well.\u00a0 <\/span>I have always believed suicide would be waiting for me at the end of my days, this gives me the idea that maybe, just maybe,<\/span> that can change. Thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dear Laura,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you sharing your personal struggle. \u00a0I can empathize with you. \u00a0During my therapeutic years with Dr. Baer I chose not to read anything on MPD, now DID. \u00a0I tried to read the book, Sybil,<\/em> once, and\u00a0also tried to watch the movie portraying her life, but I couldn’t. \u00a0It was definitely too bizarre for me. \u00a0As time went on, after integration was complete,\u00a0Dr. Baer and\u00a0I watched the movie Three Faces of Eve<\/em> together. \u00a0I felt I could identify a little more with that story. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Having multiplicity was no laughing matter. \u00a0My life was built on shame and hiding all that happened to me. \u00a0I was living a lie switching all throughout the day, until I was able to acknowledge what was happening to me, in the safety\u00a0of Dr. Baer’s office. \u00a0I believe\u00a0a diagnosis of\u00a0MPD\/DID, as in my case, is rare. \u00a0I\u2019m glad that Dr. Baer never appeared frightened or excited by what I told him; he\u00a0always treated me with the utmost respect and never once gave up on me. \u00a0I believe I survived because Dr. Baer unconditionally cared for me in a very structured therapeutic setting. \u00a0We worked well together. And I was fortunate to find him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

My therapy\u00a0took a long time–eighteen years! \u00a0In the beginning it seemed that I’d never get better. \u00a0I felt suicidal\u00a0most of\u00a0the time. \u00a0Although I\u00a0continue to\u00a0have\u00a0a bad day once in awhile, these days are far from where I once was.\u00a0 After suffering so long, I\u2019m amazed at how far I’ve come. \u00a0It is a life long process to heal from the horrors of\u00a0childhood abuse. \u00a0I believe having alters spared me from the immediate pain I suffered at the hands of my abusers. \u00a0But MPD\u00a0is not a perfect system, it’s complex and takes years to develop and then to unravel and heal from. \u00a0Multiplicity worked well for me as a child, but not as an adult. \u00a0To me to live, there was finally no option than to integrate and become one whole person.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I can understand the doubt you and your therapist are having regarding this diagnosis. \u00a0I had doubts, too! \u00a0However, after trying to rationalize every other possibility for what was happening to me, I couldn’t deny it anymore. \u00a0My story is true. \u00a0Sure, this illness may have been sensationalized in the media, but I never really heard of it before being diagnosed with it.\u00a0This was one of the reasons Dr. Baer and I\u00a0believed our story\u00a0should be shared. \u00a0It is our hope that we can\u00a0help mental health\u00a0professionals,\u00a0medical students and also all those who suffer, to understand MPD\/DID.\u00a0A rare opportunity exists\u00a0through our experiences. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I also feel a kinship with you. Please don’t give up. If you are dealing with this illness, please continue your journey to wellness.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Have faith and hope will soon follow,\u00a0I wish you peace.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Karen<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comment by laura on October 18, 2008 7:15 am Dear Karen and Dr. Baer, Thank you for givng a rational voice to the horror of child molestation, abuse and incest. I am struggling with dissociative issues, have for a long time but find most of what is written about DID and dissociative experiences to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-karens-answers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}