Thursday, September 06, 2001

 

I feel bad for Anne Heche. No, not because she "was" "crazy" or "insane" and all the other things she told Barbara Walters on "20/20" last night. I partly feel bad because she suffered so much abuse as a child. But I feel bad for anyone, especially a child, who had to endure any kind of abuse. The reason I feel bad for her is that she has MPD/DID and doesn't know it. Obviously, the 5 or 6 other people with her who did the Barbara Walters interview know it. Anyone who has any experience at all with MPD/DID could easily see there were at least 5 people doing the interview. The most obvious were the "Valley Girl" and the lesbian, who is still obviously in love with Ellen DeGeneres.

During the interview, Heche said she had one other personality, Celestia, who had conversations with God. Heche doesn't believe Celestia is still with her because she's "cured." Well, as someone told me once during a conversation about MPD/DID, "There's never just one." Heche also believes the "split' happened when she was in her 20s. Maybe that's when she became aware of the fact that there are other people with her, but the other people come along to help the host cope with traumatic experiences when the host is a child ... usually younger than 5 years old.

Barbara Walters didn't seem to realize she was interviewing more than one person. But during an interview on the "Today" show this morning, Matt Lauer hit the nail on the head. "All this couldn't have happened to one person," Lauer said.

MPD/DID is a way for a young child to cope with abuse or trauma that he/she couldn't possibly handle alone. It's a survival tactic and, I believe, people who did survive and have learned to live with the people inside who helped them should be admired. I know I wouldn't have been strong enough to endure some of the trauma I've heard and read about. The fact that (at least) thousands and thousands of people found a way to survive is mind boggling.

I'm sure it's also mind boggling for someone to come to terms with the fact that other people are living in his/her body and have been there for years. But those who do come to terms with it and live with it everyday are stronger than some people, like me, could ever imagine.

I'm hoping that a doctor experienced in dealing with people with MPD/DID watched Heche on "20/20" and offers to help her. I hope she accepts the offer. Many people view MPD/DID as "the gift of plurality." I hope someday Heche can see that, too.

posted by Anne 9/06/2001 09:50:00 AM