Ann Garvey's List: 8-16-12

• Herschel Walker, the winner of the Heisman Memorial Trophy from 1982, made a special visit to Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune Aug. 9 to speak out about mental health.
• In 2008, Walker published his autobiography titled “Breaking Free.” In the book he announced, for the first time, his battle with dissociative identity disorder, more commonly known as multiple personality disorder.
• t wasn’t until he learned of more dangerous blackouts, in which he told his former wife he was going to kill her, that Walker decided he needed to get some help. Through the help of his pastor he found a hospital where he began treatment.
• lthough DID can be dangerous, through treatment Walker is able to control it. Walker said he began to love his personalities. He became the person he is because of their actions.
• “The best thing that ever happened to me was going to the hospital,” said Walker. “It was the proudest moment of my life.”

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• Definition of dissociative identity disorder

    

  1.a psychological disorder characterised by the existence of multiple, distinct identities or personality states 2.a diagnosis of the above states as determined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM).
• abbreviated as DID formerly known as Multiple Personality States (MPD) further information on http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx18.htm and http://www.pods-online.org.uk Examples 1. Lucy lives with DID 2. Lucy's amnesiac episodes are caused by Dissociative Identity Disorder.

• Finding a Qualified Therapists
   Dissociative Identity Disorder
   Interview Questions
   
   Below I will share with you some questions that you might ask when interviewing  a therapist. Make sure that you look through them and add your own. Bring them  with you to the interview and take notes. It will also be important for you to  know what ‘model’ of therapy they will be practicing. Following the questions, I  will provide a quick explanation of each – and you can research further if need  be.

• (Orignial Air Date: 05/04/12) Sarah took her two young boys, ages 2 and 4, to the gas station and ended up missing for 13 hours. Claiming no memory of what happened during that time, Sarah says she came to at an area hospital miles away. The boys were found alone in the car at the gas station by a convenience store clerk who called the police. Authorities were able to get in touch with Sarah’s husband because her phone and wallet were found in the car. She has been arrested on child abandonment charges and is awaiting trial in June. Did she really lose her memory, or is she making the whole story up? While at Dr. Phil, Sarah undergoes a polygraph examination regarding her memory of what occurred during those 13 hours. Don’t miss the shocking results!
• aving just watched, I'm confused as to why Dr Phil isn't seeing dissociative identity disorder as a possibility. Granted I'm not a medical professional but just from what I know of D.I.D. , I believe that is something they should look into.
• I was wondering if Sarah had some type of mental problem, such as disassociative disorder or multiple personalities, if that could interfere with the results of the lie detector test?  I mean obviously somewhere in her subconscious she could possibly know what happened and her conscious have no idea.  A lot of times one personality is not aware of what another one is doing.  I believe this poor woman is telling the truth and just has no idea where to turn for help. 

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• It was the middle of Summer in 2008 — a total of 7 years after I had been diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder at the psychiatry clinic where I walked in reporting a feeling of dread that I might actually have multiple personalities.
• And then he showed us a documentary on Kenneth Bianchi, the Hillside Strangler, who attempted to use Dissociative Identity Disorder as a legal defence when arrested. I was mad within the first five minutes, because I could tell so immediately that he was faking, based on my direct experiences with the disorder.
• At the end of the class, I waited to talk to my instructor about DID. I couldn’t tell if he had me figured out as soon as my question left my mouth, but if he did, he didn’t care when he said “Frankly, I’ve never met anyone with Dissociative Identity Disorder who is functional.” His words cut through me, my heart sped up in a panic that he was judging me, and tears rushed to my face as I flushed. I told him, in tears, who I really am, after the final marks came out.
• I started seeing a psychiatrist who had a special clinical interest in psychotherapy, late in 2009. He was the first professional to take my no-drugs boundary seriously. He was the first person to validate me (instead of instantly rejecting everything I had to say) when I spoke of traumatic memories and relationships.
• I simply walk straight into life-threatening interactions with people who prey on other peoples’ vulnerabilities, and it isn’t until I am being harassed, emotionally blackmailed, stalked, sexually assaulted, raped, sodomized against my will, battered, or even threatened with being trafficked as a sex slave, that I fully comprehend for the first time just how much danger I am actually in.

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• Cold Feet and Multiple Personality Disorder
• The panicking will start (meaning I’m having some type of fit at least once a day) about two weeks to ten days before the event (the event would be the day I leave, in this case), it’ll peak three or four days before the event, and it’ll stop two days before the event happens.
• Today marks my final “full week” in the country. Needless to say, my panicking is in full swing. I’m starting to say “I don’t want to go anymore” out loud, my to-do list on my iPod Touch is getting longer, and the fact that I’m not checking things off is making me panic more… it’s never a good thing.

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• I cannot tell exactly when this all started, but about 8 months ago I was going through a very difficult period in my life, and this resulted in a lot of stress and I thought I was going mental, hearing another voice inside my head more and more often.
• ut lately she has been possessing our body more and more often, and I don't quite like things that she does, like smoking or spending time with some suspicious people, and I can't even know for sure what she does, because she is present all the time and I'm not. I'm not sure what to do.
• It seems like we've taken to each other, like sisters maybe, but I find it uneasy that no one knows, and she wants to keep it a secret. Is it even okay to keep living like that? Our friends are getting suspicious. They say the look in my eyes is that of a different person.

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• I'm not sure if it's a recognized disordder or now, but I know two people whp claim to be diagnosed with DID. Neither of them and/ or their 'identities' are influenced by culture or religion.
   One of them is a more extreme case than the other. And it's not a new or recent issue that they have been faced with.
   One of them is 30 now and states he was diagnosed with DID between the age of 12 and 16.
  
   Like the person above said, i think any mental illness that is not accepted socially, religiously, or culturally is pinned as a sort of "religious trauma." main reason being lack of knowledge or understanding.
• think being non sprirtual is related to identity disorder
  
   When you are spiritual, you discover your true nature, your talents and skills, your true potential, your self worth.
• In field of psychology there are serious questions about DID or even if it is a disorder at all (it is still listed on DSM). I remember one of my professor telling us that he has never met anyone with MPD in his entire life as a practicing psychologist. However, from what I have read, DID does exists & its shaped by cultural/religious influence from culture to culture (possession by demons/jins/ghosts, etc). In cultures where mental disorders are not well understood, spiritual explanation may very well make sense.

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• I was diagnosed with DID 10 years ago. Been on and off in therapy. Tried 100's of meds. Can you be helped if your currently being abused? If you dont know who is being abused how to you stop them from being abused. How do you stop the switching?

• I'm having an issue with a part who LOVES to abuse substances of any kind - to dangerous levels.
• This part in particular carries a lot of pain, most of it I think. How can she get so much help?
  I am really new to DID and this substance abuse thing has become a huge issue and trying to get a handle on it has been really hard as I've learned that others help.
• What are the possible explanation for this in the world of DID? I'll take guesses or theories or personal experiences. I know every system is different, but please please please help. I've got to get this under control before my and my 20+ parts end up in rehab pointing fingers at each other.

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• fter I realized that my intense triggering came from that letter, I sealed it in an envelope and gave it to my best friend to read.
• She is going to hand-deliver the letter to my therapist since she will see him before I will. That way, my therapist and I can hit the ground running talking through it when I see him.
• The most disturbing thing is that these are the only parts she felt were safe enough to talk with me about.

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• It was kinda funny I woke up and went to swing my legs over the bed. Well there is a wall there.
• I went to the other side last night. That in part is what the bridge I had to build was.
• She is a fisherman. She knows how fish cycle through out the day.
• Somehow what happened last night was tied into my yesterday morning.
• I know a little bit about what that was about.  
• I have never sought this bridge keeper job. I do not like it. Right now in this moment I know I have always had it and it has always been a part of my life. It scares me when I am not in that role. It does not bother me a bit when in it.

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• We can do this, right?
• We decided after a few minutes of bad mojo that we should take another look at the Dr. Marvin picture.  Yes, that’s about how we roll.  Just whatever it takes to calm our system down. 
• I wish I were perfect in this, but we’re not … just 9 times out of 10 we’re ok with being on our own a lot, and it is ESPECIALLY, because we have the writing and the reading options. 
• Dust and me are like … hey if you don’t bother me, then I’m not going to bother you.  If you ever find yourself wondering how I do it all … just think … oh yeah … the woman doesn’t dust!

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• I am going to try to do some of the things.  Number One is to list three new things you are grateful for each day, for 21 days.  Number Two is to journal every day about something positive that happened that day.  Three is exercise–I’m already working on that one.  The other two are meditation and random acts of kindness.
• I also wrote to T about ideas of things that would make me/parts feel comforted, and I realized as I was writing that all of them had to do with outside of session things.  I don’t think the things I came up with are actually the most important, but I think they showed that I am still wanting reassurance that she continues to exist and think/care about me between appointments.

• At times the anger becomes overwhelming — at the abusers, at the people who deny it happened, at the people who cover it up, at anyone who looks or acts like the ones who hurt you.
• Because of these things, I have DID/MPD, PTSD
• Those things are real. They happened.
• I have to keep telling myself these things, because it’s easy to spiral down into no-one-believes-me land, where no one is functional. I know no one outside of me truly believes me. But we inside believe me, and that’s all that matters.

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• Last night there was much emotional upheaval, and the body went through a lot as well.
• Today, I have just been trying to take care of myself as best as possible.

• I found myself so relaxed. And since my son did not want to do activities too close to the falls, i found that there was no recurrences of those nervous pinpricks where i thought someone might be trying to say something.

• I listened to my friend’s opinions non-judgmentally, and when it was my turn to speak, I was able to answer her rationally – while still maintaining my boundaries.  So, here were my responses:
• I had to remind myself that my friend has never met K., and she has never really been interested in my therapy before, so she is just misinformed.
• She has allowed me to formulate my own goals in therapy.  She supports my goals, has educated me on dissociation, and shared skills with me on how to live with dissociation.  Of most importance, K. has a sense of professionalism.  She has strict boundaries which eliminates confusion (example: she has a “no touching/no hugging” rule which at first I hated but now I understand is very important to my healing). 
• I know K. will comment that my System supported one another via internal communication to stay calm and rational. 

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• Photo taken by Josefine, a swedish photography student currently based out of Los Angeles.
• The reason she decided to pursue photography full time is because she saw the impact pictures can have on people, both by looking at them, and making them.
• She wants her pictures to be a voice to those that have no voice of their own yet, and to bring out the beauty hidden in the midst of brokenness.

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• This link and video may cause triggers or make you cry or help you understand you’re not alone or something else I don’t know or haven’t thought of.

   

  http://projectunbreakable.tumblr.com/