Sybil for the 21st Century?

Nearly fifty years ago, the popular culture was introduced to a rare and horrific mental illness that was, at the time, called Multiple Personality Disorder. The 1976 movie Sybil was apparently based on a true story of a young woman academician who suffered from this ailment, today called Disassociative Identity Disorder.  She had sixteen distinct personalities, and could not live an ordinary life until she was treated.

This award-winning made-for-TV movie (based on the book by the same name) starred Sally Fields, and made quite a splash in the culture of the time.  Debates rage over how much of the novel/movie is true, but the disorder is very real.  Since that time, we haven't heard much about this ailment. 

According to the Mayo Clinic:

Formerly known as multiple personality disorder, this disorder involves "switching" to other identities. You may feel as if you have two or more people talking or living inside your head. You may feel like you're possessed by other identities.

Each identity may have a unique name, personal history and features. These identities sometimes include differences in voice, gender, mannerisms and even such physical qualities as the need for eyeglasses. There also are differences in how familiar each identity is with the others. Dissociative identity disorder usually also includes bouts of amnesia and often includes times of confused wandering.

And this is a mental illness brought on by trauma:

Sometimes dissociative disorder symptoms occur in a crisis with severe or impulsive behavior. People with these symptoms need care more urgently and in an emergency department at a hospital when safety becomes a concern.

If you or a loved one has less urgent symptoms that may be a dissociative disorder, contact your doctor or other health care professional for help. 

Moreover, 

Dissociative disorders usually arise as a reaction to shocking, distressing or painful events and help push away difficult memories. Symptoms depend in part on the type of dissociative disorder and can range from memory loss to disconnected identities. 

Symptoms include "a blurred sense of your own identity" and "mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors," again, according to the Mayo Clinic.  Causes, again according to the Mayo clinic, include traumatic events in childhood, such as sexual abuse:

Dissociative disorders usually start as a way to cope with shocking, distressing or painful events. The disorders most often form in children who go through long-term physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Less often, the disorders form in children who've lived in a home where they went through frightening times or they never knew what to expect. The stress of war or natural disasters also can bring on dissociative disorders.  You're at greatest risk of having a dissociative disorder if you've had long-term physical, sexual or emotional abuse during childhood.

Other shocking, distressing or painful events also may cause dissociative disorders to arise. These may include war, natural disasters, kidnapping, torture, extensive early-life medical procedures or other events.

Per the Mayo Clinic, this disorder spawns other symptoms, including: "depression and anxiety," "problems with sexual function," "personality disorders," self-injury or high-risk behavior," and "suicidal thoughts and behavior."

Obviously, this is purely a clinical, psychological explanation for this disorder.  Christians who believe in the supernatural certainly see the possibility of an underlying spiritual cause in such cases.  Whether any individual is being tormented and victimized by demons is not something that secular mental health professionals are qualified to address.  For this article, my goal is to show how mainstream mental health professionals describe such things, and how mainstream journalists typically accommodate one person with multiple personae.

Moreover, the existence of this disorder highlights the importance of protecting children from predators, from being sexualized, and from exposure to people with sexual abnormalities and disorders.  Again, per the Mayo Clinic: 

Children who are physically, emotionally or sexually abused are at increased risk of developing mental health conditions, such as dissociative disorders. If stress or other personal issues are affecting the way you treat your child, seek help.

While we don't hear much about this rare disorder, we are seeing a surge in people presenting themselves in different personae, people who seem to have been traumatized and suffer sexual confusion, who are also plagued by suicidal ideation.  There is an increasing social reluctance to see this kind of sexual identity and personality confusion (and even multiplicity) as a malady to be treated, as it is, instead being normalized.  There is increasing mainstream pressure to give actual recognition to multiple personalities, even using multiple names and pronouns for the same person.

By way of example, a recent article in the free New Orleans newspaper The Gambit casually refers to a man by different personalities and genders.  In the February 12, 2024 piece called "A Moment Like This: The Big Gay Baby variety shows are a space to heal your inner child," author Kaylee Poche refers to the same man as both "Maxwell, who is trans" by the plural neuter pronoun "they," as well as "April May" by the singular feminine pronoun "she."

For example: 

• "Maxwell took to the stage as their drag persona April May at the next Big Gay Baby show to perform a mashup of emotional, nostalgic songs."  
• "Maxwell had long dreamed of performing in drag.  They loved singing in their bedroom as a child... and did musical theater in their youth, but they hadn't found the right outlet to get back on stage as an adult." Emphasis added.

The article is peppered with "they say," when quoting Maxwell.  It creates a sense of plurality.  One has to depend on context to determine whether the "they" is singular or plural.  And in fact, there is a plurality to Maxwell's personalities.

On stage, he is "April May."  And the author of this article, when speaking of Maxwell in that context, switches pronouns to "she" - as if Maxwell has multiple personalities instead of his simply acting on stage and playing a role.  The author describes the role as an actual personality.

For example: 

• "The crescendo synched with an epic costume change as she ripped off her black gown to reveal a pink tulle dress underneath."
• "As April May ended her performance, a trans flag with the words 'PROTECT TRANS KIDS' projected onto the screen behind her, and she put her fist into the air."  Emphasis added.

There is video footage of Maxwell speaking - in drag - before the Louisiana Legislature - along with some other activists opposing a bill to prevent certain sexual procedures being implemented on minor children.  One of these activists describes parents who refuse such procedures to their own children as "bigots" who should have no say in their children's mental and physical health, not to mention their education.  It is apparent that these activists do not have children of their own, and they feel entitled to have access to children who are not their own.  We would do well to vet teachers to make sure that they are mentally and sexually healthy, that they respect parental rights and the law, they keep proper boundaries with children, and are not simply acting out something on children that was acted out on them in their own youthful mental and sexual development.

The bill was vetoed by the (former) governor of Louisiana, a Democrat, and the veto was overridden.  

The current penchant for legitimizing - and even compelling - the use of pronouns (some made up, some of mixed gender and number) to accommodate personalities, even using plural pronouns and multiple names/identities, may be covering up genuine cases of Disassociative Personality Disorder.  And not only that, giving such traumatized people (perhaps even sexually traumatized people) access to children - even in their desire to have private access without parental oversight or even consent - should raise red flags.

Often those who are pushing for teachers talking about sexuality with even very young children in public schools - even against the wishes of the parents - try to diffuse the matter by pointing out that "drag" is a benign comedic entertainment genre of the type one sees in light Hollywood comedies and British humor.  But this is different.  This is not comedy.  This is not an actor performing on stage.  What we see with Maxwell is two distinct personalities with two distinct names and pronouns.  He doesn't dress up as a woman on stage for laughs.  He is serious, even to the point of appearing as he does, in a blonde wig and blue face paint - to testify before the Legislature.  We see a reporter writing about him using a bifurcated pronoun scheme based on which personality he is presenting at a given time.  We see a man doing all of these things testifying in favor of allowing professionals to permanently change the physical bodies of children's sexuality by means of surgery and hormones, and for teachers to speak to children about sexual matters - and to do so over the objections of the parents.  

Of course, I have no idea whether Maxwell and the other specific people testifying against this bill were sexually abused as children, or if they suffer with disassociative disorders, but it would certainly be consistent with what we read in the Mayo Clinic article.  It is not uncommon to hear people who identify as non-heterosexual to describe being sexually abused as children.

It is up to those who are healthy - mentally and sexually - to protect children from physical, psychological, and sexual abuse and trauma, and to find a way to generationally reduce the number of people impacted by childhood abuse.  All people within the healthy bell curve have the duty to protect the most vulnerable in our society.  And if people like Maxwell truly want to lead a life unencumbered by the desire to live with multiple personae, to be able to raise healthy and well-adjusted children of his own, there may be a path forward.  That is up to him.  

But neither he, nor any other activist who insists on being addressed in alternate personae, has the right to have access to children against the wishes of their parents.  And mental health professionals, doctors, counselors, and others should give serious consideration to the possibility that we are seeing pathological multiple personalities - and speaking to it - instead of just taking the politically-correct path that helps no-one.