Case Study of Multiple Personality [Silent](C. C. Wholey, 1923)

This film records a case of multiple personality. A woman (Mrs. X) regresses to a childhood state (Susie). She also has another, less well-developed secondary personality (Jack). Later, in response to the death of her parish priest, Mrs. X goes into a trance state for 24 hours and emerges as a baby with a mental age of about one year. The patient is seen at a family picnic, and later, as Susie, writing down answers to questions. There appears to be a struggle between Susie and Jack, and when Jack appears, he exhibits male posture and handshake. Mrs. X hides from the camera, while Susie enjoys the spotlight. Mrs. X is also seen emerging from a trance state as a baby, exhibiting the behavior of a one-year-old. She plays with a ball and a doll, claps her hands, and puts things into her mouth. The last shots of the film are of the family 15 years later, outside their home. There are an adult male (Mr. X?), Mrs. X. and four children.

#medicalhistory #multiplepersonalitydisorder #mentalhealth

[myrnab]

So interesting to watch these old films.

[hebneh]

So presumably her different personalities were not as much of a problem after the initial footage was shot in 1923? Because at the end, in 1938, she had five kids. I certainly hope she wasn't regressing to either Susie or her baby state while she was caring for actual babies and little children.

[flxmkr]

I can understand to an extent why this occurs. When an event takes place that the victim cannot wrap his/her head around...cannot handle the trauma, and yet cannot escape the memories...their brain may "reinvent" a new persona, and that alternate no longer has the past. I am aware I'm oversimplifying, and possibly way off base (it's what my brain does when it is trying to understand). 😊

We all "reinvent" ourselves, even if temporarily. The only difference is though we may be aware we are doing it, we don't lose chunks of time and memory. We don't alter our age, gender or general personality.

For instance, I saw transformations in my family (and also myself) when the family went to church. All the way to church there was screaming, yelling, swearing, fighting...but something about crawling through that car door transformed us into wonderful people, before stepping onto the church property. Mom lovingly stroked my hair when talking with the other ladies. Dad nervously chuckled at my stumbling into someone trying to walk around me while I'm goofing off (when he would've otherwise yelled at me under similar circumstances at home or the store). But even at the store, people act differently than at home. This is more conscious and doesn't involve a need to escape, and it does involve acting (Christian's call it "hypocracy", even though everyone does this), while true multiple personality disorder...now renamed disassociative identity disorder...is not a form of acting.

Shakespeare once said, "All the world's a stage and we are all actors". He understood human's need to reconstruct our personalities; whether our brain is subconsciously trying to escape horrible events, or we are consciously trying to escape becomng targets of gossip or bullying. We transform ourselves to make our environments easier to manage physically, mentally and emotionally.

[Ninja-fmtw]

Oh my god. The power of mind is infinite and brain's supremacy in the human body is unexplainable

[beckyUK]

This condition mostly happens to sexual abuse survivors doesn't it? I've noticed that

[it-puqi]

I'm curious. How long do trances last? While "The Baby" was active, they seem to have to re-learn things. After a mental transition, does "The Baby" reset? or, can the baby remember what it had done before they switched? I wonder if the brain would have to cleanse the baby's personal knowledge periodically in order to retain the innocence (and carefree nature) of that age in order to cope with difficult situations again.

[dbx]

We are watching people from 100 years ago. Our

[Jersey.Dvil]

Strange that they're doing this outside.

[shimmer]

Why is the dr in a meadow doing a physical bizarre ok i finished it and believe this was some ridiculous filming done with the female totally in on it. Scam

[shimmer]

Acting. She got negative attention. Or positive depending.

[brad]

ChatGPT shows us that multiple personalities are the default standard and that's how the brain actually works. It's then just a matter of alignment and choosing which one gets to speak lol