Dr. Albert Wilson documents his experiences as the primary physician of an adolescent girl who, over the course of four years, displayed more than a dozen distinct identities. Each persona was unique in its memories, mental capabilities, physical disturbances, aesthetic abilities and moral development. The first secondary personality appeared while the girl suffered from an "attack of meningitis." The physician hypothesizes that vaso-motor changes in the brain may play a central role in the etiology of this case of double consciousness. Finally, while considering the violent and socially deviant nature of some of the patient's personalities, Wilson examines moral and legal responsibility as it relates to the acts committed by individuals with dissociated identities.
This is a clinical case presentation of a young man, described as being very suggestible, hypochondriacal, and without motivation. The symptoms began after contracting typhoid fever in the Spanish American war, and after a head injury. The man traveled to London and South Africa in this alternate personality. He also became unaware of his surroundings and did not recognize his doctor, confusing him with a not very friendly acquaintance. The patient is described as being very amenable to hypnosis which had limited effects in controlling his alternate state.
Dr. Bramwell conducted multiple experiments on multiple patients using hypnotism. In each of these experiments the Dr. hypnotized the patient and then suggested that they perform a certain task in a certain number of minutes. In most cases the patient was able to perform the task (or a close proximity) at the preappointed time (or a close proximity). The patient would have no recollection of why they felt the need to perform this task unless they were asked while hypnotized. The Dr. concludes that this was an unconscious measurement of time. Several other doctors either refute or agree with Dr. Bramwell’s conclusions.
This article describes the case of Mary Barnes, who was 12 years old in 1894. After an illness Mary began to develop multiple personalities over a number of years. 10 distinct personalities were noted. Their appearance lasted anywhere from a number of weeks without interruption to a mere matter of minutes, never to return. Each of the personalities was distinct and would be accompanied with facial features, body abilities and knowledge. One personality was a deaf mute, one was blind, and one was paralyzed, several personalities had low intelligence levels. Dr. Wilson describes each of the personalities in detail, along with their arrival and departure dates. The author gives a brief overview of the Nervous System. Letters written by Mary’s different personalities are also included.
Dr. Prince discusses the case of Miss Beauchamp, one of his patients who suffered from multiple personalities. Miss Beauchamp’s 2nd personality was named Sally. Sally would do whatever she could to annoy Miss Beauchamp, even going so far as to get her lost in the country. Sally would even correspondence with Miss Beauchamp. In 1899 a third personality came out after a disturbing incident. At first this personality was thought to be the true Miss Beauchamp, but that idea was soon discarded. Dr. Prince discusses the causes and memories of each of the personalities, he charts the existence of each personality.
Dr. Burnett discusses the case of a young man. The child was determined to be in the ministry at age five. Soon after this decision, the child started to suffer from various types of intense head pain, that lead to periods of a changed personality. As he grew, this also manifested itself with bouts of depression. A few episodes of violence also followed when the boy was under treatment at a sanatorium. After a session of intense mental suggestion, the patient no longer suffered from a dual personality or amnesia. He was then able to recall all actions of both sides of his personality. The article is followed by a discussion among several doctors about the case and similar ones they have encountered.
McDougall reviews Sidis’ book “Multiple personality.” The book mainly concerns the case of Mr. Hanna. He suffered from a complete loss of memory following an accident. He began to have brief snips of his past life, mostly through dreams. He eventually regained his previous memories and was able to also remember his “new” memories. Sidis stated that the case was one of psycho-physiological dissociation. McDougall does not come to the same conclusion of Mr. Hanna’s case as Sidis does. McDougall questions to what extent the treatment brought about Mr. Hanna’s recovery. McDougall briefly covers the other contents of the book.
This is a book review of Dr. Prince’s book “The Dissociation of a Personality.” The book discusses the multiple personality case of Miss Beauchamp. The patient had three distinct personalities only one of which was aware of all of the activities of the other personalities. This personality, ‘Sally’ often tormented her co-personalities. It is noted that this aspect of the case makes Miss Beauchamp a worthy subject for a book about her case.
![[Review of M. Prince. Dissociation of a personality.]](/thumbnails/w/7/oregondigital-df670g97w.jpg "[Review of M. Prince. Dissociation of a personality.]")
