When Rabbit Howls

[Axtech]

This is an amazing book. I just recently picked it up, and I love it already.

It's the true story of a girl named Truddi Chase. When she was two, her stepfather sexually abused her for the first time. This abuse continued until she left at the age of 16. At the age of two, she developed multiple personalities.

She now has 92 different personalities. 92 different people living in one body. These people call themselves the "Troops". The "first born" (the personality which she was born with) has been "asleep" ever since that first case of abuse at two years old. The 92 other "people" now exist to do their own respective jobs. One is Twelve, the artistic 12 year old child. One's job is for despensing anger, in a string of four letter words. One's name is Rabbit. Rabbit doesn't talk. Rabbit only howls in pain.

This book is an excellent autobiography, written by the Troops (it will be found under the name "Truddi Chase") about a unique case of MPD.

I strongly suggest it to anyone interested in psychology.

[lora]

whoa. sounds really cool. how old is she now?

[Axtech]

Actually, she doesn't know. She has no sence of time. When the personality which presents itself to the public is taken over by other personalities, time doesn't exist for her.

It's estimated that she's 40-50.

[Axtech]

My terminology is really bad. You'll just have to read it.

Once you're done SoT.

[lora]

but of course.

[happening fish]

someone posted about this before. i remember it.

[liam]

i should buy this book

[Axtech]

someone posted about this before. i remember it.

It was in my list of books to read, if that's what you're thinking of...?

[Joey]

The cm should start a book club .. where we can recommend books to each other and talk about them

[Axtech]

...or we could just start a thread about each book.

[happening fish]

I think we're on that already, Robbo

[Axtech]

Well d'uh...

[happening fish]

[Axtech]

[superboots]

92 personalities...?

That's kinda sketchy.

Researchers are proving that MPD evolves from people with highly suggestible minds, and the doctors themselves actually "create" these personalities.

MPD is a very sketchy disorder, in fact. They're still trying to figure out if it's actually real.

Get out a college abnormal psych text book and read about it. You might not want to read this novel anymore.

[Axtech]

It's been said a few times in the book that this is a very rare case of MPD, if it's even MPD at all.

She began noticing the different "people" before her therapist risked suggesting it to her. There were also very distinct changes in her memory, attitude and even apearence (expressions, posture, etc...), as well as distinct handwriting for each individual...

[Axtech]

One of the main reasons that MPD is sketchy is because it's such an incomprehensible state of mind to anyone that doesn't experience it. It's beyond the capacity of the human mind to understand what consciousness is (or what a personality or "person" is). That's why books like When Rabbit Howls and Sybil are good ways of studying this disorder. It gives a much more personal view of what the disorder (if that is in fact what it is) is like.

If you haven't read it, I really suggest that you do. Before you pick it up, throw away all of the things you've been taught telling you when MPD is and isn't. She obviously has a disorder of some sort, and it is a very good read. Plus, it can give some insight in to what MPD may actually be.

I'll try to give a bit of a synopsis of how she developed 92 personalities...

She was sexually abused by her stepfather at the age of two. This is when the "first born" "went to sleep". Other "persons" developed to protect the first born. They exist in what one of them (named Ean) describes as "The Tunnel". It's also described as a sort of fortress. Each person has a specific job. For example, Rabbit is one of the persons who takes pain (emotional and physical) for the first born and the other persons. The persons aren't aware of each other until later on in her life, when they slowly begin to reveal themselves to her (when I say "her" I mean "The Buffer"; the person who's job is to be the "normal" person who is to live life day to day [although other persons often come "up front" and "take over" for periods of time]) and to each other.

Anyways, it is a good book, whether MPD exists or not. Either way it gives a glimps into the mind of an incest victim and the problems that obviously ensued.