3 ms·

I don't think hysterical blindness is an alternative explanation. It's what's going on here, but, it happens in just one personality. That the different persona

by azakai 11y ago

I don't think hysterical blindness is an alternative explanation. It's what's going on here, but, it happens in just one personality. That the different personalities can have entirely separate conditions like hysterical blindness is very strong support for the separate identities being in fact separate. In addition, the fact that brain scans confirm the psychological/hysterical blindness actually happens at a neurological level as well, proves this isn't a case of malingering or of a high-level psychological disorder. This is happening at the lowest brain level we are aware of. Even with that evidence, I suppose one can still ask "but are they 'really' separate personalities"? And I think you're right that if it quacks like a duck and so forth, we might as well call it a duck. Another perspective: if we saw those personalities on different physical people - very distinct, both psychologically and neurologically - we would have no problem accepting them as different people. The only challenge here is that they occur in the same physical person. Perhaps that's not reason enough to dismiss them as separate.

openasocket 11y ago
You have it backwards: all of her personalities were blind, and then the sight returned for one of them. With therapy, now only two personalities still experience blindness. The fact that her episodes of hysterical blindness coincide with the so-called transition to specific personalities is interesting, but not definitive. Even if we accept DID as a legitimate condition, that doesn't mean these separate personalities are real entities in their own right. On of the patients personalities is a 13 year old boy, with all the memories of a 13 year old boy. But these memories are completely false: they did not actually occur. People with DID don't have multiple selves, they have no self at all: their personality is shattered and stitched together by a patchwork of delusions and artificial personality traits.
- azakai 11y ago
  > You have it backwards: all of her personalities were blind, and then the sight returned for one of them. We are saying the same thing. Some of the personalities are neurologically (not just psychologically) blind, some are not. That's a fascinating result, and certainly suggests that the different personalities are distinct not just psychologically but also at a far deeper level. > People with DID don't have multiple selves, they have no self at all It's not clear that your description and the article's are not the same, except for a preference for calling the same state "multiple selves" vs "no self." Both descriptions agree that something "shattered", and both agree that neurologically the split shards/personalities are remarkably distinct, on every level. I don't think there is a disagreement here.
  - openasocket 11y ago
    On a second reading, you're absolutely right. My bad!

by azakai 11y ago

openasocket 11y ago

You have it backwards: all of her personalities were blind, and then the sight returned for one of them. With therapy, now only two personalities still experience blindness. The fact that her episodes of hysterical blindness coincide with the so-called transition to specific personalities is interesting, but not definitive. Even if we accept DID as a legitimate condition, that doesn't mean these separate personalities are real entities in their own right. On of the patients personalities is a 13 year old boy, with all the memories of a 13 year old boy. But these memories are completely false: they did not actually occur. People with DID don't have multiple selves, they have no self at all: their personality is shattered and stitched together by a patchwork of delusions and artificial personality traits.

azakai 11y ago
> You have it backwards: all of her personalities were blind, and then the sight returned for one of them. We are saying the same thing. Some of the personalities are neurologically (not just psychologically) blind, some are not. That's a fascinating result, and certainly suggests that the different personalities are distinct not just psychologically but also at a far deeper level. > People with DID don't have multiple selves, they have no self at all It's not clear that your description and the article's are not the same, except for a preference for calling the same state "multiple selves" vs "no self." Both descriptions agree that something "shattered", and both agree that neurologically the split shards/personalities are remarkably distinct, on every level. I don't think there is a disagreement here.
- openasocket 11y ago
  On a second reading, you're absolutely right. My bad!