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Ralph B. Allison:
WHEN THE PSYCHIC GLUE DISSOLVES

Dr. Allison har i flera †r arbetat intinsivt med
sidopersonligheten och dess problematik.  Han har utvecklat ett
diagnosschema och en metod f”r behandling av multipla
personligheter, d„r hypos anv„ndes som ett hj„lpmedel.  Dr.
Allison, som nyligen bes”ke Sverige f”r att undervisa p†
tre†rsutbildningarna, anser att denna typ av str”rning „r
betydligt vanligare „n vad som ordin„rt beskrives i den
psykiatriska litteraturen.  I denna artikel, som „r den f”rsta i
en serie, tar Dr. Allison upp de faktorer, som kan utl”sa
upptr„dandet av en sidopersonlighet, och diskuterar i f”rsta
hand risken att en helt vanlig hypnossession, med vilket syfte
som helst, kan fungera p† detta s„tt med m„nniskor, som redan
har en latent liggande sido-personlighet.

The psychological disorder known as multiple personality occurs
in persons with an extremely hysterical character disorder. 
Hysterics are those who predominantly use the defense mechanisms
of repression, denial and dissociation.  Any psychological
trauma is so poorly tolerated that they unconsciously repress
both memory and emotions relating to such events.  They then
wall these off from the rest of their consciousness, creating
the nucleus for an alter-personality.  If the trauma is extreme,
such as a rape, one incident may be adequate to create an
alter-personality whose interest is in manipulative sexual
behavior.  If the insult is minor, such as a disparaging remark
about good grades in school, then it may take a long series of
such insults to generate enough resentment and hurt feelings to
energize an alter-personality.

As a result of 5 1/2 years experience treating 39 such patients,
I have come to the conclusion that those individuals who have
the capacity to spontaneously create alter-personalities from
the wear and tear of life alone form a specific group. The rest
of us cannot do it, although we may be able to do something
similar in an experimental situation.  These individuals seem to
have a very weak ''psychic glue'' holding their various parts
together, and, therefore, they will split into segments under
circumstances which would not do more than emotionally upset the
rest of us.  This characteristic may be called ''poor ego
strength'', ''lack of guts'',  "put together with poor
protoplasm'', or other such phrases, but it seems to be a
reality.  They just do not have the psychological strength to
take life's blows without splitting apart.

My experience has shown that there are four important stimuli
which may bring about the dissolving of this ''psychic glue''
and make manifest already existing alter-personalities.  The
first is extreme emotional trauma, such as rejection by lover or
parent.  The second is extreme physical pain, combined with the
unwillingness of medical staff to offer physical and emotional
support.  The third trigger is alcohol.  This is the most
dissociating chemical readily available, and one which causes
blackouts and personality changes in many non-hysterics.  And
the last stimulus is an hypnotic induction for any reason, be it
smoking control, weight reduction, or sexual problems.

It is to this last item that I would like to pay some attention,
since it seems to have escaped notice, at least as reflected in
the literature and in the statements of those who regularly give
courses in hypnosis.  That is not surprising, since reports of
patients with multiple personality are rare in the literature,
so not much has been written about how they might come to light.
There also may be a time lag from the moment of the hypnotic
session and the overt appearance of an alter-personality, so the
hypnotist may be totally unaware he/she had any such effect on a
person who came to him/her.

One thing must be emphasized.  All such patients have been very
emotionally disturbed since early childhood.  They have shown
such symptoms as depression, suicide attempts, narcotic abuse,
somatic conversion symptoms, poor impulse control, and
alcoholism.  The hypnosis session did not, of course, cause any
of these symptoms, anymore than it caused the alter-personality
to be created.  What hypnosis, being induced dissociation, can
do, is to so weaken the ''psychic glue'' that the patient no
longer can keep up the facade of integration and the
alter-personalities become more free to act independently of the
primary personality.

A few case examples are offered to illustrate the phenomenon.

1.	Mrs. A., age 50, came to Dr. J. for hypnosis because of
compulsive smoking.  She suffered from emphysema and could not
reduce her cigarette usage to below 50 cigarettes a day.  She
was an easy hypnotic subject and Dr. J gave instructions in self
hypnosis to help her take better care of her lungs.  That
evening, Dr. J was called by phone by a female voice saying she
was going to stop Dr. J from dealing with Mrs. A since he might
find out about ''her''.  In a moment, Mrs. A came on the line
and , hearing Dr. J's voice, asked why he had called her.  He
recognized he had been talking to an alter-personality, arranged
for her to see me immediately and we hospitalized her.  Over the
years of subsequent therapy, she showed a number of
alter-personalities created during a miserable childhood.

2.	Mrs. B. age 26, had separated from her husband after
hospitalization for functional abdominal pains.  She moved to
another town, and lived with a boy friend who was a college
psychology major who dabbled in hypnosis.  He hypnotized her one
evening and she promptly manifested six different
alter-personalities.  He took her to a psychiatrist the next
day.  He saw her until she reunited with her husband and
transferred her to my care.  Therapy showed that the
alter-personalities had existed since preadolescence.  With
great difficulties, she finally integrated all her personalities.

3.	Mrs. C, age 25, was seen with her husband, by Dr. J, for help
with her frigidity.  Under hypnosis, Dr. J attempted to find the
cause of her resistance to sexual approaches by her husband.  He
found an alter-personality who had been developed to cope with
Mrs. C's brothers and considered all men enemies.  Dr. J
referred her to me where outpatient therapy with the couple
brought about the discovery of the original personality and the
elimination of the alter-personality.  The sexual problem
disappeared with the disappearance of the alter-personality.

4.	There is another patient, Mrs. D, age 30, whom I saw for
several years because of multiple personality and a very heavy
drinking and barbiturate abuse.  I had seen her first, a year
before treatment started, in jail for the purpose of preparing a
legal report, since she had been caught writing bad checks.  She
claims that I hypnotized her lightly during that interview, but
I do not recall doing so.  During therapy, she told me that that
hypnotic induction, for history clarification only, had been the
point where she had begun to lose the tenuous control she had
over her very negative alter-personalities, and her life had
really gone to pieces after that.  I do know that at the
beginning of the therapy, I deeply hypnotized her to try to find
the best helper personality in her, since she was not able to
cooperate with anyone and was drinking herself into a stupor
frequently.  I saw a new personality who claimed her favorite
hobbies were to have sex and get drunk.  And, after leaving my
office, she proceeded to do just that.  That patient never did
improve and is now a chronic alcoholic.  I include this one
became she was very open with me about the causes of her
problems, and even though I am not sure if I induced hypnosis in
the jail, if I did, she shows the time lag that can occur, with
progressive loss of control over the coordination of the various
aspects of her personality.

CONCLUSION

By stating that I believe a single hypnotic session can make
manifest the alter-personality in a person who has already
created them, I do 




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