Dissociative Identity Disorder is a Form of Psychological Escape that Often Develops as a Result of Abuse or Emotional Trauma

tumblr_nbrlaunQtb1sbub06o1_500

Some years ago, I stumbled upon a very interesting painter that went by the name of Kim Noble during some of my leisurely readings. I was very drawn to the paintings she created, more so when I found out more about her.

Miss Noble has 20 main personalities, many fragments and 14 of the main personalities are artists. Having no formal art training, 14 of her 20 main alters became interested in painting in 2004 after spending a short time with an art therapist. . Each exhibits their own unique style, color schemes and themes they go with that ranges from solitary deserts, self-portraits, and abstracts. But the one thing that drew me even more was that there is a particular alter that paints nothing but Noble’s alleged traumatic memories.

She suffers from a mental disorder called Dissociative Identity Disorder or previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder. It is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states, and each one has its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about their environment and their selves.

Usually, in those suffering from DID, the dominant personalities have some awareness of other characters: maybe they hear voices or they can see what is going on even when they are not the one in control of the host body.

But in Noble’s situation, there is no ‘seepage’ between the personalities.  They operate independently of each other. She calls her other personalities as ‘alters’. There are women and men, adults and children. There is a scared little boy who speaks only Latin, a gay man, an anorexic teenager.

DID typically develops in childhood as a result of severe and sustained trauma. When Noble was younger than five years old, her personality splintered and fractured. In 1995, she was finally diagnosed with DID which has been described as a creative way to cope with unbearable pain.

“To do this, the mind splits off the memory of the trauma into a separate identity.” Graeme Galton, a consultant psychotherapist at the Clinic for Dissociative Studies in London says. “This means that, in its most original and true form, there is an amnesiac barrier between different personality states although some people can develop flashbacks or nightmares.”

Some of the characters seemed to be liked to episodes in Noble’s life despite the fact that she has no memory of them. Take an alter named Dawn who is looking for her baby named Sky  – An echo of the traumatic moment in her life when her baby was taken away at birth by social services because of her history of mental health problems.

One of the alters I take particular interest in is a young girl by the name of Ria Pratt who probably holds the key to what triggered this bizarre disorder in the first place. Ria continually paints disturbing pictures showing children being abused.

There are still so many things that we need to uncover in order for us to fully understand this disorder. In Kim Noble’s case, art helped her become more stable. And the acceptance of her daughter is what keeps her going.

References:

 

Leave your vote

1 point
Upvote Downvote

Total votes: 1

Upvotes: 1

Upvotes percentage: 100.000000%

Downvotes: 0

Downvotes percentage: 0.000000%

Related Articles

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Psych2Go

Hey there!

Forgot password?

Forgot your password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Close
of

Processing files…