by Illuminated 15 Replies latest jw experiences
I remember the first time I was hit with my loves cult personality. Knowing the real him, my jaw dropped witnessing this switch. I thought he had lost it. It was until a few months later I read Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steve Hassan. My jaw dropped again and it fully clicked what had happened to him.
Now I am questioning if the authentic self/cult personality is the same as multiple personality disorder?
When you've reached the point where you can accurately predict a member's behavior based on scientific research done on negative personality types, you've crossed a particular threshold.
It's a threshold that you can never really cross back over, but in all fairness, would you really want to?
I do know somebody who has been medically diagnosed with a Dissociative Identity Disorder (split or multiple personality ) and I would not cheapen it by likening it to "putting on the new personality" as dubs do, or other cult groups achieve by their influence.
it is as loose a description as somebody saying that "he is a bit paranoid about it" , compared to the genuine sufferer of Paranoid Schizophrenia
Well one is a documented medical disorder, albeit controversial. (I treated many people with it and I have yet to believe in it. But I digress.)
The other is something entirely different than a medical disorder. As BB pointed out, people do throw around psychiatric terms loosely (depressed, paranoid, anti-social) and they only resemble the official medical meaning when this happens.
In this case it's totally unrelated.
I don't think it is at all the same. MPD is a very specific diagnosis, if it does exist, those affected have huge gaps in their memory as they actually do not recall acts performed by other personalities. They also exhibit extreme disfunction in their lives, their issues make loving a normal life almost impossible.
I think the cult mind control of the JWs causes people to submerge their natural personality into one that is more acceptable to the organization. Get them away from the constant meetings and that natural personality will come out more, that is why they are so insistent about meeting attendance. But people do remember all events no matter which personality was more evident at the time, and they have normal lives, if you can call being a JW normal.
I believe Steve Hassan in his books on cult mind control called it " Dissociative Identity Disorder " like Blues Brother is saying and it causes a person to lose their authentic, natural born with personality or submerge it at least so only the CULT personality shines through. The problem with this is at least in the JW situation - is that JW's are trained by the WT Society to LOSE their real, humane empathy for other people if those people disagree or are against WT Society beliefs or teachings - that person is viewed as an " enemy ' or " unbeliever " who has to be transformed or converted to the WT Society way of thinking or that person is considered " dead " or " lost ". It's pretty twisted reasoning.
So the person you are with- unless they eventually escape the JW indoctrination meetings and stop listening to the WT mind control rhetoric - will likely KEEP having " dissociative identity disorder " and you'll either have to live with it or convince them to change and get help from a counselor who understands mind control cults. I wish you the best of luck. You have your hands full
M.P.D. is a medical diagnosis. The condition described in Hassan's first book causes overlying behaviors associated with dissociative disorders, however as another poster has mentioned, and as Hassan himself mentioned: many times professionals misdiagnose conditions when they don't understand the dynamics of cult mind control. In the case of your partner, it is most likely just the indoctrination sessions.
Best Wishes,
BF98
Thank you all for clarifying.
So from my understanding, multiple personalities don't recognize/know one another, correct?
I've known him for about ten years. I've witnessed the cult personality switch which is very different from his authentic personality, take place a few times when he was going back to the cult and doing the whole thing. Otherwise, he's been in his authentic personality more often than not.
You would have to check with the Diagnostic Statistical Manual V for a sure set criteria for a M.P.D. diagnosis. I'm confident your husband doesn't have it though.
BF98
It is a great question. I am not qualified to add any weight to the matter, but I have seen the phase shift that occurs when you speak to a JW, and they stop properly thinking and start reciting information.
Strangely, my Bible Study Conductor spoke to me about how sometimes when witnessing someone would ask a question, and he would recall an answer that he had forgotten he knew, and how it must have been the Holy Spirit taking him over. I don't think it is anything so sinister, but rather just subconsciously recalling part of your indoctrination.
