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Dissociative identity disorder (DID), also referred to as multiple personality disorder (MPD), has intrigued individuals for more than 100 years. Despite its widespread recognition, mental health experts remain uncertain about its validity. Some speculate it could be a variant of another condition, such as schizophrenia. Others argue it might not exist at all, suggesting that those diagnosed, including the individuals listed below, could be feigning the symptoms.
10. Louis Vivet
One of the earliest documented cases of multiple personalities involves Frenchman Louis Vivet. Born to a prostitute on February 12, 1863, Vivet experienced severe neglect during his childhood. By the age of eight, he had already embarked on a life of crime. Arrested and placed in a treatment facility, he remained there until his late teenage years.
At 17, while working in a vineyard, Vivet encountered a viper that coiled around his left arm. Although the snake did not bite him, the incident left him so traumatized that he suffered convulsions and developed psychosomatic paralysis from the waist down. During his time in an asylum, he regained the ability to walk after a year. However, Vivet emerged as a drastically changed individual, unrecognizable to asylum staff, with a darker demeanor and altered preferences, including his appetite.
Released from the asylum at 18, Vivet's freedom was short-lived. Over the following years, he frequently moved in and out of hospitals. Between 1880 and 1881, he was diagnosed with multiple personalities. Through hypnosis and metallotherapy (applying magnets and metals to the body), doctors identified up to 10 distinct personalities, each with unique traits and histories. However, later analyses suggest he may have exhibited only three personalities.
9. Judy Castelli
Judy Castelli, who grew up in New York State, endured physical and sexual abuse, leading to prolonged struggles with depression. Shortly after starting college in 1967, she was sent home by the school psychiatrist. Over the next few years, Castelli battled internal voices urging her to harm herself through burning and cutting. These actions nearly disfigured her face, cost her vision in one eye, and impaired the use of one arm. Multiple hospitalizations followed due to suicide attempts, with each diagnosis pointing to chronic undifferentiated schizophrenia.
In the 1980s, Castelli began performing as a singer in Greenwich Village clubs and cafes. She nearly secured a record deal, but it ultimately fell through. Despite this, she achieved success as the star of a popular off-Broadway production and gained recognition for her work in sculpting and stained glass art.
During a therapy session in 1994 with her long-time therapist, multiple personalities began to surface, initially revealing seven distinct identities. As therapy progressed, the number grew to 44 distinct personalities.
After her DID diagnosis, Castelli became a vocal advocate for the disorder. She served on the board of the New York Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation. Today, she continues her work as an artist and teaches art to individuals living with mental illness.
8. Robert Oxnam
Robert Oxnam is a renowned American scholar specializing in Chinese culture. He has served as a college professor, president of the Asian Society, and now works as a private consultant on China-related issues. Despite his professional achievements, Oxnam has faced significant mental health challenges.
In 1989, Oxnam was diagnosed with alcoholism by a psychiatrist. However, during a session in March 1990, as he prepared to end therapy, a dramatic shift occurred. The psychiatrist was confronted by one of Oxnam's alternate personalities—a furious young boy named Tommy, who claimed to live in a castle. This revelation led to further exploration, uncovering a total of 11 distinct personalities within Oxnam.
Following years of therapy, Oxnam and his psychiatrist managed to reduce his personalities to three main identities. The primary personality is Robert, or Bob. Another is Bobby, a youthful, curious, and carefree individual who enjoys rollerblading in Central Park. The third is Wanda, a serene, Buddhist-like personality who was once part of a more complex identity known as the Witch.
Oxnam documented his experiences in a memoir titled A Fractured Mind: My Life With Multiple Personality Disorder, which was published in 2005.
7. Kim Noble
Kim Noble, born in the UK in 1960, describes her parents as factory workers trapped in an unhappy marriage. She endured physical abuse from a young age and faced severe mental health issues as a teenager, leading to multiple overdoses and eventual placement in a psychiatric facility.
In her twenties, Noble's alternate personalities began to surface, often with devastating consequences. While working as a van driver, one of her personalities, Julie, took control and crashed the van into several parked cars. Noble also became entangled in a pedophile ring, though she had no recollection of her involvement. After reporting information to the police, she received anonymous threats, had acid thrown in her face, and her home was set on fire—events she could not remember.
In 1995, Noble was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder and has since been receiving psychiatric treatment. She currently works as an artist and estimates having around 100 personalities, with Patricia being the most dominant. Patricia is a composed and self-assured woman. Another significant personality is Hayley, who was involved in the pedophile ring that resulted in the acid attack and house fire. Noble experiences four to five different personalities daily.
Noble, represented by her dominant personality Patricia, appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2010 alongside her daughter. She shared her life story in her 2012 book, All of Me: How I Learned to Live with the Many Personalities Sharing My Body.
6. Truddi Chase
Truddi Chase recounts enduring physical and sexual abuse from her stepfather starting at age two in 1937, alongside emotional abuse from her mother for 12 years. As an adult, Chase faced immense stress as a real estate broker, leading her to seek psychiatric help. Through therapy, she discovered 92 distinct personalities, each vastly different from the others.
Among her personalities was Lamb Chop, a five- or six-year-old girl, and Ean, a 1,000-year-old Irish poet and philosopher. Unlike typical cases, her personalities coexisted harmoniously, aware of each other and working collectively. Chase chose not to integrate them, referring to them as 'The Troops,' as they had endured her trauma together.
Chase collaborated with her therapist to write the book When Rabbit Howls, which was published in 1987. The book was later adapted into a TV miniseries in 1990. Chase also appeared in a deeply emotional episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show that same year.
Chase passed away on March 10, 2010.
5. Karen Overhill
In 1989, Dr. Richard Baer began treating Karen Overhill, a 20-year-old mother struggling with depression, surgical pain, and suicidal thoughts. Overhill reported memory gaps and instances of finding herself in unfamiliar places without recollection of how she got there. Dr. Baer's understanding deepened when he received a letter from Claire, a 7-year-old girl claiming to live inside Karen. After three years of therapy, Dr. Baer diagnosed Overhill with 17 distinct personalities, encompassing various ages and genders.
Each of Overhill’s personalities unveiled fragments of her harrowing childhood, which included satanic rituals, torture, and rape. Her father and grandfather were said to have established a cult that engaged in the ritual abuse of children, both physically and sexually. One of her alters recounted being taken to a funeral home after hours, placed on an embalming table, and subjected to needles jabbed into her abdomen by her father while strangers touched her inappropriately. Other personalities described additional abuses, such as being pierced with coat hangers and fish hooks, cut with knives, and beaten with hammers and baseball bats.
Overhill also alleged that she was raped by an older relative at the age of 12. Her alter, Jensen, emerged to help her cope with this trauma. Over time, Dr. Baer encountered all 16 of her personalities and noted their consistent accounts over a decade, convincing him that her condition was genuine. Further research revealed that Overhill’s father was convicted on 19 counts of sexual abuse in 1993, including assaults on her niece.
After nearly two decades of therapy, Dr. Baer successfully integrated Overhill’s personalities into one and continued addressing her struggles with self-esteem, self-worth, and shame stemming from her past. Overhill married and had children, though she has no memory of her wedding or the birth of one daughter. Now divorced from an abusive husband, she is raising her children. Dr. Baer documented her case in the book Switching Time.
4. Shirley Mason
Shirley Mason, born on January 25, 1923, in Dodge Center, Minnesota, endured a traumatic childhood. According to Mason, her mother was exceptionally cruel, subjecting her to acts of abuse such as administering enemas and forcing her to consume cold water.
Beginning in 1965, Mason sought treatment for her mental health issues, and in 1954, she began seeing Dr. Cornelia Wilbur in Omaha. By 1955, Mason described strange episodes where she would wake up in hotels in unfamiliar cities with no memory of how she arrived. She also recounted entering stores only to find herself standing amidst destroyed merchandise, unaware of her actions. Shortly after these revelations, multiple personalities began to surface during her therapy sessions.
Mason’s harrowing childhood and her experiences with multiple personalities were immortalized in the best-selling book Sybil, which was later adapted into a highly popular TV miniseries starring Sally Fields.
While Sybil, or Shirley Mason, remains one of the most famous cases of DID, its authenticity has been heavily questioned. Many believe Mason was a mentally ill woman who idolized her psychiatrist, Dr. Wilbur, and that the concept of multiple personalities was suggested to her. Mason allegedly confessed to fabricating her condition in a 1958 letter to Wilbur, but Wilbur dismissed it as her mind denying her illness. Mason continued therapy, and over time, 16 distinct personalities emerged.
In the TV adaptation of her life, Sybil achieves a happy ending, but the real Mason struggled with barbiturate addiction and financial dependence on her therapist, who covered her expenses. Mason passed away on February 26, 1998, due to breast cancer.
3. Juanita Maxwell
In March 1979, 72-year-old Inez Kelley was found brutally murdered in Fort Myers, Florida. Juanita Maxwell, a 23-year-old hotel maid, was arrested after being discovered with blood on her shoes and a scratch on her face. Despite her claims of innocence, she became the prime suspect in the case.
During her trial, Maxwell revealed she suffered from multiple personality disorder, with six distinct identities. One of these, Wanda Weston, was identified as the perpetrator of the murder. Maxwell pleaded not guilty, attributing the crime to Wanda's violent tendencies.
The defense team successfully brought Wanda Weston to the stand during the trial, showcasing a dramatic transformation. Wanda, unlike the reserved Juanita, was loud, flirtatious, and openly admitted to the violent act, even laughing about it. The judge was left to decide whether Maxwell truly had multiple personalities or was an exceptional actress.
After being sent to a psychiatric hospital, Maxwell claimed she received inadequate treatment, mainly tranquilizers. Released later, she was arrested again in 1988 for bank robbery, once more blaming Wanda for the crime. She pleaded no contest and was released after serving her time.
2. Billy Milligan
Between October 14 and 26, 1977, three women near Ohio State University were abducted, robbed, and sexually assaulted. One victim noted her attacker had a German accent, while another described him as surprisingly courteous despite his actions. The perpetrator was identified as 22-year-old Billy Milligan.
Following his arrest, Milligan underwent psychiatric evaluation and was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), revealing 24 distinct personalities. His defense argued that Milligan himself was not responsible for the crimes; instead, two of his alters, Ragen, a Yugoslavian man, and Adalana, a lesbian, were in control during the incidents. The jury acquitted him based on his DID, marking the first such verdict in U.S. history. He was institutionalized until 1988, when experts believed his personalities had integrated.
In 1981, Daniel Keyes, renowned for Flowers for Algernon, published The Minds of Billy Milligan, detailing Milligan's life and condition. Despite multiple attempts, a film adaptation remains unrealized, though a 10-episode TV series was reportedly in development for 2021.
Milligan passed away from cancer on December 12, 2014, at the age of 59.
1. Chris Costner Sizemore
Chris Costner Sizemore recalls her first experience with a personality split at the age of two. Witnessing a man being pulled from a ditch, she believed he was dead. During this traumatic moment, she noticed another young girl observing the scene.
Unlike many individuals with DID, Sizemore did not endure childhood abuse and grew up in a caring household. However, after witnessing the tragic incident and later a gruesome factory accident, she began exhibiting unusual behavior. Family members frequently noticed her actions, and she often faced consequences for deeds she couldn’t recall committing.
Sizemore sought professional help in her early twenties after the birth of her daughter, Taffy. One of her alters, “Eve Black,” attempted to harm the baby, but another personality, “Eve White,” intervened to prevent the tragedy.
In the 1950s, she began therapy with Corbett H. Thigpen, who diagnosed her with multiple personality disorder. During her treatment, a third personality, Jane, emerged. Over 25 years, Sizemore worked with eight psychiatrists and developed 22 distinct personalities, each differing in traits such as demeanor, age, gender, and even physical characteristics like weight.
By July 1974, following four years of therapy with Dr. Tony Tsitos, all of Sizemore's personalities merged into one, leaving her with a single identity.
Thigpen, Sizemore’s initial therapist, along with Dr. Hervey M. Cleckley, authored a book titled The Three Faces of Eve, detailing her case. The book was later adapted into a 1957 film, with Joanne Woodward earning an Academy Award for Best Actress for her depiction of three of Sizemore’s alters.
Sizemore passed away from a heart attack on July 24, 2016, while in hospice care in Ocala, Florida. She was 89 at the time of her death.
