That didn't mean she hadn't forgotten other episodes, She distinctly remembered being molested as a child by two different men in her family. Carlson should think hard: had anyone ever taken liberties with her? Carlsonĭidn't have to think hard. Multiple personality, Humenansky went on to explain, was associated with childhood sexual abuse, though the abuse might be forgotten.
All these years, she had done these things, never realizing that they were symptoms of a serious mental disorder. Well, that was the alters fightingĬarlson was amazed and embarrassed. Another sign of MPD, Humenansky said, was "voices in the head."ĭid Carlson ever have internal arguments-for example, telling herself, "Turn right" and then, "No, turn left"? Yes, Carlson replied, that happened sometimes. Well, that was an alter taking over the driving and then vanishing again, leaving her, the "host" personality, to account for the blackout. Did Carlson ever "zone out" while driving and arrive at her destination without remembering quite how she got there? Why, yes, Carlson said. As a result, many women-nine out of ten MPs were women-ended up getting misdiagnosed.īut experts now knew that there were certain telltale signs of MPD. Was an elusive illness: many diagnosticians failed to recognize the alternating personalities, or alters, for what they were. As Carlson recalls, Humenansky soon suggested to her that perhaps her problem was not depression but multiple personality disorder.
See her, and went on seeing her after she left the hospital. She was referred to a psychiatrist, Diane Humenansky, who came to In late 1989 Elizabeth Carlson, a thirty-five-year-old woman who lived with her husband and two children in a Minneapolis suburb, was in the hospital being treated for severe depression.