We have always been fascinated by apparent inconsistencies in how people behave, as expressed, for example in the following nursery rhyme. In order to understand multiple personality it is first important to eliminate a popular misconception.
Many people confuse multiple personality with schizophrenia.
However, schizophrenia is an entirely different disorder and does not have anything to do with multiple personality. The basic theoretical dynamic in multiple personality is that the person deals with conflicting feelings and thoughts by repressing them and compartmentalizing them so that certain kinds of feelings and thoughts are expressed in one personality or state of consciousness, and other conflicting feelings and thoughts are expressed in another personality, making it unnecessary to reconcile the different thoughts and feelings. Themes in famous novels also express the interest and curiosity we always have in unusual or extreme shifts in mood or behavior. It was based upon the treatment of a woman who appeared to manifest three separate personalities. The number of personalities and the spectacular nature of the differences between personalities seemed to increase as time has passed.