So frustrated right now. Ben noticed we had gotten 100+ hits in a very short time and we discovered it was due to the site StumbleUpon, which is a discovery engine that finds and recommends web content based on your search preferences.
For fun, we decided to to check it out and created an account. Upon adding the term “Dissociative Identity Disorder” to our search list, we stumbled upon two upsetting sites.
The first depicted a comic mocking DID with a character telling his doctor that he suspected he had “split personalities” to which his doctor retrieved an ax and proceeded to split his patient’s head open. Disgusting.
Evie fled to the bedroom, understandably upset (even cartoon gore is triggering for us), and Ben clicked the “Stumble!” button to advance to a new random site. When he and I returned to the computer, we found this article.
Top 10 ‘Craziest’ Mental Disorders
The author, Alexandria V. Resnica, begins by talking about the stigma of mental illness. At first I believed this article was going to discuss the realities of mental disorders, possibly separating the myths from the truths. Instead, she perpetuates nearly every negative stereotype there is.
Sure enough, DID is number 2. For each condition she explains what it is and how we “fit” into “normal society,” basically meaning how those with DID affect “normal” people. According to her, the average multiple should have a total of 3 alters. Also, you can expect to live in an institution (or be in the care of family and friends) if you are not integrated.
This ignorance is so frustrating. For several of the other conditions, she also encourages her readers to continue the pigeon holing and dehumanizing of people with mental illness. These beliefs, in my opinion, make for a more dangerous society.
She claims to have gotten her information from the American Psychiatric Association’s “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision.” If she really did, then she obviously did not understand what she had read.
I seriously am tempted to throw my laptop out my window. Is this really what society thinks of us?
So so tempting...
Yeah, that is a really bad stumble. The author of that stupid article writes such brilliant things as, “The Top Ten Worst Shipwrecks,” too. What a scholar she is [not]. Notice how everyone on her comments points out how she is wrong. People get paid pennies to write these stupid articles. She has no authority. Bah. I’m sorry she upset you (and the other one just sounds awful). You don’t deserve that, she certainly doesn’t deserve to have that power over you. She’s a complete moron. When you’re feeling a little more centered, I hope you’ll realize how stupid she is. Take care.
Thank you. It took a few minutes, but yes, it’s clear she is a complete moron. Well put!
Elle
She’s an idiot. Yes there are a lot of idiots, but not everyone is. Good and healing thoughts to yous.
Kate
Hi Kate,
Exactly. It’s unfortunate though that some people believe the idiots because they aren’t educated about mental illness. This is another reason why blogging is great.
Elle
Thanks for a heads up about avoiding stumble. I have encountered prejudices before. I was proud of my daughter when she pulled aside a fellow worker in the child placement program for foster care. The other person made negative remarks about one of the teenagers that had DID. My daughter informed her that DID people are badly hurt people that care about the world and are functional. She finished it off with, “My mother is DID and she is not how you are describing.” Since I wrote my book, I have been surprised by the misinformation that abounds and is spread by the media. I chose to integrate but I consider myself an ‘integrated multiple.’ I realized that once you have been a multiple there are certain thought patterns that seem to stay with you. It is so sad that surviving horrible things in a way that is different from most people means I am still a target because of my method of survival. I appreciate you sharing your journey. I respect you and believe that your choice to survive is amazing. I am glad you have Ben. Ben sees more clearly then this woman who is using the challenges of others as a way to get her 30 seconds of fame on the internet. Let the picture symbolize your discuss because I would feel sad if I lost touch with you now that I have found you. Your family is amazing in a wonderful way.
Hi Ruth,
That’s really awesome what your daughter did. Really.
We’re so glad we have Ben, too. I think finding people like you has made this journey so much better than it could’ve been. We are learning all the time. And don’t worry – our laptop is healthy and happy.
Elle
I did not even check out that author. She is not worth my time. If someone suggested the best way to beat an allergy was to subject yourself to it in a huge way, you would call them a lunatic and move on. (EX – if you are allergic to peanuts and she advised you to eat a handful to heal yourself of your allergy, you would acknowledge that she is totally full of shit, and walk away). I know it is harder to do here – because your fear is that is some people really do view DID that way…
But trust me. The equivalency is there. She is a twit, with no understanding, no empathy, and a desperate need for attention (in my opinion!).
I know that you admit that you think she is a nut-ball, but I also know it is hard to just “let go” of these hurtful/ignorant things that people say/write etc. It doesn’t matter that you don’t know her/she doesn’t know you… It doesn’t matter that you know she’s wrong… I know what it feels like when the words ‘claw’ at you.
I think you should print out her article, spit on it, then burn it (in a safe, open fire pit, of course!). It is so easy to say “Let it go”. I think she is largely alone in her views – and I am sorry that you stumbled upon that crap.
When I stumble into crap I wipe my shoe off as best I can, and I keep walking… Sometimes the scent lingers for a while, but eventually it fades away.
Crumble, you are hilarious and wonderful. And not just because you used the word “twit.”
I love your suggestion – if we had access to a fire pit (oh, this makes me miss our last place just a little… the pit in the backyard was its only redeeming quality – think s’mores in December!) I would absolutely torch it.
Elle
Thought I would add that my comment comes off as “Dismissive”, but I am actually really pissed off at that author. It just goes to show that anything can get posted on the internet.
I don’t blame you for being upset. Going back to the stumbling into crap… Well – it just has a way or ruining your day – you know?
I am really sorry for her that she wrote that crap, and feel even worse for her if she believes even one iota of her own bullshit. Can you imagine what her limited world must be like?
Sorry about your experience with that search engine – I am going to avoid it like the plague.
I hope you have a good night
People can be so ignorant! Maybe this author is trying to hide her own mental health issues behind some suggestion of superiority.
Sad, sad, sad.
You know what is funny? I had the same thought!
I hope that her article gets taken down… i wonder if there is a way to report it as unaccurate, etc?
Hi Sandy,
Very possibly she is. If I wanted to waste more energy on this, I could make my own Top 10 list and it wouldn’t be very kind to people like her, but I’m mostly over it now.
Elle
I’m just after giving her my two cents worth on the comments section of her article. I read the first few thinking it was quite informative and then when I read about DID and realised how wrong her information was I started to wonder what else she got wrong in the other disorders. Now I am desperately trying to wipe the information out of my brain before it sticks and I become a misinformed numpty.
Hi Candycan,
I just read your comment. Excellent. Well put. Ben was going to leave a comment when we found the article but we thought maybe he should revisit it when he felt less like leaving a string of 4 letter words!
Elle