Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #293649 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-27
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Synopsis
People with DID have great difficulty remembering personal information. Each of their personalities may be experienced as if it has a personal history, a self-image, and an identity. This book offers practical strategies for coping with the condition.

From the Author
Learning to live as a person with DID presents challenges.
When I first realized that I had MPD I was embarrased and ashamed. I knew that if anyone found out I would lose my job and friends. I withdrew from friends for a long time because I didn't know what to tell them. I spent years in therapy trying to learn how to live with the impact of my abuse. After several years with one therapist I realized that I was not helping myself I was hurting myself. The therapist understood how to work with people healing from child-abuse but not those who were MPD. I read everything around on MPD to try and understand what would help me live my life better. There were many books but none that talked about day to day issues. I did find a therapist that helped me grow and heal. She was a fantastic guide who helped me gain the skills I needed to live and enjoy life. I also realized that I didn't need to be ashamed of being myself. It has surprised people around me to know that I live with DID/MPD - but only when they first find out.:) My partner Tracy and I wrote this book so that people who have DID/MPD can realize that there are ways to heal. Also to educate those who know people with DID/MPD about what it is like to live with DID/MPD so that they can understand a little bit better. It is amazing how much sense someone makes if you realize that he or she is a person with DID/MPD. It is not an easy journey for anyone involved, family members, friends, partners etc. We know that everyone has a different healing path. Our hope is that this book will make it a little easier. For those who have DID/MPD remember you survived the worst, now you get learn how to live. It is a hard journey, and remember it is also fun. Living with DID is also entertaining if you allow yourself to laugh and enjoy life.

Customer Reviews

Amongst Ourselves by Tracy Alderman and Karen Marshall
I read Amongst Ourselves as a therapist and partner of someone with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). This book presents a very different approach to a little known psychiatric disorder. In contrast to theoretical books, Amongst Ourselves is gentle and positive without minimising the pain survivors suffer. One author, Karen, uses her own experience and allows her other parts to speak about how it was and is for them. Unlike other psychology books which give snapshots of various clients with a condition, Karen provides an in depth case study throughout the book.
For survivors of early, extensive, prolonged and terrifying childhood abuse reading books about it can trigger retraumatisation, especially if they have child parts who are stuck back there and believe it is still happening to them. Alderman and Marshall have compiled a resource with very little overtly triggering material. The only kind of abuse described is ritual and satanic abuse, which is little known and may be useful for sufferers to identify and label what happened to them. While they talk about what is hard living with DID, they repeatedly emphasise the DID is a creative survival strategy, and point out what is uniquely positive about being multiple.
I consider that reading this book will allow people with DID to understand and cope with what happens to them while building or maintaining a sense of pride in their abilities to survive horrific experiences. It is also very useful to inform practitioners, few of whom even know about DID.

A good first book in learning about DID
The book was useful in ways of understanding the main issues related to having DID. It covers a wide range of issues and is the only self help book for people who live with DID. Chapter four expresses how DID explains pieces of a life that were previously difficult to understand, and i found this chapter the best part of the book. It provides useful information especially for those seeking therapy to help with their problems.Expectations about what to expect from therapy and how to work with and choose a therapist was extremely imformative. The section for partners was rather focused on the negative aspects, such as anger, confusion and shame, but nevertheless did encourage partners to support and understand. However, I felt the book did not really explore the main issues fully and at times seem to make light of the disorder, maybe this was an attempt to leave the reader feeling hopeful. I also felt that one of the authors, who herself is an individual who lives with DID, could have chosen more appropriate issues from her own experiences to share with us in this book. The final paragraph in my opinion was unnecessary and seemed to be rather presumptious and threw a bleak picture on the reader. Overall the book is a good starting point, but readers must be prepared that the information is limited and further reading will be essential.

This Book is Our Friend.
We had read everything we could get our hands on about MPD, hoping to find something we could use both as a therapeutic source for ourselves and a resource to share with important people in our life.This book not only does just that, but most importantly, it consistantly exudes respect for the multiple as a whole as well as for each alter. Rosalee, one of the alters of one of the authors, describes various facets of living with MPD with honesty and candor. We feel that this book should be distributed like World War Two propaganda: out of low-flying airplanes, to the masses.