First Person Plural: My Life As A Multiple Summary

There’s much you can learn through reading about different psychological disorders and concepts. The book “First Person Plural: My Life as a Multiple” by Cameron West specifically explains the life of Cameron West living with Dissociative Identity Disorder. I chose this book because of my uncertainty and intrigue about DID and the everyday struggles of multiples. Because this book is based on the actual accounts of Cameron West, I felt I got a better understanding of DID and could really get a feel for the thoughts and feelings of this man through his journey of dealing and coming to terms with his disorder. At the end of the book, I had gone through a whirlwind of emotions from sadness because of Cams past to have developed DID to utter joy that he learned how to accept it and lived a happier life. From a psychological perspective, I learned many things I never would’ve guessed about DID at the end of the book. For example, I learned that alters develop when someone encounters a traumatic experience and part of the brain “splits off,” taking the memory along with it so the person can continue living a normal life. Every time something fearful happens, the same alter comes back or a new one is created as a defense mechanism. I also learned …show more content…
The studies done for these people to be able to help Cam the way they did gives me a greater respect for Psychology and I whole heartedly believe that it can help people in ways that traditional biology and doctors cant. Before reading the book I was aware that psychological studies greatly impacted our understanding of the mind and our actions, but reading about how intense some of these disorders can get, in this case DID, really gives me hope that people can learn more about them and find cures to help those struggling with things they can’t quite understand or be fully helped