Truddi Chase
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Author of When Rabbit Howls (1987), perhaps the first autobiographical account of Multiple Personality Disorder by an individual, rather than by their therapist.
Chase tells a story of violent sexual abuse and physical abuse in childhood. Unlike the classical, Sybil-type MPD victim, Chase actually remembered that she had been molested by her stepfather and beaten by her mother from age two onwards, though she could not focus on details before going into therapy. She was able to capture the details and emotions surrounding the events with the help of a hypnotherapist, who also assisted her through the discovery of her other selves, her "Troops."
According to interviews on the Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey shows, Chase's therapist successfully verified her story by tracking down her stepbrothers and sister. Although Chase's mother had died and the stepfather denied everything, the siblings supported Chase's story, adding that their only concern was how much she had had to leave out. As an example of such an omission, they revealed that Chase's mother had also sexually molested her.
Once they become aware of one another, the Troops feel they should work together as a team, rather than undergoing integration. The Troops thus set an example to all multiples, be they diagnosed in therapy or self-identified, that integration is not necessary if the people can cooperate sufficiently.
But Chase also includes some controversial elements such as telepathy and reincarnation, perhaps influenced by Ralph Allison's work in which he attempted to connect multiplicity with the supernatural. Some multiple groups find her descriptions of her own "amazing powers" frustrating, particularly since she strongly hints that all multiples possess such paranormal abilities.
Ms. Chase was the inspiration for the character of Crazy Jane in the Doom Patrol comic books.
External links
- Review of When Rabbit Howls (http://www.astraeasweb.net/plural/rabbithowls.html) by members of a self-identified non-pathological multiple group.
- Voices Within: The Lives of Truddi Chase (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100884/) Badly written but moderately well-acted TV-movie adaptation of When Rabbit Howls.
- Doom Patrols (http://www.dhalgren.com/Doom/ch14.html) Steven Shaviro's postmodern look at Truddi Chase.