Running head: CASE STUDY: CHRIS SIZEMORE 1

Case Study: Chris Sizemore

Natasha Wilson

October 14, 2017

Psy2030

Dissociative Personality Disorder

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Dissociative personality disorder, also known as multiple personality disorder, is a

dissociative disorder- meaning it is characterized by an involuntary escape from reality with

disconnections between identity, consciousness, memory and thoughts (Comer, 1994). This

dissociative disorder specifically deals with when a person develops two or more distinct

personalities, often known as sub-personalities or alternate personalities (Comer, 1994). Each

personality has its own unique set of behaviors, thoughts, memories and emotions. At any given

time a persons sub-personalities may take over and dominate the persons functioning (Durand,

Barlow, 2010). There is usually one sub-personality that is called the host, which appears more

often than others (Durand, Barlow, 2010). The transition from one sub personality to another is

called switching, which is usually unexpected and may be dramatic (Comer, 1994). Switching is

often triggered when being faced with a stressful event, although some psychologists can also

encourage change with hypnotic suggestion (Cloninger, 2013). Many clinicians consider DID to

be rare, but there have been reports stating that it may be more common than we once thought

(Cloninger, 2013). Dissociative identity disorder is believed to be caused by repression, which is

people fighting off anxiety by unconsciously preventing unwanted memories or thoughts

(Comer, 1994). Repression is used by nearly everyone to a certain degree, but people with

dissociative disorders are thought to repress their memories extremely (Durand, Barlow, 2010). A

person with DID may be unconsciously taking on a different personality to block their upsetting

memories (Comer, 1994). Repressing may be used as protection from overpowering anxiety.

Children who experience traumas may take flight from the fear that comes from the traumas by

pretending to be another person, taking them away from reality (Cloninger, 2013).

Before Chris Sizemore came in spotlight, there had been a few cases of DID that were

recognized, but not like hers.

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Chris Sizemore

Chris Sizemore was born on April 4, 1927 in Edgefield, South Carolina (T, 2016). When

Mrs. Sizemore was just two she witnessed her mother injure herself severely with a kitchen knife

and a man severed by machinery at the lumber yard her father worked at (Sizemore, Pittillo,

1978). As mentioned before, dissociation is often used as a defense mechanism- it works as a

reaction to extreme childhood trauma, which may be the cause of the fragmentation in Mrs.

Sizemores case. As she got older, she would be punished for acts of disobedience that she would

not remember (Sizemore, Pittillo, 1978). She would be confused by a test in school that a

different personality studied for. Severe headaches brought her to the therapist Dr. Thigpen (after

her first marriage), which was later discovered as the emergence of a different personality

(Sizemore, Pittillo, 1978). At this point, she had been altering between the depressed Eve White

and the party girl Eve Black (Sizemore, Huber, 1988). During her therapy the personality Jane, a

pleasant and reasonable young women, was manifested. Not too long after her first marriage, she

married a man by the name Don Sizemore, who fell in love with Jane (Sizemore, Huber, 1988).

Jane had awareness of both Eves thoughts and behaviors, but did not have total access to their

memories prior to her uprising (Sizemore, Huber, 1988). After years of therapy, doctors

concluded that if Jane could take possession of the personalities, Mrs. Sizemore would regain

full health and find her way to a happy complete life (Sizemore, Huber, 1988). It was decided

that Jane was the personality that most likely would bring a solution to Mrs. Sizemores troubled

mind. Throughout her entire life she recalls about 22 different personalities emerging, with them

presented in groups of three at a time and suggested that the fragmentation of her personality had

been to protect herself (Sizemore, Huber, 1988).

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References

Comer, R. J. (1994). Abnormal Psychology (Second ed.). W. H. Freeman.

Cloninger, S. (2013). Theories of Personality: Understanding Persons (Sixth ed.). Pearson.

Durand, V. M., & Barlow, D. H. (2010). Essentials of Abnormal Psychology (Fifth ed.).
Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
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Sizemore, C. C., & Huber, R. J. (1988). The Twenty-Two Faces of Eve. Individual Psychology:
The Journal Of Adlerian Theory, Research & Practice, 44(1), 53.

Sizemore, C. C., & Pittillo, E. S. (1978). I AM EVE. Saturday Evening Post, 250(2), 26-104.

T. (2016, August 28). Chris Sizemore, multiple personality disorder patient obituary. Retrieved
October 15, 2017, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/08/28/