We Are Jackie: Living with Multiple Personality Disorder
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Author: Wilkinson B. Dunlace
Publisher: iUniverse
Paperback:
ISBN 10: 1532029640
ISBN 13: 978-1532029646
Wilkinson B. Dunlace married his wife, Jackie, without realizing the extent of her early-childhood abuse.
He would learn that she was victimized from an early age, and she recorded a vast quantity of material intending to share her story to help others struggling to cope with the after-effects of abuse.
Jackie died before she could write her personal history, but relying on her journals and his insights, her husband reveals her journey toward healing and empowerment.
While Jackie did not know it at the time, her healing received a boost in May 1990 when she was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. The diagnosis explained her feelings of low self-esteem, a sense of lost time and bouts of unexplained depression.
Coping with the trauma of abuse, however, was not easy, as Jackie was frequently hospitalized and suffered from anxiety and severe depression.
Many people have written books about multiple personality disorder in a clinical manner. This one brings readers into the family to highlight the highs and lows that those coping with the condition can expect—and how they and their loved ones can persevere.
Review
In this book, Wilkinson Dunlace tackles the subject of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), as his wife Jackie traversed through the labyrinth of our mental health system, desperately seeking answers to her complex experiences. Her diagnosis at the age of 48 changed their lives and was the final piece, along with years of therapy that allowed for her to move from victim to survivor of childhood abuse. The uniqueness of this book is that it has been written using excerpts of Jackie's journal along with Wilkinson's own experience as a partner and sometimes bystander, through this journey. The book is written with grace, compassion and sensitivity, sparing the reader the horrific details but shedding enough light on Alice's experience to allow us an honest and gripping glance into a life, marriage and family lived with DID. This book is helpful for mental health professionals, those individuals diagnosed with DID, survivors of childhood abuse and family members affected by a diagnosis of DID. Congratulations Dunlace on sharing such an immensely personal story, all the ups and downs with such aplomb and dignity. This is a gift you have given.
- Reviewed by Jo-Anne Van Draanen,
Registered Psychotherapist
