A 29-year-old young woman Karen Overhill’s (pseudonym) case has become very popular across the world because she claims that there are at least 17 people living inside her head. She was diagnosed with one of the weirdest mental disorder which is multiple personality disorder by her doctor.
It has been almost a decade since her treatment began. This has also become one of the fascinating medical cases in the world. It is being diagnosed that the multiple personality disorder has been the result of the abuse she had received in the hands of her family.
Karen Overhill’s case proves that abuses lead to mental illness. However, at the same time, people are also amazed by the ability of her brain to attain 17 different personalities. The whole story of Overhill’s tryst with multiple personalities and her recovery with it is nothing less than fascinating.
Image Source: www.dingtwist.com
It took Dr. Baer three years to come to a conclusion that Overhill was suffering from multiple personality disorder. Initially, the doctor thought that she was just a depressed mom who needed some medication for recovery. But, as the time progressed and she began to reveal more thing to him, the doctor thought that she might be suffering from something which is much larger than that.
Dr. Baer attempted the case in a very slow manner as he wanted to be sure that Overhill was suffering from multiple personality disorder before moving forward.
Image Source: singleidentities.com
Overhill was a victim of the sadistic cult in which her father and grandfather was involved in the violent abuse of young children. The woman said that during the 1960sm, her father assembled people from the different profession who later participated in the violent abuse of young children. The doctor did not immediately believed in the claims of Overhill. He wanted to check the facts. While doing so, he found that Overhill’s father was convicted of sexual abuse for assaulting a girl in the family in 1993.
Image Source: www.ranker.com
As per Overhill’s own admission, she was treated very badly by the family members. Her memories of the abuse were astoundingly bizarre. “She was completely consistent in all her memories, in all the alters, over ten years... And the other thing that convinced me was that she was never melodramatic about it," said Baer.
Image Source: www.pinterest.com
Overhill’s stories were such that it would give goose-bumps to the people who would listen to it. As per her, she was once taken to the funeral home and made to lie on the embalming table. Then, her father indulged in jabbing needles in her abdomen. While she was on embalming table strangers caressed her. The tortures that Overhill went through does not stop here. She was also being pierced with coat hangers and fish-hooks. She was carved with knives and beaten with baseball bats and hammers.
Image Source: www.rebelcircus.com
Overhill had herself drew a picture of her multiple personalities and it was the result of the abuses that she suffered. During the course of diagnosis, it was confirmed that the young woman was suffering from multiple personality disorder. The doctor empathized with the hopelessness and helplessness of the lady in order to provide treatment to her.
Image Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
The young lady’s multiple personality disorder was yet again confirmed when the doctor received a letter in the mail. It read: “Dear Doctor Baer, My name is Claire. I am 7 years old. I live inside Karen. I listen to you all the time. I want to talk to you but I don't know how.” Later, Overhill confirmed that the letter was written by her but the style of writing was very different from her. She said that it was written by one of her multiple personality. The style of writing was appropriate for a seven-year-old.
Image Source: www.osspar.in