Someone Was Following Her....

I read Tell Me Your Dreams by Sydney Sheldon. And the book was just amazing. It had just everything in it - murder, mystry, twists and surprises .



In the book, Ashley Patterson committed 5 brutal murders - murdered 5 men and castrated them! But the irony of the situation was, she hadn't even met two of the men who were murdered and for the other three men, she was terribly disturbed by their fate. She had no motive for killing them. Atleast she thought so....

On the contrary, the police had all the proof they needed to put her behind bars and have her prosecuted. The DNA traces found on the bodies and the fingerprints found on all the 5 bodies (found in different parts of the world) belonged to one single person and that person was Ashley Patterson.

The defendent Ashley Patterson had MPD or Multiple Personality Disorder. The murders had been committed by her but it wasn't Ashley doing it, it was Toni, her alter. And Toni was very good friends with Alette. Who's Alette? Not a person but another of Ahley's Alters.(A person suffering from MPD can have as many as 100 alters). Toni and Alette knew each other and talked to each other. But Ashley was completely unaware that they existed. All this was discovered after hypnosis by Dr Salem (a psychiatrist). So her case was plead by David Singer (His mom's life was saved by Ashley's father, a renowned doctor) on da grounds of "Not Guilty and Not Guilty by the reason of insanity."

Though almost impossible, the case was won (Satya Meva Jayate) and Ashley patterson was shifted to a mental hospital. There, after years and years of psychiatic treat ment she was cured.

Cause of MPD is suppose to be Child hood Trauma so horrible, the pain so unbearable that it has to be split off (dissociated) from the host's consciousness and lodged in the alters (MPD is also called DID i.e Dissociative Identity Disorder)

In Ashley's case, as an infant, she had been sexually abused by her own father and hence her two alters - Alette and Toni(Antoniette) were born (Alters generally have the same initials). Alette was the sensitive one, good at painting and dominated by Toni. Toni was the aggressive one, good at singing. (As a kid, Ashley's mom dispised her and critisised her music and painting. When Ashley had told her mom about her father, she had refused to believe her)
When Ashley was possessed by either of her Alters, she had no knowledge of what was happening, and about those time periods, her memory was blank. The two other men, whom Ashley claimed not to know, one was Toni's friend and the other Alette's. All the 5 men had tried to sexually assault Ashley/ Alette/ Toni. At this point all the childhood memories had resurfaced - Toni taking over and murdering each of the 5 men - giving them what she thought they deserved.

To cure MPD, patients have to be hypnotised. The psychiatrist trys to talk to talk to the alters to learn why they were born. He/She trys to get all of them to talk to each other, including the persn who's alters they are . They have to reach an understanding, a consensus. And when that is achieved, the person is cured.

It was a good experience reading the book. It has been very metticulously written and each minute detail has been taken care of. The murder trial has been described very well and so is the treatment. Sheldon has also mentined the names and addresses of organisations working with MPD. While reading the book, i got completely involved. I started reading it right after I came back from my medical coaching and just couldn't drop the book before I finished it. I read it late into the night so it got a bit scary while reading through her psychiatric treatment but it was fine.

I too personally aspire to be a psychiatrist (After all, I would have an insight into my patient's problems ;) ) Isn't it astonishing the way the human mind works, the way it thinks and the way it controls. People acknowledge the hearts peculiarity but few appreciate the wonders the mind can work. The mind isn't just practical - it has a wild imagination leaping over all boundries which can be both- constructive or destructive. It has a conscious level, and a sub-conscios level and a super-concious level all waiting to be explored. It is very difficult to understand the human heart and even more difficult to analyse the way the human mind is working. You never know what might prop up next. Thoughts come unbidden.

Thoughts....Pouring down like rain.... They drench me.... Sometimes with happiness and at others with sorrow. They are unpredictable, coming just any day. It doesn't bother them that I have chores to do. It doesn't bother them if they aren't welcome when they are coming. And it doesn't bother them that they might distress me. At the same time, how do I complain, when I await them endlessly.... They bring me respite when the life has been too dry and they nurture me, helping me grow with every drop. They help me collect my self together, making me more mature. They dive deep into my heart, and alone know what lies beneath.How do I complain, if I thrive on them, and them alone being real for me. Yet I warn myself, they might not be true, however real they might seem.

Ciao for now,
Raspberry ;)