Introduction
Billy Milligan is a man known for his multiple personality diagnosis. His case is causing much controversy as to whether his mental disorder was real, or whether it was a way to get away with his crimes. 24 subpersonalities of Milligan are described, 10 of which were the main ones, all of them had different psycho-emotional characteristics, talents, and backgrounds (Cave, 2020). Milligan was judged for several episodes of sexualized violence and robbery, but his lawyers managed to achieve recognition of the insanity of their client. This is the first case in history when the accused was acquitted due to insanity (Cave, 2020). Milligan’s medical history seems so improbable that he has been repeatedly accused of faking his disorder.
Psychological View
Milligan suffered from a rare condition, which in modern psychiatry is called dissociative identity disorder. A person’s personality is not holistic, it splits into several alter egos, each being a separate entity. Modern psychological science has proven that the state of the brain at the moment of transition from one ego to another cannot be imitated by an ordinary person or a trained actor (Lebois et al., 2022). The splitting of personalities can naturally occur due to exposure to psychological trauma in childhood, which happened with Milligan. Father’s suicide, stepfather’s abuse, and evidence of violence provoked the creation of new egos for psychological escapism (Cave, 2020). After a long period of treatment, the doctors managed to piece together Milligan’s personality into a common whole, which allowed him to lead a relatively normal life (Cave, 2020). From the psychological perspective, Milligan’s dissociative disorder is proven.
Contradictions
The controversial attitude towards Milligan arises because of the unusual nature of his case and its representation in popular culture. Some people are sure that Milligan managed to skillfully pretend to be insane in order to avoid criminal liability. However, nowadays, it is possible to prove by fMRI research that alter egos exist out of control of the main personality and cannot be responsible for each other’s behavior (Lebois et al., 2022). Thanks to the Milligan case, science knows that human identity is much more complex than it was previously thought. The decision to receive compulsory treatment instead of imprisonment was fair and made it possible to make a breakthrough in the diagnosis and treatment of dissociative identity disorder.
Conclusion
Thus, Milligan’s case can be considered unique in the history of psychology and psychiatry. The presence of a dissociative identity disorder in a man is proven, and an acquittal with subsequent treatment is fair. Milligan’s case is useful for the development of science, as it gave impetus to the detailed study of identity disorders (Cave, 2020). I did the research on this case to complement an ongoing controversy that concerned the fairness of acquittal for people with psychological disorders. I learned more about dissociative disorders and realized that the study of human psychology is far from over. The study resulted in a presentation that proves the uniqueness of Billy Milligan’s case.
References
Cave, S. (2020). Classification and diagnosis of psychological abnormality. Taylor & Francis.
Lebois, L. A., Kaplan, C. S., Palermo, C. A., Pan, X., & Kaufman, M. L. (2022). A grounded theory of dissociative identity disorder: Placing DID in mind, brain, and body. In Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders (pp. 392-408). Routledge.