I received a personal message giving me permission to discuss how one member of a DID Facebook group used my books, Engaging Multiple Personalities. With great joy and appreciation, this is the message I received, lightly edited for clarity and anonymity:

“Yes of course you can have permission to use my words as you see fit. If it wasn’t for your blogs, I very much doubt I would be helping mental health [workers] in my tiny area make small changes. On Sept 16th 2016 we managed to get a training day on DID for all who work in mental health in our rural sleepy little town in the [UK]. Until we appeared in this little place, the psychiatrist tells me they never had a case of DID!? I suggested that they have but didn’t see them, misdiagnosed them or they are hiding still out of fear, fear they will lose their children, fear we will get that wrong label and be forced to take all sorts of unhelpfully unpleasant drugs. We weren’t accepted easily though. We were taken away from our family and put on a section. We were forced to go through a forensic evaluation to assess the risk we were to the public and our youngest child, he is 14. They failed to see he is the last child at home of 6 who was never abused or made to witness our self-harm. We passed the core assessment and forensic evaluation 14 months ago but were only given the right to be alone with our child 2 days ago. We committed no crime, we hurt no one. We were just brave enough to tell our psychiatrist that we have DID. But things are changing [here now]. Another 5 clients have stepped forward to reveal their DID but was in the local [mental health] system far longer than me. It does make us smile now that every person from mental health services we have seen since the training day now knows about DID. We are kept busy with appointments to speak to more CPN’S, social workers, therapists, crisis team nurses to help them in their education about what DID looks like, sounds like and to share our experiences with them. If we didn’t stumble on your books none of this would be possible. So, if we can give a tiny bit back to you to show our appreciation we are more than willing. Thank you from all 17 of us.”

I commend this individual for her bravery and strength in first dealing with the difficulties of her local mental health system for herself and for then helping that same mental health therapist group learn about DID. I am delighted that my blog and books continue to help individuals and mental health workers far from my home! My guess is that with the DID education of the therapists, those additional 5 clients felt safe enough to then disclose their DID. This is how the DID community’s strength helps each other to heal, transforms therapists’ understanding of DID, and can continue to do so.

It was very kind for this system to want to give back to me, to show appreciation. But, truly, this is appreciation for the hard work my own DID patients put into helping me understand how to work with DID. In many ways, my books and blogs are their messengers – their gift of healing to others with DID.