Over Again (Larry Stylinson AU)

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

                After a long night's of rest, Eleanor finally woke me up, an hour later than usual. "Hmm?" I murmured, rubbing my eyes and sitting up. "I let you sleep in a bit but you really have to take your medicine and go to breakfast now. Niall already left." She handed me the pills, and I smiled. "Thanks El." I still didn't like her as much as Niall, but we were a lot alike in some ways so I couldn't completely hate her.

               She left, and I groaned, getting up and going into the bathroom. I looked a lot different since I had gotten here weeks ago. My eyes no longer had bags under them from being unable to slepe becuase of the voices. My hair had been cut by Danielle into more of a short style which made me look older. I still wore the same clothes, but I had grown up since being here.

                I realize I had been narrow minded before. I had thought I was alone. Now, I realized there were people all over the world fighting with mental issues that I couldn't even begin to comprehend. I had it lucky, and I was never going to consider suicide ever again. I would spend the rest of my life helping people, especially Harry.

                I would never give up on him. I would help him, even if he doesn't get out of this place for years. I would stay with him and slowly we would form a normal bond. Maybe we could even have a normal marriage. I knew it would be hard, especially since we weren't even dating yet. But sometimes you fall in love, and sometimes you fall so hard that you skip a few steps like dating.

                I've realized why Harry does these things though, and why it is better he have multiple personalities than just trauma. I personally and many professionals believe that this is a gift not a disorder. Professionals now believe that if children do not have the ability to split off when being severely abused that they become sociopaths, psychotic, and or crazy. Many times they become abusers themselves. This is an ability that develops early in childhood. If you know a person who has multiple personalities it is most likely that they were abused before the age of three.

               When a child is being abused it is life threatening and splitting into another personality is a way of surviving mentally. When that child grows up and no longer is in danger it can be a detriment to their mental and physical health. If they receive therapy they can recover but that doesn't mean that they get rid of their multiple personalities. Some people actually don't want too. Those other personalities are a part of who they are.

              Sometimes when a person with multiple personalities become stressed or there is a threat or perceived threat another personality may come out. Sometimes if the adult parent is playing with a child one of their child personalities may come out. If the adult is especially stressed or dealing with a present trauma, this can also cause another personality to come out. It is not necessarily a bad thing. The adult may even be aware of it but doesn't know that the child is aware that it is happening. When the adult is aware of what is happening, this is called co-consciousness. They may know that they are operating as another personality, but they don't or can't stop it.

                 There are different levels of disassociation. We all have the ability to disassociate. If you have ever been driving down the road and are off in another world thinking about work or your grocery list and miss your turn, you have been disassociating. If you are bored and daydreaming during a boring lecture and don't remember what was being said, you are disassociating. This is normal. If you were on the extreme of the continuum, you would be like Sybil, or the Three Faces of Eve. These are extreme examples and pretty rare, but not as rare as we have been told.

                Because of the unbelievable numerous cases of abuse that we are hearing about in society today, I believe that there are going to be more and more cases of multiple personalities in children. You may even know of someone who may be a multiple personality. If you do you may not even know it. Persons who have multiple personalities are extremely intelligent and seem to have a predisposition to be able to split off into different personalities. It can actually save a person's sanity, and sometimes even their lifes.