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You can use this page to email Rev. Criss Ittermann about Multiple Choice.
About the Book
"You have heart disease; we're going to have to remove your heart."
If you have heart disease the problem isn't that you have a heart; it's what your heart is doing that's the issue. It's also blatantly ridiculous to blame having multiple personalities at all as the problem when the problem is what the people in your head are doing.
We used to be told we have Multiple Personality DIS-ORDER. Now it's DID -- dissociative identity disorder. Calling it a disorder at all implies anarchy -- lawlessness, distrust, a lack of community. The diagnosis alone implies that we cannot associate with one another inside our head. But when you look deeper, you'll see that it's an illusion; we are taught internal separateness at every turn, whether in literature (Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde), comics (Dr. Bruce Banner & The Hulk), in video (The United States of Tara), by our therapists' words, or in the literature of psychology, we are being told that to be multiple means internal divisiveness -- and the only answer has to be to become one person inside and out.
So why is the suggested "cure" for a multiple being disorderly the eradication of everything that makes this human being unique? Why not celebrate the kalleidoscope of identities, opinions, language, gesture, accents, memories, tastes and talents that can cohabitate one body? When adversity breeds something unique and beautiful, why does society insist on its destruction?
Welcome to a new world where you can get along both inside yourself and with the outside world. Let's make it clear to therapists, family, theorists, scientists, psychologists, policy makers, artists, actors, writers and philosophers -- that integration is a CHOICE. It's the ultimate Multiple Choice.
About the Book
Multiple Choice is a series of essays: manifestos, arguments with external paradigms, ranting against "The System" (external), demanding equality, rights, fair coverage in the media, discussing the history of multiplicity as well as where it's heading in the future under the larger umbrella of plurality. It's being offered in one large bundle to help build up documentation for plurals to spark internal discussions and debates, to help multiple systems work on their own platforms and opinions and things to fight for in the world. Argue in the margins. Write us angry emails. Comment on posts in major news media. Fight stigmatization in film and TV. When you all get on the same page, remember that there's more multiples out there and we can give back by blazing trails and making the world a better place for plurals to live in.
About the Author
If there were a who's who of online multiple-personalities, the Crisses would be one of the notable names. Founder of Kinhost.org, the premier online manual by multiples, for multiples, the Crisses (aka Rev. Criss Ittermann) are well-known amongst persons with multiple personalities. They are also a life coach, Interfaith minister, Shaman, herbalist, Reiki Master, and more.
Crisses grew up in Brooklyn and at the age of 16 following an avalanche of tragic events, Crisses spent 9 months in a mental hospital. The adolescent ward of the hospital was far from what you may have seen in movies; it was much more like a Breakfast Club vacation from a troublesome life than a traumatic experience from a psychothriller movie. Quiet, observant, and wise beyond their years, Crisses became a "mother hen" for other people who were outcast from society, for whatever reason.
While in the hospital, Crisses confessed about the "other people" in their head to their doctor. While he didn't put their diagnosis on paper until 2001, Crisses were diagnosed with multiple personalities in 1986 and flat-out refused to integrate.
After discharge from all treatment, the Crisses continued their journey to their own particular brand of wholeness — a life of collaboration, understanding, kindness and community within themselves. They now share the tools that have helped them with others so that other multiples can improve internal relations and communication.