Can the MBTI help you even if there are multiple you(s)? (With Douglas Jonathan Vincent)
Interviewing someone who has DID (multiple personalities.) And discussing using MBTI as a DID system.
Harshini: Hello!
Today, we have a special guest joining us.
Someone who has DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). Now, for a brief explanation of what it means:
Those with DID seem to be one person when seen from the outside, but actually, they have multiple personalities within them; each personality is a unique individual, with their own names, personalities, individual beliefs, interests, morals, and traits.
That makes us wonder what it must feel like, if there are multiple yous within you.
Well, let's ask our guest to learn more about how it feels and how they manage and work together with their personalities!
Without further ado, let's welcome
!Louise: Hi Harshini, glad to be here! My name is Louise Vincent, I am one of the identities, or “alters”, in the DID system that is collectively known as Douglas Jonathan Vincent. (“System” is the term that most people who live with DID use to refer to the sum of all of our “parts”, also known as identities or alters.)
Usually, in a DID system, certain alters specialize in performing specific roles in our shared life. I was the one who specialized in learning, and as such, I handled a lot of the homework and test taking when we were in school. But in addition to learning, I also like to read for enjoyment, especially science fiction.
Harshini: That's really interesting! Nice to get to know you more, Louise! I remember I once talked to Matilda, one of the personalities in your system. You guys mentioned the bus analogy when I asked how it's like to be multiple you(s), right? I think that's a very comprehensible way to put it. Can you tell us about the bus analogy so that our readers can understand too?
Louise: Yes, I believe Matilda (or “Mattie” as we sometimes call her for short) was the first of us that you met. She is my “little sister” in our system. In the present day, we all see each other as an “internal family” of siblings. But back before we were fully aware of our DID, there were certain alters who already thought of themselves as siblings, and even today, have a stronger sibling bond.
As for the “bus analogy,” it’s one that I have seen many DID systems online use to help explain what the experience of DID is like. Some systems refer to it as a “car” or “van,” but with 74 alters in our system, we felt like a bus was more appropriate! Basically, it’s like this: our physical body is the vehicle that we all live in. One of us (usually, although it can be more than one sometimes) is in the “driver’s seat,” which means that they are the one in control of the body. Some of the other alters that are close to the front of the vehicle, looking out the windows, are what we call “co-conscious.” That means that they are aware of what is going on in the external world even though they are not directly controlling the actions of the body. Some of the others, further back in the bus, are not aware of our external surroundings, and are just interacting with each other in the internal world. We can take turns “driving,” and share the responsibility of interacting in the external world, but we also need to be careful not to neglect the needs of the others in the internal world. We also need to make sure we are keeping up the “maintenance” of the bus: that is, taking care of our body, eating healthy foods, getting enough rest, etc. Living with DID is a constant balancing act, and so we all need to work together to meet the needs of ourselves in the internal world, and our responsibilities in the external world.
Harshini: I think I understand the bus analogy more than before! Last time, I didn't know that the driver's and passengers’ seats were like a spectrum: ones closest to the driver's seat can see what's happening in the outer world even though they're not in the driver's seat.
I'm curious to know about one thing (and sorry if it's a weird question), how do you guys interact with the people in the external world? Like, if one of you– Louise, has a friend, and when you hang out with your friend, does Louise take the driver's seat? Or does your friend hang out with all of you, taking turns?
Louise: That’s a great question! As with many other things with DID, it depends on the system. With DID systems who have a lot of amnesia barriers between alters, it is possible for one alter to have a friend in the external world that the other alters haven’t even met at all.
But for systems like ours, who have a lot of co-consciousness, our external world friends and family who know about our DID (and are comfortable with it) are usually fine with hanging out with any of us. We usually try to introduce friends to one of us at a time, and not try to introduce too many too quickly, so that we don’t overwhelm them. I think if we tried to introduce someone to 15 or 20 alters in the first week that they knew about our DID, it would understandably be a bit too much!
But also, we don’t necessarily always tell all of our friends about our DID. We have to be very careful, and make sure we know them and they know us well enough to not get too freaked out about it. In the meantime, until we disclose our DID, we have to try to be authentically who we are as a system, while also not letting the differences between alters show too much. It’s a difficult balancing act, but one that is unfortunately necessary for our safety. I wish we lived in a world where we could be completely open about our DID with everyone, but we feel like that’s not safe due to the stigma surrounding the disorder. That’s why we use pseudonyms when talking about our DID online, so we can talk freely about it without risking everyone in our personal life knowing about it.
Harshini: Ahh, I see. That makes a lot of sense! There is a lot of stigma around disorders, so it only makes sense that we stay careful about what we share, both in the real world and online. There are some things I avoid talking about too, because it might make the other person uncomfortable, or they most likely can't accept our statement without judging. Unfortunately, many people don't hesitate to harshly judge and hurt us with words, and it might even leave a (mental) scar for years! It happens, and it keeps me awake at night. Glad that you guys have set safety measures to prevent situations like these.
If there are 74 alters in your system, and there are only 16 personality types according to the MBTI, does that mean there are multiple ENFPs or INFJs in the system?
Louise: Yes, since there are only 16 personality types, it’s inevitable that there are going to be some of us who share the same type. Not all of us have taken the test yet, but of those who have, we have already found several duplicate types. For instance, my type is INTJ, but we also have at least two other alters with that type, that we know of so far. We also have at least two INFJs, three INFPs, two ENFJs, and four ENFPs.
The interesting thing about that is that even though we may have the same type as other alters in the system, that doesn’t mean we are exactly the same. We still each have our own unique experiences and viewpoints, which shape who we are. And we each have different percentages of where we are on the scale of each of the four sets of personality traits. I think that’s something that often gets overlooked by those who criticize the MBTI for being too binary. Yes, each set of letters is a binary system, but at the same time, they are also each a spectrum. Someone with a 57% Introvert score is not going to act the same as someone with a 93% Introvert score.
Harshini: Interesting! I agree. Ever since MBTI has started to gain popularity and become a more common topic to discuss– along with it, MBTI stereotypes have started to form. Some people think they know what ENTPs and other types are like. But… their views on ENTPs don't usually match every ENTP out there. I've been told that I'm not like other ENTPs a few times when I met a few friends online. But you know? Just because two people have the same MBTI type, it doesn't mean their behaviours, preferences, and habits will be the same.
Each MBTI type is a spectrum, indeed!
Louise: Yes, absolutely! Another thing that some people believe about the MBTI that I disagree with is the idea that our MBTI types are “set in stone” when we are born, and don’t change for the rest of our lives. I think the very existence of DID is proof that that’s not true. For one thing, the latest theories on the origins of DID state that we are all born with multiple emotional states, and so the childhood trauma that causes the formation of DID alters is not necessarily a splitting so much as a failure to merge. So if that is the case, I would think that means that everyone is born with the potential for multiple personality types, but most people merge into one during the course of normal childhood development. Also, since it’s possible for DID systems to diverge more alters well into adulthood, that means that it’s possible for us to continue to evolve and change our sense of identity. I think the fact that our alters have tested as several different MBTI types (at least 12 of the 16 that we know of so far!), clearly shows that our personality types can be influenced by our experiences. If this were not possible, we might still be able to have separate identities, but they would all have the same MBTI type.
Since we first started learning about the MBTI a few years ago, it has really helped us a lot in our journey of healing. It has helped each of us who have taken the test to understand our selves better, and given us insights into why we do things the way we do. But beyond those personal insights, it has also helped our system as a whole to function better. As we have read the various descriptions of the personality types, we have realized that where some of us have weaknesses, others have strengths in those same areas. That understanding has really helped us to be able to know which alters would be best to handle which situations and responsibilities in our shared life.
Also, living with others who have different MBTI types in the same brain helps us to understand other people better, and helps us to be able to empathize and get along with other people in the external world who have different personality types. We have really come to understand ourselves, and human nature in general, a lot better since learning about the MBTI.
Harshini: That's great! That's very interesting. MBTI has helped me gain more confidence. I thought I was weird, and I wasn't sure if the things I'm doing are right or wrong, but I'm just an ENTP, and I was just like how the typical ENTP stereotype goes. Some traits of mine felt wrong, and they were considered the minus points of ENTPs, so I tried and changed some of them. I would've been a very annoying person if I didn't make those changes, haha. So I'm a big fan of MBTI assessments as well!
Harshini: Thank you, Louise, for joining me today! I learned a lot, thanks to your system. ✨
Louise: It was my pleasure! Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I really appreciated it, and enjoyed chatting with you! Any time you want to do another collaborative post with me or another alter in our system, we would be up for it!
And to your subscribers and ours, if you have any further questions about DID, don’t hesitate to ask!
Thanks!
Harshini: Awesome! To the readers, be sure to check out Louise’s and her system’s newsletter!:
And also check out their Twitter/X: @dougvincent1138
See you guys later! Bye!
Thank you for reading! I hope you liked reading this article, and I hope it was helpful. Come again next week on Friday for a ✨new post✨
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Wow thank you for this interview! So informative and fascinating!
Wow! Thank you so much for this post, Harshini! (and to Louise for the down-to-earth explanations of how things work!) This is utterly fascinating!
And, while I am obsessed with personality typing, I’m ashamed to admit that I never considered someone with DID and how that might present! So thank you for enlightening me, and helping me make changes going forward!