Flash Fiction
Concerning the relation of mind to body and the nature of somatic illness, we may take instruction from the history of one Dennis Overbye / Dennis Weintraub, a classic case of dissociative disorder or, as it was termed in psychological literature of the time, split personality. In such cases, it is usual for each personality to have no memory of the other’s adventures, indeed, no awareness of the existence of the other; and it is common for each personality to fabricate illnesses or travels to account for lacunae in his chronology. The two personalities may have different tastes, and food which induces severe allergic reactions of one alter may be enjoyed by the other without ill effect.
As mayor of a small New England town in the 1990s, Dennis Weintraub was described variously as intimidating, bombastic, and opportunistic. Overbye, his alter ego, was an avant garde composer on weekends, who earned a quiet living as a software engineer. Overbye kept to himself, but was described by townsfolk as a kindly, gentle soul, beloved by the town’s children but shy with adults. In 1996, Weintraub was diagnosed with liver cancer, and following surgery and a year-long remission, recurrence led to chemotherapy, then blood transfusions with increasing frequency to combat acute toxicity. On 22 December, 1999, his family paid last respects by his bedside at Memorial Hospital of Montpelier before he was taken off life support. Weintraub passed into a coma, from which attending physicians did not expect him to recover, but on the third morning following, he awoke as Dennis Overbye, a little disoriented but cheerful and apparently cancer-free. Overbye was discharged by a confused hospital staff, and went on to live another 23 years, before dying in the arms of his beloved grandchildren, 17 April, 2022.
____________________________________________— Alexander Nemeroff, MD
I had a patient in the Big Spring State Hospital around 1989, who I admitted with 7 personalities, probably from ritual abuse as a child, I realized as I learned more.
It was astounding. Some were male, though most were female. The teenage male could Really Play Ping-Pong! I could not at first recognize this personality as "her", the patient I had admitted, the core-personality.
She was variously aware of the others, as they were variously aware...
wow. In a less extreme example while I was on a long trip some friends asked me if I'd let another mutual friend stay at my place. The man, Jefferson, had moved but it didn't work out so now had no place to live. Jefferson appeared older than his age, walked with a cane, somewhat hunched over and seemed generally a nice guy. When i was about to return my friends were concerned for me. They had seen an angry side of Jefferson. Apparently he'd made threats. On one hand he had accused me of making mean phone calls to him but on the other hand said we were going to be together, like a couple. I was far away in another country so there was no way i was calling him. So when i returned home he seemed surprised that I told him he must leave and gave him a day or two to do so. Then he told me I called several times and said mean things. It was clear to me he was crazy. So the next day he was picked up by someone from Social Services. He was standing up straight, without his cane and appeared younger than i had ever seen him in the past.