I’ve written a good deal about the violent consequences of psychopathic behavior: here and here. And while I write about some of the the nonviolent consequences in my book Privileged Killers, I’ve not written about the dissociation result.

As many celebrate the great things dads do on Father’s Day in a few days, its makes us even more thankful to know that some dads can do despicable things. Adrian Fletcher MA, PsyD just wrote the following personal piece in Psychology Today about how her dad’s psychopathy caused her to have multiple personalities.

Trauma, Dissociation, and Surviving a Psychopathic Father.

“Today [June 3, 2025] marks the anniversary of my father’s death. For many, such a day is tinged with grief or remembrance. For me, it is a day of reckoning.

My father was a psychopath. He trafficked me. He subjected me to ritual abuse and mind control from a young age. It’s difficult to write those words—even now—as a licensed psychologist, a speaker, a writer, and someone who is nationally recognized for my work in the field of dissociative disorders. But I share them because they are the truth. And because for decades, I was forced to live in silence.

In 2018, when my mother died, the dam finally broke. That loss triggered the surfacing of memories that had long been held by other parts of me—parts I didn’t yet fully know or understand. It was then I came to realize I had Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Not because I had been misdiagnosed (though I had), not because of a label, but because my system had kept me alive through something the mind should not have to bear.

         Dissociation victim, Adrian Fletcher 

DID is a creative, protective response to chronic, severe trauma, often beginning in early childhood. It’s not a character flaw. It’s not rare. It is rarely recognized—especially by clinicians who are under-trained and misinformed. And it is not the sensationalized, dangerous caricature that Hollywood continues to promote.

Each part of me—of my system—holds pieces of our story. Our strength. Our survival. DID is not chaos; it is order in the face of terror. It is the nervous system doing its job to keep a child alive when no one else would.

The path from there to here has been long. Treatment has been complex, nonlinear, and life-saving. And even now, as a psychologist and trauma specialist, speaking about my story in public spaces comes with emotional cost. There is risk in telling the truth when the world still struggles to believe survivors.

Stigma and silence about Dissociation

But I also know the cost of silence. So I speak—not only for myself, but for the many others who cannot, who are still in hiding, who are still being harmed by disbelief, by stigma, by systems not built to support them.

I have gone from silenced to stage. From a hidden, shattered inner world to a nationally recognized voice in trauma and dissociation. I’ve presented at conferences, trained clinicians across the country, and written for organizations I once only dreamed of. And yet, I am still often met with skepticism, stigma, and discomfort—especially when I name the realities of trafficking, ritual abuse, or DID.

We need to do better. Mental health professionals must be educated about complex trauma and dissociation—not just in theory, but in practice. Survivors need clinicians who can recognize the signs, who won’t pathologize their adaptations, and who will believe them.

DID is not an attention-seeking disorder. It is not created by suggestion. It is a human response to inhuman circumstances.

Dissociation (once, Multiple Personality Disorder)

Hollywood continues to fail people like me with fear-based narratives that perpetuate harm. These stories do not just shape public opinion; they shape clinical bias and reinforce dangerous myths that silence real survivors.

Today, I remember my father not as family, but as the architect of my early trauma. But I also remember the parts of me who carried that pain and kept us going. I remember the strength it took to begin speaking. I honor the courage of survivors everywhere, especially those still waiting to be heard.

To those reading—especially clinicians—I ask you to listen differently. To educate yourself. To hold space for truths that may challenge your training. And to recognize that healing doesn’t begin with intervention. It begins with belief.”

What Is Dissociation?

• feeling disconnected from yourself and the world around you.
• feeling uncertain about who you are.
• having multiple distinct identities.
• forgetting about certain time periods, events and personal information.
• feeling little or no physical pain

Your reaction to Fletcher’s story and allegations? 

Do stigma and systemic failures continue to harm survivors of sex traffiking?

Is DID  an adaptative response, not a disorder of fantasy
 

References

Fisher, Janina (2017). Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors. Routledge

Fletcher, A. (2022). One soul multiple expressions: Poems by the parts (1st ed.). Self.

Frost, G. (2020). The girls within: A true story of triumph over trauma and abuse. Phoenix Publishing House.

National Health Service, UK, (2023). Www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/dissociative-disorders.

My latest book, PRIVILEGED KILLERS, is a true story about a half-dozen Dark Triad people in my everyday life - narcissists, manipulators, and psychopaths. Three of 'em murdered people, and one came after my wife and me. Print and e-book versions of this (and CLEFT HEART) available at Amazon and elsewhere online. Also at your local bookstore.