Welcome to Science Quickly, a Scientific American Podcast Series.

I'm Josh Fishman, Scientific American Senior Health Editor.

Is it possible for one person to have several completely different personalities?

I've seen movies and red books that claim that this happens, but is it real?

To answer that question, today I'm joined by psychotherapist and anthropologist Rebecca

Lester from Washington University in St. Louis.

She'll tell us about a patient she worked with for many years, an amazing young woman

with 12 different parts.

These parts started out fighting with one another, but eventually and remarkably, they formed

a peaceful community.

Many selves in one body and mind.

This episode of Science Quickly contains discussions of personality disorders, childhood trauma,

and a brief mention of child abuse.

Please listen at your discretion.

Rebecca, who was Ella?

Sure.

Well, Ella is of course a pseudonym to protect her privacy.

At the time she came to see me, she was a 19-year-old college student.

She was dealing with symptoms of complex, post-traumatic stress disorder, so that included

things like flashbacks, nightmares, bodily kinds of difficulties.

She had some disorder eating and self-harm, so she had a lot going on that she was really

struggling with this trauma that she had experienced.

...