William (Billy) Milligan became known to the world after the trial in Ohio. He was accused of rape and robbery, but the defenders obtained an acquittal. Their main argument was that Milligan suffered from a personality disorder. The crimes were committed by several of his alters.
The first alter personalities appeared in Billy in early childhood. Subsequently, their number increased. At the age of 16, Billy tried to commit suicide, but personalities finally took control of the basic consciousness and "put him to sleep". Each personality was endowed with its own biography and character. Their age, gender and nationality were also different.
For the first time, the doctor David Cole came into contact with all personalities, who already had experience of interaction with such patients.
Theater of one actor (and many roles)
According to the descriptions included in Daniel Keyes's book, the individuals contacted each other. In fact, something like an international club or a hostel was constantly operating in Milligan's head - with dialogues, disputes, division of duties. In interviews with doctors, alter personalities described the role reversal as "standing on a lighted spot in a dark room." The person who got up on the spot received temporary power over consciousness.
Depending on the situation, the most suitable person took over the leadership. The main communication with the doctor was carried out by the Teacher, who manifested himself during the treatment of Milligan. He was a person “above the fight”: he watched the actions of the others, but did not interfere.
Arthur Smith was the first to identify other individuals and establish rules of conduct for them. He also controlled the change of alter personalities. For a long time, neither his friends nor relatives knew about the specificity of Milligan's life.
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Yugoslav Reygen was responsible for actions in dangerous situations. He and Arthur were the main and desirable personalities. There were also alter personalities with criminal inclinations.
The main personalities regarded sex life as a destabilizing factor, so none of the male personalities could start a relationship. Precedents happened, but individuals were sure that communication was exclusively platonic in nature. The ban did not apply to women, which became the reason for the high-profile crime: the rape was committed by a female personality - an active lesbian. She also took control of mind during Billy's novels.
Was Milligan?
The debate over whether Milligan was truly a multi-faced man continues. There are reasons for this.
Books by Daniel Keyes remain the main source of information. They are based on conversations with Milligan, and conversations are not the most objective evidence. Moreover, Milligan himself asked to write the book, and scenes and dialogues were recreated from his words.
There is a theory that the disease came from the influence of a doctor. After the release of the story, a surge in similar cases was recorded, and before that, David Cole was almost the only doctor in the United States to investigate cases of multiple personality disorder.
The defenders of the version that 24 personalities really "lived" in Milligan's body say that depending on the personality change, Milligan's plasticity completely changed, he moved and spoke differently and never got lost. However, videos showing the change of personalities are not in the public domain. There are only very short fragments.
There are also no separate interviews or memoirs of Milligan's friends and relatives. All evidence is available only in the books of Keyes. In addition, experts from different fields of science and art did not meet with Billy, so it is difficult to verify claims about how well this or that person played musical instruments or spoke a foreign language fluently.
Liberation
Milligan spent 10 years in treatment, after which he was considered cured enough to be released. The doctors pronounced the verdict: Billy's psyche is stable, and although it was not possible to "fully assemble" a single personality, he could control his mind.
On the interest owed from the book that made him famous, Milligan went to California, where he founded a small film studio. That soon burned out. Billy changed his place of residence and for some time stopped contacting friends and relatives. He died in 2014 at a nursing home in Ohio.
His biography is partly inspired by the recently released and already blockbuster movie "Split".