The Minds of Billy Milligan

È una storia tormentata e toccante che ci offre la possibilità di confrontarci con una parte del mondo della malattia mentale e con molti altri temi che mi stanno particolarmente a cuore. La storia è quella di Billy Milligan, affetto da disturbo da personalità multipla, che attraverso le sue persone commette azioni (e anche reati) che poi le altre sue persone non ricordano; e della lunga battaglia giudiziaria, seguita al suo arresto, per far sì che nonostante i reati di cui si era macchiato potesse avere accesso a cure adeguate a tenere sotto controllo la sua malattia. È una biografia a mio parere ben scritta e ben documentata, che getta luce sulle diverse personalità del protagonista con un approccio pulito, senza pregiudizi e show more pieno di empatia, e che alla fine, grazie anche alle testimonianze dei medici che in diversi periodi della sua vita ebbero in cura il protagonista, ci restituisce Billy Milligan come una persona complessa e affascinante, la cui malattia non è che una conseguenza degli abusi che subiva da bambino. Il grande antagonista in questa storia è la cosiddetta opinione pubblica che, imbeccata ad arte da politici e giornali, si allinea sulla posizione che quello che serve a Milligan non sono le cure ma la punizione per i crimini che ha commesso, senza quindi approfondire i pareri di chi ha studiato e sa come trattare la malattia ma dando credito a chi parla alla pancia.
Un bellissimo libro che mi ha insegnato molto.

«Dottor Harding», gli chiese Belinky nel controinterrogatorio, «i casi di personalità multiple sono molto rari, vero?»
«Sì.»
«Dentro di noi, non siamo forse tutti persone diverse?»
«La differenza», disse il dottor Harding, «sta nell’amnesia.» show less

This is a fantastic book detailing the treatment and the history of Billy Milligan, a man diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. The book starts off describing the crimes he commits and his trial. The book truly becomes interesting once he enters treatment and you get to know all the personalities (or Billy's "people").

The book can get somewhat confusing as it traces Billy's history through all of his personalities, but I believe that this actually helps the reader truly understand Billy by giving him/her a small taste of Billy's confusion. If you are fascinated by psychology and trying to better understand mental disorders, you should give this book a read.

This book also provides an interesting glimpse into how media can show more affect society's perception of persons with mental illnesses and how that can affect their treatment. I found myself becoming very sympathetic to Billy's plight and the end of the book provided some frustration for me as it detailed his struggles with the media and the justice system, which was unfairly biased by the media. This book will challenge you to accept multiple personality disorder as a real diagnosis (if you don't already) and to feel sympathy for a convicted rapist. I highly recommend this book. show less

Billy Milligan merasa kehilangan waktu selama enam tahun tanpa tahu apa yang sudah ia lakukan. Tahu-tahu saja dia sudah berada di sebuah penjara dengan dakwaan pemerkosaan dan perampokan dengan kekerasan. Dia shock, tentu saja. Ketakutan menyergap jiwanya dan ia tak bisa berbuat apa-apa.

Jika tak membaca “24 Wajah Billy”, rasanya sulit membayangkan begitu rapuhnya jiwa manusia sehingga bisa terpecah menjadi kepingan-kepingan kepribadian yang jauh berbeda satu sama lain. Tapi memang demikianlah keadaan kejiwaan yang dialami Billy Milllian. Hal ini tentu saja terjadi bukan tanpa alasan. Sejak kecil Billy telah mengalami depresi berat. Kedua orang tua kandungnya selalu bertengkar. Sang ayah pun seringkali memukul ibunya dan bersikap show more kasar. Ketika akhirnya mereka bercerai dan sang ibu menikah lagi, ayah baru Billy ternyata tak jauh berbeda. Billy beruang kali dibawa ke tanah pertanian, dikubur dalam tanah dengan hanya wajah yang tampak untuk kemudian dikencingi. Atau di lain waktu, saat nasib tak menjadi lebih baik, Billy Milligan disodomi ayah angkatnya sendiri.

24 kepribadian Billy ini memiliki karakter yang begitu berbeda. Ada lelaki, ada perempuan. Ada anak kecil dan yang dewasa. Ada lesbian yang haus kasih sayang, ahli senjata api, seorang Rusia yang temperamental, orang Inggris yang kaku dan bermartabat, hingga perampok ulung. Beberapa dari mereka membentuk keluarga. Yang lainnya, yang selalu berbuat kekacauan saat menguasai tubuh Billy, dicap sebagai “yang tak diinginkan”. “24 Wajah Billy” menuturkan perjuangan Billy Milligan untuk kembali mendapatkan tempat di masyarakat. Banyak pihak menginginkan dia untuk mati. Banyak juga yang hendak membawanya menuju Rumah Sakit Jiwa dengan pengamanan ekstra di Lima. Tapi tentu saja hal ini ditolak para pembela Billy. Mereka meyakini bahwa apa yang dilakukan Billy hanyalah karena sosok lelaki ini tengah menderita akibat kekerasan yang terjadi di masa kanak-kanaknya. Perjuangan keras para pembela Billy melibatkan tak hanya fisik, namun juga tekanan mental, pertaruhan nama baik hingga pertaruhan keutuhan rumah tangga. Dan beruntung, di bawah penanganan tim dokter yang dipimping dr. Harding Jr., pada akhirnya Billy yang telah menjalani sejumlah terapi penyatuan kepribadian bisa dikembalikan ke masyarakat. Meski tak semua orang bisa benar-benar menerimanya kembali.

“… Milligan, yang jelas tidak diberi kesempatan yang adil dalam hidup ini, telah kembali ke Athens untuk dirawat oleh para ahli di sini. Dan masyarakat ini, kalaupun adayang mereka perbuat, seharusnya membantu memberikan atmosfer mendukung yang dia butuhkan…. Kami tidak meminta anda untuk menyambut Milligan dengan tangan terbuka. Tetapi kami meminta anda untuk memahami. Itulah yang setidaknya berhak dia terima.” kutip koran mahasiswa Ohio University, The Post, mengakhiri buku ini dengan manis. show less

This is a great book. It provides insight into a case of multiple personality disorder which inspired a lot of works of fiction - the most recent one being Split(2016). That might make the book a bit difficult to get into and accepting the reality of the situation. James McAvoy's memorable performance certainly doesn't help you get over the similarities.

The writing is very simple, in an almost journalistic style. It conveys the feeling of an objective story, just giving you the facts. Even the traumatic experiences are narrated this way. There is no drama to it, no unnecessary details. That's just the way things happened, you cannot change them.

At times it is a tedious read, verbose and containing too many details, especially in the show more first 30%. This is paid off in the end, but you need to understand the context in which the book was written and what was Billy Milligan's situation at the time of publication(1981/1982).

Besides giving an insight into Billy Milligan's life, there are also some very interesting discussions regarding the state and limitations of the American legal and healthcare systems in the 70s and 80s.

If I were to give a short blurb, it would be this:
It's Primal Fear meets Forrest Gump meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest show less

Billy Milligan, suffers from the highly controversial psychological condition of multiple personality disorder. His alternate personalities range from a deaf child to a lesbian to a well cultured British man. While “Billy” sleeps, the others take “the spot” and commit a series of crimes, including rape and robbery.

In prison, it becomes immediately evident to his attorneys that something is not right. Psychologists uncover the truth, and Billy is found not guilty by reason of insanity. Billy is shuffled from hospital to hospital, where doctors and staff doubt his condition and describe a series of harmful treatments.

Hard to put down, this book is an intriguing look into Billy’s mind. It is well written and the cast of show more characters come to life to the reader. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in psychology or multiple personality disorder. show less

This was an interesting book about someone who learned that he was rarely in charge of his actions. One scene that stuck in my mind was when "Phillip" decided to go to New York and "David" came forward and couldn't carry the weight of the duffel bag.

Il Club del Libro / DRS
Libro del mese di Novembre 2018