Out of control of his own actions, Billy Milligan was a man tormented by twenty-four distinct personalities battling for supremacy over his body — a battle which culminated in late 1977 when he awoke in jail, arrested for the kidnap and rape of three women. In a landmark trial, Billy was acquitted of his crimes by reason of insanity caused by multiple personality — the first such court decision in history — bringing to public light the most remarkable and harrowing case of multiple personality ever recorded.

TWENTY-FOUR PEOPLE LIVE INSIDE BILLY MILLIGAN
 
Philip, a petty criminal; Kevin, who dealt drugs and masterminded a drug store robbery; April, whose only ambition was to kill Billy’s stepfather; Adalana, the shy, lonely, affection-starved lesbian who “used” Billy’s body in the rapes which led to his arrest; David, the eight-year-old “keeper of pain”; and all of the others, including men, women, several children, both boys and girls, and the Teacher, the only one who can put them all together. You will meet each in this often shocking true story. And you will be drawn deeply into the mind of this tortured young man and his splintered, terrifying world.

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I ran across the book after watching the Tom Holland show (Crowded Room) and got curious to see how the original fared to the TV adaptation. Daniel Keyes was known for the 60’s hit Flowers for Algernon and I was thinking, since it did so well in the past – maybe this is another forgotten masterpiece.

This book is the factual account of the life, up to now, of William Stanley Milligan, the first person in U.S. history to be found not guilty of major crimes, by reason of insanity, because he possessed multiple personalities.

I was curious as I thought DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) was mostly not real and used by TikTokers around the world as a gimmic to attract more attention to themselves. Had a look on https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder and it’s pretty rare but it does exist. Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a rare psychiatric disorder diagnosed in about 1.5% of the global population.

Back to the book –

This is a relatively easy to understand book in that it doesn’t labor the technical explanations of Billy’s condition or sentencing, but it’s not as easy read. The way the author write about Billy’s life makes him very sympathetic. A survivor or domestic abuse and childhood sexual assault Billy’s psyche creates personas over which he has no conscious control or awareness, but who are able to deal or suffer different aspects of Billy’s life. However, ultimately this traumatized young man in turn traumatized three women by raping and robbing them at gunpoint.

I don’t think the author intentionally tries to minimize this, but as his focus is on Billy’s story the impact he has on others is lost. Not that the politicians and journalists who later argue for harsher control and punishment really have those women in mind either. They just seem to like riling up hatred. Just goes to show that refusing to consider the whole story isn’t just a 21st century thing.

“I think multiples may, in fact, one of those experiments of nature that will tell us a whole lot more about ourselves

I think he manipulated people a lot, and used his diagnosis to his own ends, although i definitely would of done the same. I just think its crazy that one person can have that many different people inside of him, and that each person can change his whole demeanor.

That, and the fact that people like Billy are so rare, makes me wonder how much was real. Even some of the other psychologists that interviewed him said he had a narcissistic personality and wanted that star quality about him that only comes from being known..