I'm revisiting the Oprah Interview and it's hard to watch it knowing what we know now about the loss of his son. You can feel that his energy is down in this interview. But what I wanted to visit in this thread is when he was talking about there being another person inside of him, someone he created when he was 5 years old, but didn't know why he created this person. He said he wasn't sure what sex this person was, and he discovered this other person himself, when he took someone else through therapy. He looks very uncomfortable talking about this "other" self. He even jokingly says at one point, "This will turn into a Sybil interview." And from his description, I don't know that he was that far off.

DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) is characterized by a fragmentation of the self. The following criteria has to be met in order to meet the criteria for DID:

• The individual experiences two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self). Some cultures describe this as an experience of possession.
• The disruption in identity involves a change in sense of self, sense of agency, and changes in behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and motor function.
• Frequent gaps are found in memories of personal history, including people, places, and events, for both the distant and recent past. These recurrent gaps are not consistent with ordinary forgetting.
• These symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

One of the things Prince said during the interview was: "I think that's why I changed my name now. I very much feel divorced from Prince."

People with DID may describe feeling that they have suddenly become depersonalized observers of their own speech and actions, "feeling divorced" from that personality.

What causes DID? 90% of individuals that are diagnosed with DID have experienced severe physical and sexual abuse, particularly during childhood. "Although there are no medications that specifically treat this disorder, antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs or tranquilizers may be prescribed to help control the mental health symptoms associated with it."

After watching that interview again, and having this section of the interview jump out at me, one thing thought that came to mind was "self-medicating". Alot of individuals that have suffered some form of childhood trauma often experience chronic pain as an adult. We know Prince had chronic pain related to what he did to his body for the sake of his performing. But I wonder if some of that pain might have been related to a trauma from his childhood and the medications were a way of self-medicating, not just the pain, but that trauma too.

When asked about whether his father was abusive, he said, "He had his moments." She then asked what was the most autobiographical scene from the movie Purple Rain, and he replied, "I'll say that it was probably the scene with me looking at my mother crying."

"You know there was a time when we didn't live together. When I met him again, he was a jewel, he was the most beautiful person I knew. And we are again estranged. But hopefully we can hook up again. If not, you know this is his experience. And he is living his experience the way he wants and I'm living my experience the way I want. It'd be cool if they hooked up but, hey, can only hope."

[Edited 11/16/17 19:53pm]

NotACleverName said:

When I first saw this Interview last year I thought that Prince might have been tired because he was awake for days, when I found out that their son died just a week ago I was shocked. Because I thought: "How could they handle that? How could they handle to do that interview.

One thing's for sure, both Prince and Mayte showed during that interview how strong people can be during the probably most horrible times. Losing a child might be the cruelest thing that can happen in life. It's an unnatural loss.

NotACleverName said:

This post is interesting, benni. Regarding this last paragraph.... "After watching that interview again, and having this section of the interview jump out at me, one thing thought that came to mind was "self-medicating". A lot of individuals that have suffered some form of childhood trauma often experience chronic pain as an adult. We know Prince had chronic pain related to what he did to his body for the sake of his performing. But I wonder if some of that pain might have been related to a trauma from his childhood and the medications were a way of self-medicating, not just the pain, but that trauma too"... an active member of this org brought up this very possibility, that Prince might have been self medicating to mask some emotional pain. Perhaps more succinctly than how you have broached this possibility, but the crux was the same. It was not received well by some. A shame, really. I am interested in the theory of connecting childhood trauma to chronic pain. I suffer from chronic pain and it has been long (very long) term. Full confession, I did not have the best childhood. At one point, I sought out acupuncture to try to alleviate my intense discomfort. This acupuncturist explained that Eastern philosophy is based on the premise that disease is a "dis ease" within the body due to blocked chi (blood flow) resulting from a very specific childhood trauma I experienced. This practitioner advised that acupuncture worked to open up one's chi to encourage blood flow, thus, healing the patient. Sad to say, it didn't work for me. However, I bring that up to show the relationship to emotional trauma and physical pain in alternative medicine, too. If you can further shed light on this, what I am curious about is does this theory identify those that suffer childhood trauma as simply not equipped emotionally to endure chronic physical pain or rather, does the body somehow break down more readily because of a possible emotional sensitivity? In other words, the mind subconsciously working to the detriment of a healthy body. [Edited 11/17/17 0:50am]

Research is showing that childhood trauma actually "rewires" the brain and central nervous system. There are neurobiological causes that change the nervous system. The way in which a person, who has experienced trauma in childhood, interpret physical symptoms is changed forever.

Here is one abstract from just one research related to the correlation of childhood trauma and pain:

Objective: Previous studies have indicated relationships between trauma in childhood and pain in adulthood, although some studies have reported no such relationships and challenge the methodologies of large-scale community samples. In this study involving a clinical sample, we examined relationships among (1) childhood trauma at ages 12 or younger, (2) rated pain for 3 time points in adulthood, and (3) pain catastrophizing (ie, catastrophic thoughts and feelings about pain).

Method: Using a cross-sectional approach and a self-report survey methodology in a consecutive sample of adult internal medicine outpatients (n = 243), we examined relationships among 5 types of childhood trauma (witnessing violence, physical neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse); ratings of pain now, over the past month, and over the past year; and scores on the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) and its subscales (rumination, magnification, and helplessness). Data were collected in November 2012.

Results: In univariate analyses, nearly all types of childhood trauma statistically significantly (P < .01) correlated with all self-ratings of pain, as well as the total PCS score and scores on the subscales of the PCS, with a few exceptions involving physical neglect, which demonstrated a weaker relationship. In multivariate analyses, emotional abuse (standardized β = 0.17, t = 2.37, P < .05) and sexual abuse (standardized β = 0.16, t = 2.26, P < .05) were uniquely predictive of the summed ratings of pain for each participant, and emotional abuse uniquely predicted catastrophic thoughts and feelings about pain (standardized β = 0.32, t = 4.58, P < .001).

Conclusions: In this clinical sample of adult outpatients, there were clear relationships between childhood trauma and all forms of pain assessment and pain catastrophizing. We discuss possible explanations and implications of these findings.

[Edited 11/17/17 3:50am]

laurarichardson said:

NotACleverName said:

This post is interesting, benni. Regarding this last paragraph.... "After watching that interview again, and having this section of the interview jump out at me, one thing thought that came to mind was "self-medicating". A lot of individuals that have suffered some form of childhood trauma often experience chronic pain as an adult. We know Prince had chronic pain related to what he did to his body for the sake of his performing. But I wonder if some of that pain might have been related to a trauma from his childhood and the medications were a way of self-medicating, not just the pain, but that trauma too"... an active member of this org brought up this very possibility, that Prince might have been self medicating to mask some emotional pain. Perhaps more succinctly than how you have broached this possibility, but the crux was the same. It was not received well by some. A shame, really. I am interested in the theory of connecting childhood trauma to chronic pain. I suffer from chronic pain and it has been long (very long) term. Full confession, I did not have the best childhood. At one point, I sought out acupuncture to try to alleviate my intense discomfort. This acupuncturist explained that Eastern philosophy is based on the premise that disease is a "dis ease" within the body due to blocked chi (blood flow) resulting from a very specific childhood trauma I experienced. This practitioner advised that acupuncture worked to open up one's chi to encourage blood flow, thus, healing the patient. Sad to say, it didn't work for me. However, I bring that up to show the relationship to emotional trauma and physical pain in alternative medicine, too. If you can further shed light on this, what I am curious about is does this theory identify those that suffer childhood trauma as simply not equipped emotionally to endure chronic physical pain or rather, does the body somehow break down more readily because of a possible emotional sensitivity? In other words, the mind subconsciously working to the detriment of a healthy body. [Edited 11/17/17 0:50am]

Lord, now he could not handle physical pain because of his childhood. He could not handle because he was a human being not Superman. This is one of the reason I hope is family more open about his medical issues.

Laura, no one has said that he was a Superman. In fact, there is a lot of research that shows childhood trauma DOES impact chronic pain in adulthood. This would support your statement that he was NOT superman. My question of wondering whether Prince was self-medicating, not just the pain, but the trauma from his childhood, as well, and his discussion of there being another person "inside of him" (which from his description closely correlates to DID). Usually people who experience childhood trauma experience MORE chronic pain as an adult.

NotACleverName, regarding Chi, it's not so much "blood flow" as it is "energy" flow. Defined in eastern teachings it is: the circulating life energy that in Chinese philosophy is thought to be inherent in all things; in traditional Chinese medicine the balance of negative and positive forms in the body is believed to be essential for good health. It's equivalent in India is Prana.

[Edited 11/17/17 5:40am]

benni said:

laurarichardson said:

NotACleverName said: Lord, now he could not handle physical pain because of his childhood. He could not handle because he was a human being not Superman. This is one of the reason I hope is family more open about his medical issues.

Laura, no one has said that he was a Superman. In fact, there is a lot of research that shows childhood trauma DOES impact chronic pain in adulthood. This would support your statement that he was NOT superman. My question of wondering whether Prince was self-medicating, not just the pain, but the trauma from his childhood, as well, and his discussion of there being another person "inside of him" (which from his description closely correlates to DID). Usually people who experience childhood trauma experience MORE chronic pain as an adult.

So, is everyone doomed who experienced voilence, bullying and shit like that? I'm asking for really scared friend

benni said:

I'm revisiting the Oprah Interview and it's hard to watch it knowing what we know now about the loss of his son. You can feel that his energy is down in this interview. But what I wanted to visit in this thread is when he was talking about there being another person inside of him, someone he created when he was 5 years old, but didn't know why he created this person. He said he wasn't sure what sex this person was, and he discovered this other person himself, when he took someone else through therapy. He looks very uncomfortable talking about this "other" self. He even jokingly says at one point, "This will turn into a Sybil interview." And from his description, I don't know that he was that far off.

DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) is characterized by a fragmentation of the self. The following criteria has to be met in order to meet the criteria for DID:

• The individual experiences two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self). Some cultures describe this as an experience of possession.
• The disruption in identity involves a change in sense of self, sense of agency, and changes in behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and motor function.
• Frequent gaps are found in memories of personal history, including people, places, and events, for both the distant and recent past. These recurrent gaps are not consistent with ordinary forgetting.
• These symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

One of the things Prince said during the interview was: "I think that's why I changed my name now. I very much feel divorced from Prince."

People with DID may describe feeling that they have suddenly become depersonalized observers of their own speech and actions, "feeling divorced" from that personality.

What causes DID? 90% of individuals that are diagnosed with DID have experienced severe physical and sexual abuse, particularly during childhood. "Although there are no medications that specifically treat this disorder, antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs or tranquilizers may be prescribed to help control the mental health symptoms associated with it."

After watching that interview again, and having this section of the interview jump out at me, one thing thought that came to mind was "self-medicating". Alot of individuals that have suffered some form of childhood trauma often experience chronic pain as an adult. We know Prince had chronic pain related to what he did to his body for the sake of his performing. But I wonder if some of that pain might have been related to a trauma from his childhood and the medications were a way of self-medicating, not just the pain, but that trauma too.

Thank you for posting this. Prince was remarkably open about having another personality inside him (usually glossed over by talk of being a Gemini)...but to a trained professional, such an ackowledgement is a red flag that trauma occured, had not been processed in a healthy way and that lingering effects could be toxic.

[Edited 11/17/17 11:54am]

benni said:

NotACleverName said:

benni said:

NotACleverName, regarding Chi, it's not so much "blood flow" as it is "energy" flow. Defined in eastern teachings it is: the circulating life energy that in Chinese philosophy is thought to be inherent in all things; in traditional Chinese medicine the balance of negative and positive forms in the body is believed to be essential for good health. It's equivalent in India is Prana.[Edited 11/17/17 5:40am]

Yes, thanks benni, you are correct in your explanation of chi. I sometimes think the acupuncturist used the words (blood flow) to help me understand or grasp a more tangible view of chi. I am certain I gave her a very confused look as she began the initial visit. Also, thank you for the info you provided in your response (#5) to my question. In some ways, I believe society (it might be unfair to include the whole of society as the following might be my individual experience) is intolerant of one's proclamation of their degree of pain. To explain further....the lack of an obvious, outward physical injury makes pain perception based and therefore, imo, it can be debated or questioned. Additionally, I was raised to "suck it up" and carry on, essentially concluding that it was not as dire as I perceived it to be. Eventually, MRIs, surgeries and other medical tests did prove there were physical reasons for the pain but the interim between symptoms and diagnosis was frustrating. I believe the process to discovery can heighten depression and despair. It is a relief to know serious study is happening to understand any/all connections to chronic pain. Evidence points to Prince experiencing physical pain and certainly there are indicators he dealt with childhood trauma. His adult life also includes some major trauma. It's not too far reaching that he could have found that medication used to treat his physical pain inadvertently provided a false sense of emotional relief. I posted the following Jamie Lee Curtis quote on another thread, but I think it is relevant here: “I too found painkillers after a routine cosmetic surgical procedure and I too became addicted, the morphine becomes the warm bath from which to escape painful reality. I was a lucky one. I was able to see that the pain had started long ago and far away and that the finding the narcotic was merely a matter of time. The pain needed numbing. My recovery from drug addiction is the single greatest accomplishment of my life… but it takes work — hard, painful work."

It is very generous of you to post this, NACN...by sharing honestly and openly we can help so many others who may feel alone and helpless.

Bodhitheblackdog said:

benni said:

laurarichardson said:

NotACleverName said: Lord, now he could not handle physical pain because of his childhood. He could not handle because he was a human being not Superman. This is one of the reason I hope is family more open about his medical issues.

Laura, no one has said that he was a Superman. In fact, there is a lot of research that shows childhood trauma DOES impact chronic pain in adulthood. This would support your statement that he was NOT superman. My question of wondering whether Prince was self-medicating, not just the pain, but the trauma from his childhood, as well, and his discussion of there being another person "inside of him" (which from his description closely correlates to DID). Usually people who experience childhood trauma experience MORE chronic pain as an adult.

"My question of wondering whether Prince was self-medicating, not just the pain, but the trauma from his childhood, as well, and his discussion of there being another person "inside of him" (which from his description closely correlates to DID). Usually people who experience childhood trauma experience MORE chronic pain as an adult."

We have no means of knowing any of this so what we have is people on this board with childhood trama and drug issues projecting their problems on to Prince without knowing the facts.

We have numerous people who knew him who are telling us over and over again that his drug taking was for pain. People who actually knew him but many on this borad persist in making it something else. No wonder he did not bother to tell only a few about his problems what good would it do if is all about some issues other then joint pain.

Your question will never be answered and even back at the time people on this very board laughed at the idea that he had a split personality and some professionals think the entire split personality is a bunch of nonsense created by hacks i.e. Sybil.

I find it hard to belive he made it to 57 if he had a split personality and funny how know drugs for that stituation were found in his system. I am not saying he did not have abuse as a child and I am not saying he never was prescribed meds for mental or emotional issues but we just do not have access to his medical records.

People on this board get attacked for saying he might have some under laying physical illness but it is okay to say he was bonkers?

ThatWhiteDude said:

benni said:

Laura, no one has said that he was a Superman. In fact, there is a lot of research that shows childhood trauma DOES impact chronic pain in adulthood. This would support your statement that he was NOT superman. My question of wondering whether Prince was self-medicating, not just the pain, but the trauma from his childhood, as well, and his discussion of there being another person "inside of him" (which from his description closely correlates to DID). Usually people who experience childhood trauma experience MORE chronic pain as an adult.

So, is everyone doomed who experienced voilence, bullying and shit like that? I'm asking for really scared friend

Never underestimate the resilience a person has to overcome childhood traumas. It really depends upon the extent of the trauma, how deeply it impacted that individual as a child, also how young that individual was when they experienced the trauma. Research does show that childhood trauma rewires the brain and central nervous system, but how deeply that will impact your friend in later years, I can't say. I deal with chronic pain but I also have a health condition (blood clots - numerous DVTs in my leg and pulmonary embolisms through the years) that has caused damage to the nerves and veins, work two jobs (my day started at 6:30 AM and I didn't get off work until 11 PM) which causes a lot of stress and fatigue, worry about finances which causes tension -- so how much of my chronic pain is related to my health problems, my schedule, my financial worries and how much to the trauma I went through as a child? I can't hazard a guess on that.

Bodhitheblackdog said:

benni said:

I'm revisiting the Oprah Interview and it's hard to watch it knowing what we know now about the loss of his son. You can feel that his energy is down in this interview. But what I wanted to visit in this thread is when he was talking about there being another person inside of him, someone he created when he was 5 years old, but didn't know why he created this person. He said he wasn't sure what sex this person was, and he discovered this other person himself, when he took someone else through therapy. He looks very uncomfortable talking about this "other" self. He even jokingly says at one point, "This will turn into a Sybil interview." And from his description, I don't know that he was that far off.

DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) is characterized by a fragmentation of the self. The following criteria has to be met in order to meet the criteria for DID:

• The individual experiences two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self). Some cultures describe this as an experience of possession.
• The disruption in identity involves a change in sense of self, sense of agency, and changes in behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and motor function.
• Frequent gaps are found in memories of personal history, including people, places, and events, for both the distant and recent past. These recurrent gaps are not consistent with ordinary forgetting.
• These symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

One of the things Prince said during the interview was: "I think that's why I changed my name now. I very much feel divorced from Prince."

People with DID may describe feeling that they have suddenly become depersonalized observers of their own speech and actions, "feeling divorced" from that personality.

What causes DID? 90% of individuals that are diagnosed with DID have experienced severe physical and sexual abuse, particularly during childhood. "Although there are no medications that specifically treat this disorder, antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs or tranquilizers may be prescribed to help control the mental health symptoms associated with it."

After watching that interview again, and having this section of the interview jump out at me, one thing thought that came to mind was "self-medicating". Alot of individuals that have suffered some form of childhood trauma often experience chronic pain as an adult. We know Prince had chronic pain related to what he did to his body for the sake of his performing. But I wonder if some of that pain might have been related to a trauma from his childhood and the medications were a way of self-medicating, not just the pain, but that trauma too.

Thank you for posting this. Prince was remarkably open about having another personality inside him (usually glossed over by talk of being a Gemini)...but to a trained professional, such an ackowledgement is a red flag that trauma occured, had not been processed in a healthy way and that lingering effects could be toxic.

[Edited 11/17/17 11:54am]

One of the things that stood out to me was remembering a conversation that occurred here about a year ago, in which someone was talking about Prince having Alzheimer's and memory loss. If there is a true split in the personality, usually there is memory loss on the part of the main personality because that personality is usually not aware of the other. Though, after therapy, they do become aware of the other personality. I'd be curious as to when Prince first said he had another person inside of him. I know he used to play on the twin thing, but in this particular interview, it wasn't a play on the twin thing. This was something deeper that he was revealing. You could tell by his demeanor. That look he gave and the shrug, it reminded me of an insecure little boy when he did that. My heart went out to him in that moment.

NotACleverName said:

benni said:

NotACleverName, regarding Chi, it's not so much "blood flow" as it is "energy" flow. Defined in eastern teachings it is: the circulating life energy that in Chinese philosophy is thought to be inherent in all things; in traditional Chinese medicine the balance of negative and positive forms in the body is believed to be essential for good health. It's equivalent in India is Prana.[Edited 11/17/17 5:40am]

Yes, thanks benni, you are correct in your explanation of chi. I sometimes think the acupuncturist used the words (blood flow) to help me understand or grasp a more tangible view of chi. I am certain I gave her a very confused look as she began the initial visit. Also, thank you for the info you provided in your response (#5) to my question. In some ways, I believe society (it might be unfair to include the whole of society as the following might be my individual experience) is intolerant of one's proclamation of their degree of pain. To explain further....the lack of an obvious, outward physical injury makes pain perception based and therefore, imo, it can be debated or questioned. Additionally, I was raised to "suck it up" and carry on, essentially concluding that it was not as dire as I perceived it to be. Eventually, MRIs, surgeries and other medical tests did prove there were physical reasons for the pain but the interim between symptoms and diagnosis was frustrating. I believe the process to discovery can heighten depression and despair. It is a relief to know serious study is happening to understand any/all connections to chronic pain. Evidence points to Prince experiencing physical pain and certainly there are indicators he dealt with childhood trauma. His adult life also includes some major trauma. It's not too far reaching that he could have found that medication used to treat his physical pain inadvertently provided a false sense of emotional relief. I posted the following Jamie Lee Curtis quote on another thread, but I think it is relevant here: “I too found painkillers after a routine cosmetic surgical procedure and I too became addicted, the morphine becomes the warm bath from which to escape painful reality. I was a lucky one. I was able to see that the pain had started long ago and far away and that the finding the narcotic was merely a matter of time. The pain needed numbing. My recovery from drug addiction is the single greatest accomplishment of my life… but it takes work — hard, painful work."

Going by what he said in that interview, in regards to being questioned about whether his dad was abusive, "he had his moments", and there are other interviews in which Prince alluded to some sort of abuse from his father, never giving details, just stating "he had his moments". The way he said it in that interview, it really made me wonder whether he was understating the experience. A lot of people with traumatic childhoods tend to downplay their experiences, usually because it was "normal" for them so they don't want to make a big out of it, or because they feel others have had it worse so they understate their own experiences. But his tone of voice, his look, "he had his moments", said a lot.

laurarichardson said:

benni said:

Laura, no one has said that he was a Superman. In fact, there is a lot of research that shows childhood trauma DOES impact chronic pain in adulthood. This would support your statement that he was NOT superman. My question of wondering whether Prince was self-medicating, not just the pain, but the trauma from his childhood, as well, and his discussion of there being another person "inside of him" (which from his description closely correlates to DID). Usually people who experience childhood trauma experience MORE chronic pain as an adult.

"My question of wondering whether Prince was self-medicating, not just the pain, but the trauma from his childhood, as well, and his discussion of there being another person "inside of him" (which from his description closely correlates to DID). Usually people who experience childhood trauma experience MORE chronic pain as an adult."

We have no means of knowing any of this so what we have is people on this board with childhood trama and drug issues projecting their problems on to Prince without knowing the facts.

We have numerous people who knew him who are telling us over and over again that his drug taking was for pain. People who actually knew him but many on this borad persist in making it something else. No wonder he did not bother to tell only a few about his problems what good would it do if is all about some issues other then joint pain.

Your question will never be answered and even back at the time people on this very board laughed at the idea that he had a split personality and some professionals think the entire split personality is a bunch of nonsense created by hacks i.e. Sybil.

I find it hard to belive he made it to 57 if he had a split personality and funny how know drugs for that stituation were found in his system. I am not saying he did not have abuse as a child and I am not saying he never was prescribed meds for mental or emotional issues but we just do not have access to his medical records.

People on this board get attacked for saying he might have some under laying physical illness but it is okay to say he was bonkers?

Laura, I stated in my first post that yes, Prince was taking the medication for pain. There is NO DOUBT in my mind related to that. However, the fact remains that chronic pain is chronic pain and research has shown that a traumatic childhood increases chronic pain in adulthood for many individuals. Traumatic childhoods REWIRE the brain and central nervous system so that the way in which that person interprets physical symptoms is forever changed. I have no doubt that he had chronic pain from the work he did, however, it is possible that the traumas he experienced in his youth ADDED to that pain and that using the medications wasn't JUST to address the chronic pain but to also medicate the trauma from his youth.

DID is actually a diagnosable condition that is recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used by psychiatrists, psychologists, and clinical social workers. They changed it from a "split personality" to Dissociative Identity Disorder. The personality isn't "split" but it is fragmented in some situations. Dissociative Identity Disorder takes on many forms - such as dissociating from the body during times of crisis (they feel separate from their body, as though what is happening to the body isn't real, or it is being done to someone else), disconnection between thoughts/consciousness/identity/memory. It's a depersonalization of the self, a derealization of the self. HOWEVER, some individuals with DID do have another personality or more that come forward to deal with certain situations.

More on DID:

Symptoms and signs of dissociative disorders include:

• Significant memory loss of specific times, people and events
• Out-of-body experiences, such as feeling as though you are watching a movie of yourself
• Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide
• A sense of detachment from your emotions, or emotional numbness
• A lack of a sense of self-identity

The symptoms of dissociative disorders depend on the type of disorder that has been diagnosed. There are three types of dissociative disorders defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM):

• Dissociative Amnesia. The main symptom is difficulty remembering important information about one’s self. Dissociative amnesia may surround a particular event, such as combat or abuse, or more rarely, information about identity and life history. The onset for an amnesic episode is usually sudden, and an episode can last minutes, hours, days, or, rarely, months or years. There is no average for age onset or percentage, and a person may experience multiple episodes throughout her life.
• Depersonalization disorder. This disorder involves ongoing feelings of detachment from actions, feelings, thoughts and sensations as if they are watching a movie (depersonalization). Sometimes other people and things may feel like people and things in the world around them are unreal (derealization). A person may experience depersonalization, derealization or both. Symptoms can last just a matter of moments or return at times over the years. The average onset age is 16, although depersonalization episodes can start anywhere from early to mid childhood. Less than 20% of people with this disorder start experiencing episodes after the age of 20.
• Dissociative identity disorder. Formerly known as multiple personality disorder, this disorder is characterized by alternating between multiple identities. A person may feel like one or more voices are trying to take control in their head. Often these identities may have unique names, characteristics, mannerisms and voices. People with DID will experience gaps in memory of every day events, personal information and trauma. Women are more likely to be diagnosed, as they more frequently present with acute dissociative symptoms. Men are more likely to deny symptoms and trauma histories, and commonly exhibit more violent behavior, rather than amnesia or fugue states. This can lead to elevated false negative diagnosis.
  
  
  
  And no one is saying he is "bonkers". HE said he had another person inside of him, that he discovered this when he was taking someone else through therapy. From what he was saying, it sounds like DID, which is what caused me to post this, going by what Prince himself said. In fact he said he felt that when he changed his name to the symbol, that personality had taken over, because he felt "divorced" from Prince.

benni said:

benni said:

ThatWhiteDude said:

laurarichardson said:

benni said:

benni said:

I got this very often: Depersonalization disorder This disorder involves ongoing feelings of detachment from actions, feelings, thoughts and sensations as if they are watching a movie (depersonalization)

I always thought that everyone has this, but when I asked people around me if they get this feelig too, they looked at me as if I'm crazy or something. It's a strange feeling, it's like I'm not here, as if this body is not mine, It feels like you are watching someone else, like I see the person that should be me through VR or something. I can't really describe it but I don't know anyone that knows what I'm talking about. They just look at me and say: "That's strange."

anangellooksdown said:

benni said:

Laura, I stated in my first post that yes, Prince was taking the medication for pain. There is NO DOUBT in my mind related to that. However, the fact remains that chronic pain is chronic pain and research has shown that a traumatic childhood increases chronic pain in adulthood for many individuals. Traumatic childhoods REWIRE the brain and central nervous system so that the way in which that person interprets physical symptoms is forever changed. I have no doubt that he had chronic pain from the work he did, however, it is possible that the traumas he experienced in his youth ADDED to that pain and that using the medications wasn't JUST to address the chronic pain but to also medicate the trauma from his youth.

DID is actually a diagnosable condition that is recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used by psychiatrists, psychologists, and clinical social workers. They changed it from a "split personality" to Dissociative Identity Disorder. The personality isn't "split" but it is fragmented in some situations. Dissociative Identity Disorder takes on many forms - such as dissociating from the body during times of crisis (they feel separate from their body, as though what is happening to the body isn't real, or it is being done to someone else), disconnection between thoughts/consciousness/identity/memory. It's a depersonalization of the self, a derealization of the self. HOWEVER, some individuals with DID do have another personality or more that come forward to deal with certain situations.

More on DID:

Symptoms and signs of dissociative disorders include:

• Significant memory loss of specific times, people and events
• Out-of-body experiences, such as feeling as though you are watching a movie of yourself
• Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide
• A sense of detachment from your emotions, or emotional numbness
• A lack of a sense of self-identity

The symptoms of dissociative disorders depend on the type of disorder that has been diagnosed. There are three types of dissociative disorders defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM):

• Dissociative Amnesia. The main symptom is difficulty remembering important information about one’s self. Dissociative amnesia may surround a particular event, such as combat or abuse, or more rarely, information about identity and life history. The onset for an amnesic episode is usually sudden, and an episode can last minutes, hours, days, or, rarely, months or years. There is no average for age onset or percentage, and a person may experience multiple episodes throughout her life.
• Depersonalization disorder. This disorder involves ongoing feelings of detachment from actions, feelings, thoughts and sensations as if they are watching a movie (depersonalization). Sometimes other people and things may feel like people and things in the world around them are unreal (derealization). A person may experience depersonalization, derealization or both. Symptoms can last just a matter of moments or return at times over the years. The average onset age is 16, although depersonalization episodes can start anywhere from early to mid childhood. Less than 20% of people with this disorder start experiencing episodes after the age of 20.
• Dissociative identity disorder. Formerly known as multiple personality disorder, this disorder is characterized by alternating between multiple identities. A person may feel like one or more voices are trying to take control in their head. Often these identities may have unique names, characteristics, mannerisms and voices. People with DID will experience gaps in memory of every day events, personal information and trauma. Women are more likely to be diagnosed, as they more frequently present with acute dissociative symptoms. Men are more likely to deny symptoms and trauma histories, and commonly exhibit more violent behavior, rather than amnesia or fugue states. This can lead to elevated false negative diagnosis.
  
  
  
  And no one is saying he is "bonkers". HE said he had another person inside of him, that he discovered this when he was taking someone else through therapy. From what he was saying, it sounds like DID, which is what caused me to post this, going by what Prince himself said. In fact he said he felt that when he changed his name to the symbol, that personality had taken over, because he felt "divorced" from Prince.

Stay away from the psychiatric titles. They'll spiral you downwards into depression and hopelessness. Start seeking out a solution. If you seek hard and long enough and god knows you are willing, He will provide.

laurarichardson said:

benni said:

Laura, I stated in my first post that yes, Prince was taking the medication for pain. There is NO DOUBT in my mind related to that. However, the fact remains that chronic pain is chronic pain and research has shown that a traumatic childhood increases chronic pain in adulthood for many individuals. Traumatic childhoods REWIRE the brain and central nervous system so that the way in which that person interprets physical symptoms is forever changed. I have no doubt that he had chronic pain from the work he did, however, it is possible that the traumas he experienced in his youth ADDED to that pain and that using the medications wasn't JUST to address the chronic pain but to also medicate the trauma from his youth.

DID is actually a diagnosable condition that is recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used by psychiatrists, psychologists, and clinical social workers. They changed it from a "split personality" to Dissociative Identity Disorder. The personality isn't "split" but it is fragmented in some situations. Dissociative Identity Disorder takes on many forms - such as dissociating from the body during times of crisis (they feel separate from their body, as though what is happening to the body isn't real, or it is being done to someone else), disconnection between thoughts/consciousness/identity/memory. It's a depersonalization of the self, a derealization of the self. HOWEVER, some individuals with DID do have another personality or more that come forward to deal with certain situations.

More on DID:

Symptoms and signs of dissociative disorders include:

• Significant memory loss of specific times, people and events
• Out-of-body experiences, such as feeling as though you are watching a movie of yourself
• Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide
• A sense of detachment from your emotions, or emotional numbness
• A lack of a sense of self-identity

The symptoms of dissociative disorders depend on the type of disorder that has been diagnosed. There are three types of dissociative disorders defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM):

• Dissociative Amnesia. The main symptom is difficulty remembering important information about one’s self. Dissociative amnesia may surround a particular event, such as combat or abuse, or more rarely, information about identity and life history. The onset for an amnesic episode is usually sudden, and an episode can last minutes, hours, days, or, rarely, months or years. There is no average for age onset or percentage, and a person may experience multiple episodes throughout her life.
• Depersonalization disorder. This disorder involves ongoing feelings of detachment from actions, feelings, thoughts and sensations as if they are watching a movie (depersonalization). Sometimes other people and things may feel like people and things in the world around them are unreal (derealization). A person may experience depersonalization, derealization or both. Symptoms can last just a matter of moments or return at times over the years. The average onset age is 16, although depersonalization episodes can start anywhere from early to mid childhood. Less than 20% of people with this disorder start experiencing episodes after the age of 20.
• Dissociative identity disorder. Formerly known as multiple personality disorder, this disorder is characterized by alternating between multiple identities. A person may feel like one or more voices are trying to take control in their head. Often these identities may have unique names, characteristics, mannerisms and voices. People with DID will experience gaps in memory of every day events, personal information and trauma. Women are more likely to be diagnosed, as they more frequently present with acute dissociative symptoms. Men are more likely to deny symptoms and trauma histories, and commonly exhibit more violent behavior, rather than amnesia or fugue states. This can lead to elevated false negative diagnosis.
  
  
  
  And no one is saying he is "bonkers". HE said he had another person inside of him, that he discovered this when he was taking someone else through therapy. From what he was saying, it sounds like DID, which is what caused me to post this, going by what Prince himself said. In fact he said he felt that when he changed his name to the symbol, that personality had taken over, because he felt "divorced" from Prince.

You still have nothing but Prince’s comments to back up what you think ( loads of other stuff he said it is not taken seriously) and if he had personality disorder it does not mean he had some phathom pain or increased his pain. You are reaching and you may be one of the only people to buy Prince’s bull about the symbol. [Edited 11/18/17 5:53am]

Laura, I appreciate what you are saying. I am in no way saying he has "phantom pain". What I am talking about isn't phantom pain, it's real. As far as having Prince's comments to back up what I said, what should I base it on, what people who knew him said instead? People who knew him only knew what he, himself, shared with them. Everyone is different in some way around the people in their lives. They may share one thing with one person, but not another. They may act "hyper" around this friend, but more somber around another friend. I'd rather go by Prince's statements, than what someone else says about him. You can think I'm reaching, but is it any different than let's say believing Sheila when she says Santana called her the black butterfly? You'll believe what you want to believe, and take seriously whomever you want to take seriously. And I will do the same.

ThatWhiteDude said:

Morgaine said:

ThatWhiteDude said:

When I first saw this Interview last year I thought that Prince might have been tired because he was awake for days, when I found out that their son died just a week ago I was shocked. Because I thought: "How could they handle that? How could they handle to do that interview.

One thing's for sure, both Prince and Mayte showed during that interview how strong people can be during the probably most horrible times. Losing a child might be the cruelest thing that can happen in life. It's an unnatural loss.

To be clear, I'm paraphrasing what was said. Oprah asked Mayte for examples of he was romantic, she replies the songs he's written particularly, 'Let's Have s Baby' because that's why she got pregnant. Check out his facial reaction after she says this. How difficult this period in their lives must have been for both.

I didn't say anything else. I can imagine that this was the worst thing that happened to both of them.

anangellooksdown said:

benni said:

Never underestimate the resilience a person has to overcome childhood traumas. It really depends upon the extent of the trauma, how deeply it impacted that individual as a child, also how young that individual was when they experienced the trauma. Research does show that childhood trauma rewires the brain and central nervous system, but how deeply that will impact your friend in later years, I can't say. I deal with chronic pain but I also have a health condition (blood clots - numerous DVTs in my leg and pulmonary embolisms through the years) that has caused damage to the nerves and veins, work two jobs (my day started at 6:30 AM and I didn't get off work until 11 PM) which causes a lot of stress and fatigue, worry about finances which causes tension -- so how much of my chronic pain is related to my health problems, my schedule, my financial worries and how much to the trauma I went through as a child? I can't hazard a guess on that.

It's not about "overcoming", that's just another form of "sucking it up". it's about going straight through it. It has to be worked through. You have no brain damage, your thinking just got distorted. Because your parents (and others in society) passed down illusions to you, not truth. What you believe about yourself and others and this universe is not the truth, and it is causing you stress and yes, physical illness. When the mind heals the body follows.

I think you and I look at "overcoming" in a different way. It is not "sucking it up". Overcoming by definition means to successfully deal with it. And no one said anything about "brain damage". So I don't know what you are talking about there.

anangellooksdown said:

benni said:

Laura, I stated in my first post that yes, Prince was taking the medication for pain. There is NO DOUBT in my mind related to that. However, the fact remains that chronic pain is chronic pain and research has shown that a traumatic childhood increases chronic pain in adulthood for many individuals. Traumatic childhoods REWIRE the brain and central nervous system so that the way in which that person interprets physical symptoms is forever changed. I have no doubt that he had chronic pain from the work he did, however, it is possible that the traumas he experienced in his youth ADDED to that pain and that using the medications wasn't JUST to address the chronic pain but to also medicate the trauma from his youth.

DID is actually a diagnosable condition that is recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used by psychiatrists, psychologists, and clinical social workers. They changed it from a "split personality" to Dissociative Identity Disorder. The personality isn't "split" but it is fragmented in some situations. Dissociative Identity Disorder takes on many forms - such as dissociating from the body during times of crisis (they feel separate from their body, as though what is happening to the body isn't real, or it is being done to someone else), disconnection between thoughts/consciousness/identity/memory. It's a depersonalization of the self, a derealization of the self. HOWEVER, some individuals with DID do have another personality or more that come forward to deal with certain situations.

More on DID:

Symptoms and signs of dissociative disorders include:

• Significant memory loss of specific times, people and events
• Out-of-body experiences, such as feeling as though you are watching a movie of yourself
• Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide
• A sense of detachment from your emotions, or emotional numbness
• A lack of a sense of self-identity

The symptoms of dissociative disorders depend on the type of disorder that has been diagnosed. There are three types of dissociative disorders defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM):

• Dissociative Amnesia. The main symptom is difficulty remembering important information about one’s self. Dissociative amnesia may surround a particular event, such as combat or abuse, or more rarely, information about identity and life history. The onset for an amnesic episode is usually sudden, and an episode can last minutes, hours, days, or, rarely, months or years. There is no average for age onset or percentage, and a person may experience multiple episodes throughout her life.
• Depersonalization disorder. This disorder involves ongoing feelings of detachment from actions, feelings, thoughts and sensations as if they are watching a movie (depersonalization). Sometimes other people and things may feel like people and things in the world around them are unreal (derealization). A person may experience depersonalization, derealization or both. Symptoms can last just a matter of moments or return at times over the years. The average onset age is 16, although depersonalization episodes can start anywhere from early to mid childhood. Less than 20% of people with this disorder start experiencing episodes after the age of 20.
• Dissociative identity disorder. Formerly known as multiple personality disorder, this disorder is characterized by alternating between multiple identities. A person may feel like one or more voices are trying to take control in their head. Often these identities may have unique names, characteristics, mannerisms and voices. People with DID will experience gaps in memory of every day events, personal information and trauma. Women are more likely to be diagnosed, as they more frequently present with acute dissociative symptoms. Men are more likely to deny symptoms and trauma histories, and commonly exhibit more violent behavior, rather than amnesia or fugue states. This can lead to elevated false negative diagnosis.
  
  
  
  And no one is saying he is "bonkers". HE said he had another person inside of him, that he discovered this when he was taking someone else through therapy. From what he was saying, it sounds like DID, which is what caused me to post this, going by what Prince himself said. In fact he said he felt that when he changed his name to the symbol, that personality had taken over, because he felt "divorced" from Prince.

Stay away from the psychiatric titles. They'll spiral you downwards into depression and hopelessness. Start seeking out a solution. If you seek hard and long enough and god knows you are willing, He will provide.

LOL - I'm a clinical social worker. I use the DSM in my line of work. I'm not depressed and I have no feelings of hopelessness. Oy!