Parents of Novelists: Many novelists have a normal version of multiple personality, but one should not jump to conclusions or go on a witch hunt.

Even if the novelist’s multiple personality developed as a way to cope with the self-contradictory, frightening, or abusive behavior of a particular adult, that, by itself, would not prove the adult had multiple personality or that it was a parent. 

Moreover, it is possible that the multiple personality developed to cope with experiences for which no particular adult was to blame, such as illness, accidents, surgery, natural disasters, or war.

Furthermore, since the novelist has a normal version of multiple personality—meaning it does not cause clinically significant distress or dysfunction, and may even be an asset in writing novels—the childhood difficulty would likely have been less traumatic than that leading to multiple personality disorder.

In short, when anyone develops multiple personality, clinical or nonclinical, don’t jump to conclusions or go on a witch hunt. Nevertheless, not everyone has multiple personality: It usually happens for a reason.