Hermann Hesse’s “Treatise on the Steppenwolf” helps explain why some psychiatrists think diagnosis and treatment of multiple personality is stupid.

Thus far in my reading of Steppenwolf (see previous post), characters who meet Harry Haller are not aware that he has a split personality. Harry, himself, is vaguely aware of having a dual, human/wolf, split personality. But the Treatise explains that Harry has many more than two personalities.

In clinical psychiatry, it sometimes happens that two psychiatrists will have occasion to see the same patient; for example, a covering psychiatrist may see a treating psychiatrist’s patient while the treating psychiatrist is on vacation. The covering psychiatrist, who does not see any alternate personalities in that patient, may be quite surprised to later learn that the treating psychiatrist has diagnosed the patient as having multiple personality.

Moreover, if the covering psychiatrist does see some evidence of an alternate personality—the patient sometimes refers to himself by another name—the covering psychiatrist may view this as hysterical foolishness that needs to be nipped in the bud. So he ignores this behavior and, sure enough, the behavior stops. And when he later hears that the treating psychiatrist has diagnosed multiple personality, he concludes that the treating psychiatrist has made the mistake of reinforcing such behavior, and has made a mountain out of a molehill.

The covering psychiatrist has a misconception about multiple personality. He equates it with its overt manifestation. He thinks that if the patient is no longer calling himself by another name, then the multiple personality is gone. But the usual situation with multiple personality is like that of Harry Haller. The multiple personality is usually covert, not overt. The person himself knows nothing, or has only a vague and oversimplified notion, about it. He usually has more personalities than he suspects.

It is helpful to think of alternate personalities as spies and secret agents. Normally, you are not aware of their presence, because they don’t admit who they really are, but answer to the name of their covering identity. The covering identity is the person’s regular name. For example, all of Harry Haller’s alternate personalities—some of whom will have their own names, others of whom may be nameless—will normally answer to the cover name, Harry Haller. And so nobody realizes what is going on.

If Harry Haller were to see a psychiatrist familiar with multiple personality, and if the diagnosis were made, it would be like blowing the cover of a ring of spies. Once their cover is blown, alternate personalities would be overt (acknowledge who they are as distinct from Harry Haller) with anyone who addresses them by their real name (or, if nameless, their chief characteristic). You know that this is not just a fantasy to the extent that the alternate personalities can provide verifiable information.