“The Stranger Within: Living With Multiple Personality Disorder” by Judith Skillings, Psy.D., a story about coming to terms with being Transgender

“I found I often identified with the struggles of both 'Stacey' and 'Jack'," adds the author on the back cover (1).

1. Judith Skillings, Psy.D. The Stranger Within: Living with Multiple Personality Disorder. Victoria, BC, Canada, Transgender Publishing, 2023.

Do Cross-Gender Appearance and Attitude Prove a Person is Transgender, and Does Not Have Multiple Personality? No. And since the distinction is NOT self-evident, it has been studied:

International Journal of Transgender Health 

Article Link:  https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2025.2573832 

Dissociative identity disorder and dissociative symptoms in people with gender incongruence: a critical review of literature and a case series by Riki Lane, Matthew Kaufman, David Colón Cabrera & Gurvinder Kalra …Published online: 15 Oct 2025

 

Comment:  

The New York Times Book Review of April 4, 2026 recommended Authority (Essays) by Andrea Long Chu, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, so I ordered it. 

The book makes it clear that the author is assumed to be Transgender, but since its index makes no mention of distinguishing it from multiple personality, how did the author, the publisher, or the Pulitzer Prize judges know her correct diagnosis? I guess they looked at Chu’s photo on the back flap and assumed it was self-evident. However, the International Journal of Transgender Health knew you have to evaluate for hidden, alternate personalities.

I am not saying that Chu is not transgender, but only that it is not proven.

1. Andrea Long Chu. Authority (Essays). New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2025.