DID, PTSD & Dissociation Terms · Theories
William James and Multiple Personality
In short: William James was an American psychologist and philosopher who, in the late 1800s, took multiple personality and dissociation seriously at a time when few others did. He is often called the father of American psychology.
Who was he?
William James (1842–1910) taught at Harvard University. In 1890 he published The Principles of Psychology, one of the most important psychology books ever written. He lived and worked at the same time as Pierre Janet in France, knew his work, and spoke highly of it.
What did he say?
- The self can be divided. In The Principles of Psychology, James wrote about what he called “alternating personality,” where a person seems to shift between different selves, each with its own memories.
- These cases are real and worth studying. He wrote about them carefully and with respect, not as tricks or madness.
- Consciousness isn’t always one single stream. James believed parts of the mind could carry on outside of a person’s main awareness.
The self and many selves
In The Principles of Psychology, James wrote that a person has more than one self: a material self, a social self, and a spiritual self. He wrote that a person “has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognize him.” His ideas about a divided and many-sided self connect closely to how DID is understood today.
James also treated people’s own descriptions of their inner experience as real evidence worth studying. His later book, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), was built largely on people’s first-person accounts.
The case of Ansel Bourne
One of the best-known cases James wrote about was Ansel Bourne, a preacher from Rhode Island. In 1887, Bourne disappeared from home and turned up two months later in Pennsylvania, running a small shop under the name “A. J. Brown.” When he “woke up” as Ansel Bourne, he had no memory of those two months.
James later studied Bourne using hypnosis, and under hypnosis the “Brown” personality came back, with memories Bourne didn’t have. Today, this would likely be described as dissociative fugue.
James and DID
James didn’t use the term DID, which didn’t exist yet, but his writing shows that people with separate selves and memory gaps were being described by respected scientists more than 130 years ago. Along with Pierre Janet, he laid much of the groundwork for how dissociation is understood today.
Related terms
- Pierre Janet and Trauma
- Dissociative Fugue
- Alternating Personality (historical term)
- Double Consciousness / Dual Personality (historical term)
A note about theories
The therapies and theories about trauma and DID are ideas that researchers are still studying and arguing about. None of them are proven facts. What works for one person may not work for another. Please take the time to read about any therapy yourself, ask questions, and decide what feels right for you.
Sources
James, W. (1890). The Principles of Psychology (Vol. 1, Chapter 10, “The Consciousness of Self”). Henry Holt and Company.
James, W. (1902). The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature. Longmans, Green, and Co.
Taylor, E. (1983). William James on Exceptional Mental States: The 1896 Lowell Lectures. Charles Scribner’s Sons.
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