The dissociation of a personality : a biographical study in abnormal psychology / by Morton Prince.

  • Morton Prince
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The dissociation of a personality : a biographical study in abnormal psychology / by Morton Prince. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    qiiaintance was entirely professional, and there was no ground to suspect that any other personality existed. The Miss Beauchamp whom I first knew was the only one known to a small but appreciative circle of friends, whose solicitude she had awakened. She was in college at the time, highlj regarded by her teachers and classmates, and recognized as a diligent and conscientious student. Whatever the future was to reveal, it was this person alone who for years had been known as Miss Beauchamp, and who had been educated, cared for and esteemed as Miss Beauchamp. Let it be understood, then, that in describing Miss Beauchamp, or whenever referring to her, the name, unless otherwise qualified, refers to the first iMiss Beauchamp, the one who first came under observation. At a later period, for the sake of brevity, and for the pur- pose of distinguishing her from the others, she was also named B I. The other personalities and hypnotic selves were designated B II, B III, B IV, etc., as they appeared. These somewhat clumsy terms were employed to avoid committal to any hypothesis until the phenomena had been thoroughly studied. It is important to bear in mind the fact that Miss Beau- champ was well known, even if her circle was a small one, and that when she came under observation she had es- tablished during the course of a number of years strong bonds of association with her friends. If it turned out that our protdg^ was not after all the real person who had been born into this world, it still should be kept in mind that no reason appeared until a comparatively recent period, to suspect the possible previous existence of any other personality. During the past six years ^ (1898-1904) the three per- sonalities have been playing a comedy of errors, which has been sometimes farcical and sometimes tragic. They run 1 Written in 1904.
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