The Troops for Truddi Chase (1939–2010)

I feel an obligation to clarify my five star rating for this extraordinary document. There probably isn't another life story quite like this one. Truddi Chase was not one person. They were many individuals sharing one physical body. The original person, the "first born", essentially did not survive a childhood riven by extreme trauma and suffering. Instead, "The Troops" (the collective name for the more than 90 individuals contained in Chase's body) came into being over the course of the body's life. The Troops ensured each others' survival. They escaped "their" family, and built lives for themselves. They even risked their continuing existence by trusting a psychiatrist with the secret of their extraordinary existence.

PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IF YOU HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY CHILDHOOD TRAUMA, especially sexual abuse and physical violence, unless you are very confident in the supports within and around you. The contents of this book should not be approached lightly. The Troops document horrific child sexual abuse and multiple instances of torture which were perpetrated on them from age 2 by the original child's step-father, out of sight of her mother who, nonetheless, knew what was happening and who responded by blaming the child for her own suffering and frequently beating her. The abuse went on for many years, until "Truddi" was about 16. It is well known that survivors of CSA rarely lie about what happened to them, and when they do, they almost always minimise, rather than exaggerate, what they suffered. For this reason, I believe what The Troops recounted.

What was most fascinating to me was the insight The Troops gave into multiplicity. For instance, it had never occurred to me that there might be individuals who are unaware of other individuals contained within the multiple they inhabit. When "the woman" (the identity whose job it was to be The Troops' facade) initially sought therapy, she had no idea that "she" wasn't the original, core, first-born person inhabiting that body. It was many months before her psychiatrist felt it was safe to disclose that he had diagnosed her with Multiple Personality Disorder (which is now called Dissociative Identity Disorder). And just because "the woman" was internalising this new knowledge about herself, it didn't automatically mean that all the other individuals were doing the same. Some individuals always knew how many others there were, and many more knew there were some others, but many were completely unaware that they weren't alone.

There were some aspects of The Troops' existence of which I remain skeptical. There's some discussion of "paranormal" phenomena (not a lot) which, to me, is very much of the times in which the book was written i.e. the 1980s. True, there are several passages where the failure of electric or electronic devices and systems is linked to The Troops' "energy". The more Troop members who were"evidencing" at a particular time, and the more intense the emotions experienced by those Troop members, the more trouble they seemed to have with batteries, light bulbs, personal voice recorders and starter motors, not to mention poor Tony in the production booth trying to videotape and sound record Chase's therapy sessions with "Stanley", aka Dr Phillips. But I'm not sure about the idea of The Troops visiting Dr Phillips' own mind.

In summary: this is an extraordinary book, that documents an extraordinary existence. I was left hoping that The Troops felt they'd achieved their purpose by telling their story, and that they were able to go on and life the way they wanted, with a measure of peace.

… (meer)

This book was intriguing, confusing, enlightening, and frustrating. It is the story of a woman who suffered incredible horrors from the time she was 2 years old till she left aroung age 15 or 16. She was physically, sexually and verbally abused by her step-father, and physically and verbally abused by her mother. In her attempt to survive these horrors, she split and evolved many personalities - some still functioning and some incredibly damged. The story unfolds through her sessions with her therapist and through a manuscript that was written by various personalities which she calls "The Troops". It does not unfold linearly, and the reader does not always know which of the troops is speaking or taking control. It was an incredible journey for a woman who only figures out in her 30's that she is a vessle for over 90 very different people. I feel that I will need to read it again at some point - it is difficult to imagine how she could have survived with what the step-father did to her and what the mother sat back and allowed to happen.… (meer)