Rating: 
Summary: Bushwah
Review: Pure bunk
Rating: 
Summary: a wonderful story of hope
Review: I set aside Sunday to read First Person Plural and I'm glad I had the day to myself. I couldn't stop reading Cam West's story of his life as a victim of DID. He and his wife have made their son's welfare a priority and together they seem to have raised a fine boy and also managed to stay together under some shocking circumstances. It's a story of true love and amazing strength. What a great book!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read for a stormy night
Review: Part "Man's Search for Meaning," part "Iron John," this book offers so many insights into the sensitive human psyche that it's impossible to put down. It is easy for most of us to avoid our unpleasant sides and ignore our less than noble deeds, but this man cannot. In confronting a dark past which will continue to haunt him, West embodies the man who has faced death and achieved wholeness. He knows it's not the direction of the wind but how he sets his sail that determines his quality of life and whether he can reinvent himself. West has every reason to become a victim, but he refuses and his journey toward gaining control over his life will inspire you. At the end of this book, you feel like you could achieve anything.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, eye opening, sob inducing and it all rings true.
Review: It's a wonderful, wonderful book (full of wide eyed wonder) that left me sobbing again and again. Imagine discovering that the voices in your head were coming from seperate people in your mind, each with a personality, each trying to live a life while all in one single body? No need to imagine it, the true story of what it's like has been written here and it's the most moving account of love and fear I have ever read. Be prepared to be as captured and moved as you have ever been.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing true story, never read anything like it.
Review: In First Person Plural: My Life as a Multiple, Cameron West, Ph.D., has created a gripping first hand account of the diagnosis and management of Dissociative Identity Disorder, previously referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder. His first literary foray is a compelling read, not only for its amazing story and powerful description, but because the author himself actually suffers from DID. Cameron West was not trained as a writer. Far from it. He spent several years as a musician before entering the business world. However, the seeds of his condition had long ago been planted by a series of abusive incidents in his childhood. The book describes West's abrupt psychological upheaval in his late thirties resulting from the emergence of 24 separate repressed alter personalities, all created in his mind as a coping mechanism against his abuse as a child, and takes us with him through his psychotherapeutic struggle to regain a sense of normalcy in his life. Although West scarcely mentions his abuse directly, the severity of these events is made obvious by the varied alter personalities that emerge and their own psychoemotional scars. He presents a startling portrait of Davy, a terrified 4-year old alter personality, who scratches West's face raw trying to remove the sensation of his abusive grandmother stroking him there. Later, other alters emerge, varying in character from angry, or driven and icy cold, to serene and paternal; from flip and congenial, to timid and unsure. All with the potential to "come out" at embarrassingly inappropriate times, or conversely, at the right time when West loses focus and needs them to take control in a situation. In this way, West carefully uses the description of his alter personalities and the decay of his previously normal life as his means of conveying the severity of his childhood abuse, choosing (wisely) to focus on his many smoking guns, rather than the actual bullet of abuse that would no doubt repulse many readers. From the first haunting aberrations in his behavior, e.g., changes in his speech patterns and the gradually intensifying sense of mental confusion, to the complete breakdown of stability that occurs with the full emergence of his alter personalities, I was hooked with West on his own path of self-discovery. The book takes the reader into uncharted waters, to experience first hand the shifting stage of Dissociation. As he progresses through therapy, a profound and tender love story emerges, between a distraught and often incompetent husband, fighting desperately toward normalcy while his own psyche unravels, and the wife he adores, as she grapples to hold the threads of their family life together. When she takes a job to help distract herself and develop her own support system, she is soon on the verge of an affair that would threaten their marriage and, indirectly, West's own chances at successful therapy. Ultimately, it is the support of his wife, along with West's own determination to again be a healthy father figure for his young son, that helps him persevere through the psychologically wrenching and emotionally draining process of what may be lifelong therapy. This true story effectively presents Dissociative Identity Disorder in a new light: not from the therapist's perspective but rather from the inside out, through the eyes of the multiple himself. The struggle that exists to keep the individual functional in the face of an internal system of multiple personalities-which may be a system of cooperative identities or dysfunctional personalities-is presented candidly to the reader. I commend Cameron West for his frank depiction of his own condition. West's style is direct and original, yet varies from a blunt and sometimes sadly humorous acknowledgment of his own condition ("Crazy or not, here I come", or "Rikki flew with me to L.A. to check me into the rubber Ramada"), to a more lyrical voice ("Happy thoughts of Winnie and Tigger, Kris and Jody, and Stephanie and Robbie drifted through my mind until the drugs kicked in, and I sank like a boot in the dunes of sleep."). In this way the book seems, appropriately, almost multiple in its authorship. The challenges faced by West and his family in this book, and the childhood events that led to their occurrence, are heartbreaking. Yet First Person Plural is a powerful and vitally important book for anyone with children or an interest in their welfare. As a father of young children, I cannot imagine any reader not being jolted by the horrific reality and consequences of childhood sexual abuse so poignantly related by West. The subsequent burden this places on the victim and his or her own family cannot be overstated: as in the case of West and his wife and son, these individuals live with the effects of their abuse every day of their lives, as a result of events occurring years or decades earlier. Every parent will feel a heightened sense of obligation toward protecting their children and nurturing their development when they read this book. The implicit trust that completely vulnerable and dependent young children place in their parent(s) puts them at particular risk for abuse, and the violation of that trust--particularly by sexual abuse as in West's case--may be the most psychologically damaging event a human being can experience. You cannot help but love your children and grandchildren more after reading West's account of his own injured state. I suspect that perhaps without intention, the greatest contribution Cameron West has made with First Person Plural will turn out to be in the arena of child welfare: our children will be better off as a result of West's candor in this expose' of his own unfortunate past and its continued presence in his life today. First Person Plural: My Life as a Multiple is a riveting autobiography and love story that will make you chuckle and cry, and keep you churning through the pages long after your own children are asleep.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly, fascinating true story.
Review: I could not put this book down once I started it. Cameron West writes with such a fluorish, that I felt that I was in the same room with him throughout the book. I cannot comprehend the strength that this man, and his wife Rikki, have. They certainly have a love for each other that is stronger than any I have ever experienced. My wish for them is that they continue to experience only good things, as they are two people that certainly deserve the best. Thanks, Cam, for letting me learn so much through your words.
Rating:
Summary: A compelling and sadly true story about co-consciousness.
Review: Cameron West realized one day that the noise in his head was not the result of ongoing sinus infections but the cacophony of twenty-four distinct voices, or alter personalities, trying to be heard. In this, his first book, West uses journal entries, therapy transcripts and the narrative technique of a novelist to tell a compelling and sadly true story about co-consciousness. West had too much to lose if he let them out - a Mercedes bought with the profits from his successful business, a beautiful wife and son, and a house on a hill. Still he began going down and the alters entered his "Sad Hotel". Therapists recognized the voices, but West would not. As he descended into confusion, his stressed and anxious wife covered for him at work and in front of his son. Rikki West ascends into Cam's mythological heaven, inspiring him as Venus inspired legions of followers. Unfortunately, Cameron West was fated to the life of Sisyphus, waking each morning to push the rock up an ever-steepening hill in Hell. The visions and abreactions (reliving past horrors) West experienced increased and indicated severe sexual abuse at the hands of his grandmother, aunt, uncle and even his mother. In order to dissociate from these unfathomable violations of a child's trust, alter personalities had emerged and the memories had been suppressed for nearly thirty years. When West shares these with his wife, Rikki has to confront his mother, who wants to keep her grandson overnight. This is one of the most extraordinary confrontations in the book. A change in scenery did not leave the past behind. One alter became so angry at being ignored he emerged violently to cut Cam's arms and smash his hand with a sledgehammer. Closer to accepting his diagnosis, West sought his psychologist's help with bandaged arms and hand. In one of the most unusual twists in a book full of surprises, Dr. Chase gives "Switch", the slashing alter, a sheriff's badge and thanks him for calling Cam's attention to the alters' anger at being ignored. Switch is then assigned to take care of the little ones, the younger alters who need extra protection. In order to better understand his condition, West pursues a PhD in Psychology through a university with on-line courses. At this time, he begins to fear he's losing his adored wife. As he is "Circling the Drain" at a special hospital for patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder, he sees a videotape of himself as some of the alters emerge. He realizes he can't deny his diagnosis and he begins to understand how his system of co-consciousness works. Through sheer force of will and determination to have a "normal" family life, West begins to rise. His interesting image of "Circling the Drain" reminds me of a high school river safety course. When caught in a whirlpool, let it drag you down until you hit bottom. As your feet touch solid ground, bend your knees and push off as strong as you can to send yourself straight up the middle and into the sky. When you hit water again, start kicking. If you fight the whirlpool on the way down, you'll drown. West realizes he will be dead if he keeps fighting the whirlpool and it is only after he has descended to the bottom that he can begin the difficult climb up to the surface. During the February 10, 1999, Oprah Winfrey show, Oprah asked West how he survived. In a touching moment, he grasped his wife Rikki's hand, kissed it reverently and said, "There's a little guy in the Green Room that means the world to me and makes the struggle worthwhile." Oprah said that after reading this book she felt she could go out and conquer the world. She had originally intended to title her show, "If you think you have it bad, listen to this..." but changed it to include her views on Cameron West's incredible strength of spirit. Cameron West bravely faces every part of himself. It is easy for most of us to avoid our unpleasant sides and ignore our less than noble deeds, but this man cannot. In confronting a dark past which will continue to haunt him. West embodies the man who has faced his death and achieved wholeness. He knows it's not the direction of the wind but how he sets his sail that determines his quality of life and whether he can reinvent himself on a daily basis. Part "Man's Search for Meaning", part "Iron John", this book will keep you hooked until past midnight. In the wee dark hours, the small flickering light of Cameron West will glow, and you will join those who want to protect him from any gust that may disrupt his fragile balance of personalities.
Rating: 
Summary: Dear Readers,
Review: Earlier tonight Rikki, my wife of seventeen years, made vegetable tamales with Dusty, one of my 24 alter personalities. A little later, at dinner, Rikki told me that there was a place on Amazon.com for authors to write something about their books and that I should consider doing so. "Rik," I replied, "these are great tamales." After a thought-filled silence she said, "Cam, people don't know you. Just tell them why you wrote the book." Well, I was diagnosed five and a half years ago with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), the condition that used to be known as Multiple Personality Disorder. DID is a coping mechanism for dealing with extreme and repeated childhood sexual, physical, or emotional abuse (in my case, incest). Since my diagnosis, it's been a tortuous ride--for me personally, for the 24 alters who have lived in my mind since I was very young, and for Rikki and our now eleven-year-old son Kyle. Somehow Rikki and I have held our family together, continually seeking higher ground, even when the path was muddy and slick, and angry clouds were raining misery and doubt. There was a little boy to shelter, a friendship and marriage to protect, and a shattered mind to accept and repair. Rikki and I locked arms and hearts and kept trudging, and then something happened: the muck started to dry and our feet found solid ground. We'd made it--not to the top, but to a ridge. And that felt like something worth writing about. I also wanted to speak to others whose experiences resonate with mine. I know how lonely it is to feel different and damaged. In some strange way, through telling my story, I wanted to offer myself as a witness to those people who share the experience of having had their souls scraped at an early age. Finally, I wrote the book so you would know what DID feels like, with the hope that you might think of others you perceive as mentally ill with greater understanding. I wish you the courage to seek the peace that exists in every moment. Cam West
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant insight
Review: I started reading this book the day it arrived. It was so engaging that I finished the book the same day I started it. I just couldn't put it down. As a person who is a survivor of trauma and also has the diagnosis of DID, this book was inspirational because it focuses on one fundamental problem that I knew was there...but haven't been able to put words on. The problem being, in the words of Dr. West, "Denial's Rake". Armed with this new and remarkable insight I believe that I have uncovered my first goal in therapy. I want to thank Dr. West and his family, his therapists and all of those who have helped put this book out there for all of us to read. I have found the hope we were looking for.
Rating:
Summary: Fake
Review: Based on my personal experience, I have a hard time buying into this persons process. While it was a good read, and Dr. West is a talented writer, I don't believe for one second that DID was experienced by him other than as an interesting writing tool.
|
