ABSTRACT
In pathological dissociation, the parts of the self, for whatever reason, are separated, such as, cannot come together again; and are of substantial and not negligible size, and might even live as separate subpersonalities. Pierre Janet thought that in pathological dissociation, the split-off part of the mind is dominated by an idée fixe, a fixed idea. Janet subdivided pathological dissociation into three degrees of increasing severity: somnambulism or sleepwalking, fugue states, and lastly, multiple personality. Sleepwalking is so common, especially in children that it is really like a normal outlet for anxiety or even just preoccupation. Multiple personality disorder is an extreme of dissociation, but we are all living with the unknown at the back of our minds and it is normal to, sometimes, feel more like a committee than one person. People blame and praise themselves, or debate inwardly on what to do.
