A Couple of Multiples: The Reality of Living with Dissociative Identity Disorder
There’s never a dull moment for hosts, Drew and Garden System, who are a couple that have both been diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder. While they are navigating their healing journey, they continue to manage full time careers, raise four teenagers and a house full of pets. Not only do they aim to speak to people who have lived experience with DID and their supporters, but also therapists and anyone who wants to learn more. The podcast talks about Dissociative Identity Disorder in a way that someone who knows nothing about DID will be able to understand, and at the same time is designed to be a resource for therapists, while supporting and validating those with lived experience. Dissociative Identity Disorder is a highly stigmatized mental health diagnosis that has been subject to many myths and misinformation over the years. These myths, along with highly-sensationalized media portrayals, have led to many who still believe this disorder is not real and simply created by therapists who impose themselves on highly suggestible clients. The goal of the podcast is to dispel these myths and educate the world at large the truth about Dissociative Identity Disorder, and the reality of what having this diagnosis really looks like. The brain had to find a unique way to cope in order to survive the trauma people with DID faced from a very young age. Also, this condition is not rare, although many reputable sources still cite it as such. People with DID are ordinary members in your community that you might encounter in your daily life. Drew and Garden System want to shed light on the challenging symptoms people with DID face and share how they have overcome those challenges and found the gifts of joy that all of their parts bring to each other.
A Couple of Multiples: The Reality of Living with Dissociative Identity Disorder
An Apparently Normal Person: An Interview with Bonnie Armstrong
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Drew & Garden System discuss the healing journey from childhood abuse and dissociative identity disorder with Bonnie Armstrong, the author of An Apparently Normal Person. Bonnie's story is unique in that she worked in child welfare and advocacy without realizing she, too, was a survivor of childhood abuse. Her medical struggles helped her uncover the truth about her past.
Bonnie R. Armstrong spent decades as an apparently normal person, unaware of the complex dissociative infrastructure that hid much of her childhood from her conscious memory and supported her from inside. Bonnie enjoyed her life as wife, mother, community activist, and a 40-year career that included high-level positions in two Governors' offices. She served as an expert consultant on child and family policy issues with federal, state, county and local governments and philanthropies, and as a national speaker and trainer. She specialized in youth development and child abuse prevention, not knowing that she was also an abuse survivor.
When she turned fifty, a mysterious and debilitating illness attacked Bonnie, eventually requiring her to use a wheelchair to continue her active life. After six years of testing and continued degeneration, her neurologist ruled out medical causes and referred her to a psychologist. Together, Bonnie and her therapist slowly uncovered her dissociative disorder, her strong internal community, and the secrets of her childhood.
Now she has written a memoir that chronicles her healing journey and the ways her system used dissociation to survive and thrive. An Apparently Normal Person: From Medical Mystery to Dissociative Superpower has won several awards and was an Amazon best-seller. Bonnie continues to speak out and write about dissociation and childhood trauma. She also is a life coach, a grandmother and the matriarch of a large extended family. She and her internal community live collaboratively, focused on their joint life's purpose to break generational cycles of abuse and to use every moment and interaction to create a more loving, harmonious world.
Visit Bonnie's website: https://www.bonnierarmstrong.com/
Buy Bonnie's book, An Apparently Normal Person, here: https://amzn.to/4sl5TsC
Thank you to our sponsors:
An Infinite Mind: https://www.aninfinitemind.org/
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Remember, this podcast is not a substitute for therapy. The purpose of this podcast is to educate and provide information on dissociative identity disorder. We share our personal stories, interview guests who also live with DID, and we interview mental health professionals to share their clinical knowledge.
And most importantly: remember that every system is different. What works for one may not work for another—and that’s okay. Your journey is valid, your healing is real, and we’re so glad you’re hanging out with A Couple of Multiples.
Articles cited in Seasons 4 & 5:
Brand, B. L., Sar, V., Stavropoulos, P., Krüger, C., Korzekwa, M., Martínez-Taboas, A., & Middleton, W. (2016). Separating Fact from Fiction: An Empirical Examination of Six Myths About Dissociative Identity Disorder. Harvard review of psychiatry, 24(4), 257–270. https://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.0000000000000100
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