Who is the real Me?

Source: Amazon 

This book has been sitting in my book shelf for awhile, only started reading it when I saw the news about Leonardo DiCaprio is going to be Billy Milligan in the movie version of this story. 

This book is based on a real story, Billy Milligan is the first person who were not being charged for the crimes he committed as he has no memories of what he did. After he was arrested, the doctors soon confirmed that he has DID (Dissociative  Identity Disorder) which we usually known as split personalities. It was a result from severe abuses from his childhood, by Billy's stepfather. It was so bad that Billy not only had 3 personalities but 24 of them, each personalities exist for a reason, to protect Billy from any possible harm from the world. 

The book is very informative, and quite encouraging too. The lawyers and doctors were very helpful in the beginning, trying to treat Billy and help him get better, but this wasn't something that people could easily understand, especially in that time (The 80s). Many people doubt him, and think split personalities was just an act he put on, to get away from crime he committed. Yet, they didn't give up, things got better for awhile but got complicated again towards the end. It is a book that you have to follow through, to see the challenges, the struggles and the changes in Billy. 

In the book, you can see the good times and bad times he had, there were times he got better, merged back into one piece, but there were also time he split again, due to stress from outside world. Treating mental illness is a long time battle, because they are so fragile that little mistakes can push them back into their world, and it will take longer time to get them back. 

The public is more understanding about mental illness than Billy's time nowadays, but still many people are scared of people who have mental illness, because they don't understand it. Many people who surfer from it, are either being abused, mistreated or neglect during the time they grown up. Our minds are very fragile and this book can give you a very good understanding of the challenges, struggles and difficulties that these people have to face, from family, friends, public and the media. It wasn't easy and they are not as scary as people see them.