One afternoon in 1989, Karen Overhill walks into psychiatrist
Richard Baer’s office complaining of vague physical pains and
depression. Odder still, she reveals that she’s suffering from a
persistent memory problem. Routinely, she “loses” parts of her day,
finding herself in places she doesn’t remember going to or being
told about conversations she doesn’t remember having. Her problems
are so pervasive that she often feels like an impersonator in her
own life; she doesn’t recognize the people who call themselves her
friends, and she can’t even remember being intimate with her own
husband.
Baer recognizes that Karen is on the verge of suicide and, while
trying various medications to keep her alive, attempts to discover
the root cause of her strange complaints. It’s the work of months,
and then years, to gain Karen’s trust and learn the true extent of
the trauma buried in her past. What she eventually reveals is
nearly beyond belief, a narrative of a childhood spent grappling
with unimaginable horror. How has Karen survived with even a
tenuous grasp on sanity?
Then Baer receives an envelope in the mail. It’s marked with
Karen’s return address but contains a letter from a little girl who
writes that she’s seven years old and lives inside of Karen. Soon
Baer receives letters from others claiming to be parts of Karen.
Under hypnosis, these alternate Karen personalities reveal
themselves in shocking variety and with undeniable traits—both
physical and psychological. One “alter” is a young boy filled with
frightening aggression; another an adult male who considers himself
Karen’s protector; and a third a sassy flirt who seeks dominance
over the others. It’s only by compartmentalizing her pain, guilt,
and fear in this fashion—by “switching time” with alternate selves
as the situation warrants—that Karen has been able to function
since childhood.
Realizing that his patient represents an extreme case of multiple
personality disorder, Baer faces the daunting task of creating a
therapy that will make Karen whole again. Somehow, in fact, he must
gain the trust of each of Karen’s seventeen “alters” and convince
them of the necessity of their own annihilation.
As powerful as Sybil or The Three Faces of Eve, Switching Time is
the first complete account of such therapy to be told from the
perspective of the treating physician, a stunningly devoted healer
who worked selflessly for decades so that Karen could one day live
as a single human being.
From the Hardcover edition.
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