John Peterson
02-27-2009, 06:45 PM
Hey Friends,
I received an e-mail from a man asking about the term "alter ego" and whether or not it was a bad thing. So before we go any further let's first define what an "alter ego" is. According to Websters Ninth Collegiate Dictionary an "alter ego" is defined as follows: 1) a second self: as a: a trusted friend b: the opposite side of a personality. C: COUNTERPART 3
With the above as the definition I don't really see a problem at all. However, there are people that have suffered abuse as children that sometimes suffer from a condition that is called Dissociative Identity Disorder which is referred to by the acronym DID. These people literally develop separate and distinct personalities (that are referred to as alters) that help them to cope with the trauma of everyday life. These separate and distinct personalities or alters are not always bad and sometimes help people to achieve great things that they sometimes would not otherwise achieve. So don't automatically assume that we are talking Jeckyll and Hyde stuff because we are not. In fact, a good example of what I am referring to can be found in the autobiography of champion athlete and star football player Herschel Walker titled "Breaking Free". In Herschel Walker's case, his champion athlete 'alter' helped him transform from a fat, unathletic kid with a bad stutter, that was mercilessly picked on by other kids into a world champion athlete that to this day performs 1,500 push-ups and 2,500 sit-ups each day. (and yes Herschel Walker states this in the first paragraph of page 1---so I guess that he is proud of that fact and rightly so.)
There is however another type of alter that hides behind an internet alias in order to hide his true identity so that he can take on a completely different persona that in many cases truly is an alter as is found in people suffering DID. I'm certainly not saying this is true of everyone but lets be real there are some people that would never be as obnoxious and crazy in person as they are on the internet. I'm convinced that such people suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder and in such cases the person almost always has many different internet aliases. I know of one man for certain that goes by multiple names that constantly e-mails people on our forum and hides behind an alias. And believe me, in his case the poor guy is an absolute nut case in desperate need of therapy. BUT I won't expose him for who he is unless he keeps it up. And believe me, if that happens it will be irrefutable.
---John Peterson
I received an e-mail from a man asking about the term "alter ego" and whether or not it was a bad thing. So before we go any further let's first define what an "alter ego" is. According to Websters Ninth Collegiate Dictionary an "alter ego" is defined as follows: 1) a second self: as a: a trusted friend b: the opposite side of a personality. C: COUNTERPART 3
With the above as the definition I don't really see a problem at all. However, there are people that have suffered abuse as children that sometimes suffer from a condition that is called Dissociative Identity Disorder which is referred to by the acronym DID. These people literally develop separate and distinct personalities (that are referred to as alters) that help them to cope with the trauma of everyday life. These separate and distinct personalities or alters are not always bad and sometimes help people to achieve great things that they sometimes would not otherwise achieve. So don't automatically assume that we are talking Jeckyll and Hyde stuff because we are not. In fact, a good example of what I am referring to can be found in the autobiography of champion athlete and star football player Herschel Walker titled "Breaking Free". In Herschel Walker's case, his champion athlete 'alter' helped him transform from a fat, unathletic kid with a bad stutter, that was mercilessly picked on by other kids into a world champion athlete that to this day performs 1,500 push-ups and 2,500 sit-ups each day. (and yes Herschel Walker states this in the first paragraph of page 1---so I guess that he is proud of that fact and rightly so.)
There is however another type of alter that hides behind an internet alias in order to hide his true identity so that he can take on a completely different persona that in many cases truly is an alter as is found in people suffering DID. I'm certainly not saying this is true of everyone but lets be real there are some people that would never be as obnoxious and crazy in person as they are on the internet. I'm convinced that such people suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder and in such cases the person almost always has many different internet aliases. I know of one man for certain that goes by multiple names that constantly e-mails people on our forum and hides behind an alias. And believe me, in his case the poor guy is an absolute nut case in desperate need of therapy. BUT I won't expose him for who he is unless he keeps it up. And believe me, if that happens it will be irrefutable.
---John Peterson