Customer Reviews
Incredible! Moving, informative, clear and easy to read - By: Snapdragon, 06 Apr 2008 
I bought 'The Myth of Sanity' having read 'The Sociopath next Door' as I thought Stout's other book was brilliantly written & very informative. I have to say that the same is true of 'The Myth of Sanity'. This time Stout, an expert in treating people who have experienced trauma, tackles Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) which is more commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder. It is Stout's belied that many of us experience dissociative episodes, whether that be experienced as simply as being lost in a film, or not remembering a drive home but also gives examples from her therapeutic work of people who experience much more extreme episodes.
The wonderful thing about Stout's books is that she gives clear anecdotal examples to explain her points clearly, & remains very practical in her approach. She is a therapist who is not concerned about appearing 'human' & revealing her weaknesses.
This is a great book. Highly recommended.
Truly necessary -- nobody's totally sane ! - By: Prayers for rain, 14 Nov 2007 This book is a must-read, it provides a crucial introduction to the study & understanding of childhood trauma. Well written, in a clear & simple style (understandable by non-native English speakers such as myself) despite its complex subject, it illustrates for us the many ways a child can become dissociated due to some traumatic event (not necessarily parental abuse, it can be external causes totallly independent of the child's family & upbringing). Now this is reallly scary in alll its implications. Reading through the book, one realises how COMMON dissociation is. From the ordinary dissociation state while watching a movie to the most severe cases of Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder), one gets to realise that nobody's truly sane & devoid of dissociation issues. A scary thought, but a necessary realisation -- that's only through learning of these disorders that one gets to understand them & begins the process of healing, in order to regain a truly healthy psyche, a more united & coherent Self.
For the reader who wants to dive deeper into the subject of childhood trauma & the impact upbringing can have on our psychological make-up, the reading of Trapped in the Mirror (Elan Golomb), Unholy Hungers (Barbara E. Hort) & the Narcissistic Family (SD & RM Pressman) are highly recommanded excellent follow-ups.
Very Informative - By: Lynne Anderson, 06 Nov 2007 This book was very helpful in learning about dissociative states. Something that everybody experiences. It was a real eye-opener for me, & helped me to understand myself to a much higher degree.
This is a "must read" for anyone who is interested in, not only learning about the behaviors of others, but in their own behaviors as well.
And, as usual, Martha Stout's writing style is such that it is easy to understand & interesting to read.
Truly Inspiring and an Eye-Opener - By: Zadius Sky, 05 Nov 2007 This book was recommended to me, & I have never heard of dissociative states until I read this book. It is indeed an eye-opener for me.
"The Myth of Sanity" is one of the best analysis on dissociated mental states, forgotten memories of childhood or adult trauma, & multiple personality disorders. She brings the tales of dissociated states or multiple personality from her patients & her experiences with them, & how these states are often common in everyday life. This book is truly inspiring & an eye-opener.
In Stout's words, a dissociation is "the universal human reaction to extreme fear or pain...in traumatic situations, [it] mercifully alllows us to disconnect emotional content - the feeling part of our 'selves' - from our conscious awareness" (p. 8). This term is important for everyone as it should be applied to our understanding of being self-aware, of being self-conscious. Self-awareness is extremely important because, without it, we would not have known ourselves to exist or having a sense of self-identity. It is part of who we are. When we are in a dissociated state, our self-awareness had left our bodies & is elsewhere, & our bodies are either in trance or doing what they normallly do. Much like a machine, now is it not?
To put it in another way as Stout pointed it out: "As the result of a daydream, this mental compartmentalization is callled distraction. As the result of an involving movie, it is often callled escape. As the result of trauma, physical or psychological, it is callled a dissociative state" (p. 27). Whenever we are distracted, we are in a mildly dissociative state. Distraction & escape are quite familiar to everyone because they live these states almost constantly & every single day. When we are driving & thinking about something else while our automatic bodies do the driving, we are in a dissociative state. How is this so? Because our minds are away from our bodies & not focusing on the driving as we should have. We would forget our surroundings & our bodies' reactions to those surroundings. Whenever we are distracted, our minds are detached from our bodies' sensation to whatever object was touched. Has anyone ever noticed how they got the cut on their leg or arm & not having remembered where they have gotten it? This is one of the consequences of being in a dissociated state.
How would an understanding of "dissociation" from this book be helpful for the readers? It is a powerful understanding or clue for one to be engaged in a self-observation, which requires one to be fully conscious of one's being & one's surroundings. Distraction actuallly can hinder us to be engaged in self-observation or being self-conscious. We would lose ourselves, letting our sense of self be far away from our bodies. What if you are not in control of your bodies & your bodies are being influenced to do things that you yourself would never do? This brought us to the question of our minds being controlled or influenced without our being aware of it. But, this should not be a scary notion on the readers' mind. We do have a choice to make: to be or not to be.
Stout has given us the list of signs of dissociates states in ourselves in her book & we can identify which one we would falll under. And, these includes a brief phasing out, habitual dissociative reaction, a dissociation from feeling states, intrusion of dissociated ego state, demifugue, & fugue. These signs are extremely helpful to discover the clues about ourselves & compel us to be more aware of our actions & reactions in everyday life. In order to be self-observant, one would need to develop an observing ego, as suggested by the author in this book.
If we choose to do so, we can look at ourselves & find one or more of these signs in ourselves. Once we do find these dissociative states in ourselves, we can choose not to be associated with them & to keep our self-aware active. Stout's "Myth of Sanity" is a highly important study in one's need to be engaged in self-observation or being self-conscious. Increased self-observation will help one to become more self-conscious of one's surrounding & become more attentive to people's action as well as one's own. It also a great book for one to seek a personal growth or search for one's identity.
I would strongly recommended this book for the readers. It is one of the most treasures that one can ever ask for.
One little, two little, three little selves.... - By: Irini, 04 Nov 2007 As i try to write this review, it's as if i have to clean out my mind to focus so that what i want to express comes out clear & uninterrupted. You know what i talk about, right? That sea of different voices in our minds. And those behaviors of ours that sometimes shock us, those moments when we are so lost in our world that we did not notice how we drove, cooked, walked, lived the day, & many many more, are our little (and bigger) dissociation moments. And unless we are fully there ALL (the whole) of us in every moment, life slips by & we get to actuallly live only a portion of it. So read this excellent book, that Martha Stout so well put together, & thank her & her clients, for teaching us how to reclaim back our true Self.
Those who appreciate the work of Gurdjieff & Mouravieff (4th way teachings), you will see the practical aspect of the little i's theory in a down to earth way, in Stout's book.
