20 faces of Kim
A mum stuck in 1997, a depressed gay man and an anorexic teenage girl... just three of the multiple split personalities haunting one woman
DAWN is stuck in 1997, searching for a daughter she believes was taken away.
Bonny had the strength to fight for her child through the courts, while Ken is a depressed gay man of 21.
Ria Pratt is 12 or 13 and is thought to have been abused. Judy is a 15-year-old anorexic and is often a bit cheeky. Patricia, in her 50s, is strict and sensible. You’d struggle to find a more disparate group but, astonishingly, all these people are in fact one woman – Kim Noble.
Kim’s mind is shattered into fragments, with at least 20 different personalities fighting for attention in one body.
And the mum of one never knows when she will experience a switch, with a new personality taking over, entirely unaware of what has happened before.
Kim, 56, has dissociative identity disorder (DID), and currently calls herself Patricia, her most dominant personality.
Her daughter Aimee, 20, says Patricia is also the strictest.
Patricia, who experiences a lot of memory gaps, said: “I don’t know these personalities as people. I can’t sit and have a conversation with them, which is a shame as I would never be lonely then.”
Her switches have caused issues as Patricia may find herself abandoning a shopping trip or doctor’s appointment.
She said: “I could be out shopping, in one of the shops, and all of a sudden there’s a switch. The person that took over might not bother to complete the shopping.
“It can happen when I’m driving a car. One day when I went to get petrol, I filled up and there was a switch so I just drove off without paying. The next time we went back, they had our registration number. They weren’t happy but I just paid it.”
When Patricia was dating, she was often accused of cheating. Or she would open her door to a man who acted as if they had been together for years – but she had no idea who he was.
Patricia, who lives in south London, said: “In my younger days, I could go out with somebody and another personality would go out with another person, and then get accused of two-timing when we were not. It all got very complicated.
“I’ve had guys turn up and I’ve said ‘I don’t know who you are.’ There was one guy who talked to me like I had been out with him for the last two years.”
Unsurprisingly, Patricia has given up on romance – it’s just too complicated.
And it can be tough for Aimee, as some of the alter-egos don’t know they have a daughter. Judy is a bad influence, seeing Aimee as a friend and encouraging her to get piercings.
But it is Dawn who gave birth to Aimee. Dawn also believes she has a daughter, Sky, who got taken away and that Aimee now is one of Sky’s friends. This may be because Aimee was taken by social services until Kim – or Hayley as she was then – began legal proceedings to get her back.
It was then the turn of Bonny to become dominant, as she took the battle through the courts.
They won and after being observed in a mother-and-baby unit for months, professionals found that Kim – the collection of personalities – would never hurt Aimee and she was allowed home, with support, with her daughter.
Patricia’s personality switches about four or five times a day. She has no warning when one will occur and no notion of what happened before. A switch always takes
I filled up with petrol, there was a switch so I drove off without paying
PATRICIA
place in the morning, when Spirit of the Water comes out for a shower. Patricia said: “I never shower myself but I don’t smell – so I know that she does have a shower”.
Spirit of the Water is a fragment, like her painting alter-ego Anon. Another switch usually takes place at meal times when Judy emerges. Her personality is convinced she is overweight and Patricia often finds size 14 clothes at her house.
Stress or lack of sleep can increase the number of switches, as can painting – a
sign, Patricia believes, that a personality wants to come out and express itself.
Patricia started painting at the suggestion of her therapist 12 years ago and said it is how she can feel close to all the personalities who inhabit her. She knows “who has been out” by the artwork that appears overnight in the specific styles of the 13 personalities who paint.
Abi is one of her favourites. Patricia said: “She’s probably the one that’s the most realistic. I can’t get anything in proportion like her.”
Judy paints faces, while Anon does more textured pieces. Ria paints very differently. Childlike but disturbing, her pieces often depict abuse using bold bright colours. Her painting of two figures chained to a wall and shouting for help is one of the least chilling of her paintings.
Judy’s work and that of two other personalities is being exhibited this week at Zebra One Art Gallery in London – something she is incredibly proud of.
Patricia was diagnosed with DID 15 years ago, after being referred to mental health services aged 14 due to her memory lapses and erratic behaviour.
It is thought her personalities are the result of trauma in childhood, possibly abuse, that caused a fragmentation in her mind as a coping mechanism.
Patricia has no idea what that was and insists it certainly didn’t happen to her.
Her therapist treats each personality individually to try to help them cope with what happened in the past.
Patricia remains upbeat. With a cheeky smile, she said she can always blame one of the others if she is caught smoking. She is comforted by her therapist’s assurance that most of her other personalities have a good sense of humour just like her.
But people can treat her differently because of a lack of understanding of DID, with some viewing her condition as “freaky”. She said: “Some people just don’t know who they are coming to see. They think I have got 15 heads and I will put another one on in a minute and put the other one in a carrier bag.
“It’s the unknown. People read about multiple personalities and find it a bit scary but once they meet us, they realise we’re just like everyone else.” ● With Art in Mind launches at Zebra One Art Gallery today and will run until the end of the year. A proportion of sales will be donated to the Mental Health Foundation.