Listed below are some academic papers and studies that regard multiplicity and plurality as a non-pathological phenomenon. It's important to keep in mind that while research is important, not everyone fits into what is currently understood about this topic. The experience of having multiple selves/people in one body/mind, especially as a non-pathological phenomenon, is vastly under-researched.
Tulpas and Mental Health: A Study of Non-Traumagenic Plural Experiences[]
Isler, J. J. (2017). Tulpas and Mental Health: A Study of Non-Traumagenic Plural Experiences. Research in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 5(2), 36-44.
Abstract:
"Current models of mental health rely heavily on the assumption that only one agent of self exists in every one brain. Deviations from this model of singularity in mind are heavily stigmatized and often considered disordered. This paper opposes this bias by analyzing one form of plurality in consciousness: tulpamancy. Tulpamancy is a collection of meditative techniques used to create and interact with tulpas, which are experienced as fully autonomous and conscious entities within the mind. Research defining the relationship between tulpamancy and mental health is expanded on by analyzing the results of surveys conducted on the online tulpa community. The questionnaires investigate two associations previously found in members of the tulpa community. First, the prevalence of mental illness, which exists in over 50% of the population. Second, the reports of improvements in mental health and cognition, especially amongst those diagnosed with a mental or neurodevelopmental disorder. Study results reinforce the correlation between tulpa creation and perceived improvements in mental health. There is likely no causal relation between tulpamancy and the development of psychopathology. Tulpas are an experience of plurality that seem to coexist with optimal functionality, happiness, and mental health."
Multiplicity: An Explorative Interview Study on Personal Experiences of People with Multiple Selves[]
Ribáry, G., Lajtai, L., Demetrovics, Z., & Maraz, A. (2017). Multiplicity: An Explorative Interview Study on Personal Experiences of People with Multiple Selves. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 938. Doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00938
Abstract:
"Background and aims: Personality psychology research relies on the notion that humans have a single self that is the result of the individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that can be reliably described (i.e., through traits). People who identify themselves as “multiple” have a system of multiple or alternative, selves, that share the same physical body. This is the first study to explore the phenomenon of multiplicity by assessing the experiences of people who identify themselves as “multiple.”
Methods: First, an Internet forum search was performed using the terms “multiplicity” and “multiple system.” Based on that search, people who identified themselves as multiple were contacted. Interviews were conducted by a consultant psychiatrist, which produced six case vignettes.
Results: Multiplicity is discussed on Twitter, Tumblr, Google+ and several other personal websites, blogs, and forums maintained by multiples. According to the study's estimates, there are 200–300 individuals who participate in these forums and believe they are multiple. Based on the six interviews, it appears that multiples have several selves who are relatively independent of each other and constitute the personality's system. Each “resident person” or self, has their own unique behavioral pattern, which is triggered by different situations. However, multiples are a heterogeneous group in terms of their system organization, memory functions, and control over switching between selves.
Conclusions: Multiplicity can be placed along a continuum between identity disturbance and dissociative identity disorder (DID), although most systems function relatively well in everyday life. Further research is needed to explore this phenomenon, especially in terms of the extent to which multiplicity can be regarded as a healthy way of coping."
Comparison of brazilian spiritist mediumship and dissociative identity disorder[]
Moreira-Almeida, A., Neto, F. L., & Cardeña, E. (2008). Comparison of brazilian spiritist mediumship and dissociative identity disorder. The Journal of nervous and mental disease, 196(5), 420–424. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0b013e31816ff3a1
Abstract:
"We studied the similarities and differences between Brazilian Spiritistic mediums and North American dissociative identity disorder (DID) patients. Twenty-four mediums selected among different Spiritistic organizations in São Paulo, Brazil, were interviewed using the Dissociative Disorder Interview Schedule, and their responses were compared with those of DID patients described in the literature. The results from Spiritistic mediums were similar to published data on DID patients only with respect to female prevalence and high frequency of Schneiderian first-rank symptoms. As compared with individuals with DID, the mediums differed in having better social adjustment, lower prevalence of mental disorders, lower use of mental health services, no use of antipsychotics, and lower prevalence of histories of physical or sexual childhood abuse, sleepwalking, secondary features of DID, and symptoms of borderline personality. Thus, mediumship differed from DID in having better mental health and social adjustment, and a different clinical profile."
The online community: DID and plurality[]
Abstract:
“One significant gap in the professional literature is the online community of ‘Plurals’, united through support groups for Dissociative Identity Disorder. These have evolved over the years into a more organized state both linguistically and politically – making Plurality its own culture. There are three primary clinical issues with the online community which are discussed in this article. One is simply understanding the culture of the online community, so as to practice competently and with cultural humility when working with those patients who identify as part of that culture. This includes understanding various terminology often utilized, which may be different than historical dissociative language with which the therapist is already familiar. Second is simply whether or not to recommend these resources to client, and, if so, when to do so and within what parameters. Third is to understand the impact of the online community culture on treatment itself.”
Exploring the experiences of young people with multiplicity[]
Abstract:
“Zarah Eve and Sarah Parry outline the findings of a consultation conducted with young people with multiplicity, a largely misunderstood community. Young people who experience having multiple identities may be diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD) which are treated under mental health services. Eve and Parry argue that the lived experience of young people with multiplicity has been neglected in research and practice, with their voices often unheard and their treatment often unsuitable. They conclude that the voices and experiences of young people with multiplicity need to be carefully considered and centred in further research.”
Exploring the Utility and Personal Relevance of Co-produce Multiplicity Resources with Young People[]
Abstract:
"Multiplicity, the experience of more than one self in the body, is an under-researched area of young people’s mental health. The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives of experts-by-experience within a community sample regarding two specific resources: a co-produced self-help guide about multiplicity for adolescents, and a set of guidelines for supporting someone who identifies as ‘multiple’. 34 participants (Mage= 22.06, 2.26 SD; 15F, 1M, 18NBG) completed an online survey consisting of open-ended and Likert scale questions to assess the language, utility, transferability and therapeutic impact of the materials. Descriptive statistics and a Foucauldian-informed Narrative Analysis were employed to analyse responses, producing a summary of utility and two narrative chapters. The emergent chapters, ‘Breaking the Stigma’ and ‘Recognising the Many’, highlight the need for greater understanding and awareness of multiplicity, with psychoeducation materials viewed as helpful. Inclusive language can reduce stigma and normalise multiplicity as a response to trauma. With greater understanding, practitioners and researchers can collaborate with young people through trauma wise care, providing multiplicity sensitive language and support. Overall, the term ‘parts’ was viewed as problematic by the participants as it could imply the plural system is not coexisting as a whole. Additionally, opinions varied as to how much diagnostic language could and should be used to describe multiplicity; linguistically and conceptually. Importantly, compassion was seen as particularly essential for younger selves within the system; older in their years and presence, but often more vulnerable within the societies in which the system resides."
Reality shifting: psychological features of an emergent online daydreaming culture[]
Somer, E., Cardeña, E., Catelan, R.F. et al. Reality shifting: psychological features of an emergent online daydreaming culture. Curr Psychol (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02439-3
Abstract:
"Reality shifting (RS) is a trendy mental activity that emerged abruptly following the flare-up of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and seems to be practiced mainly by members of the post-millennial generation. RS, described as the experience of being able to transcend one’s physical confines and visit alternate, mostly fictional, universes, is discussed by many on Internet platforms. One RS forum boasts over 40,000 members and RS clips on some social media platforms have been viewed over 1.7 billion times. The experience of shifting is reportedly facilitated by specific induction methods involving relaxation, concentration of attention, and autosuggestion. Some practitioners report a strong sense of presence in their desired realities, reified by some who believe in the concrete reality of the alternate world they shift to. One of the most popular alternate universes involves environments adopted from the Harry Potter book and film series. We describe the phenomenology of RS as reported online and then compare it to related phenomena such as hypnosis, tulpamancy, dissociation, immersive and maladaptive daydreaming, and lucid dreaming. We propose a theoretical model of interactive factors giving rise to RS, and conclude that it is an important, uninvestigated emerging phenomenon and propose future research directions."