The Minds of Billy Milligan

Content Warning: This section mentions sexual assault, death by suicide, trauma and abuse, and institutionalization and mental health treatment.

The book’s central figure, William Stanley “Billy” Milligan (1955-2014) was the first person in the US declared not guilty by reason of insanity because of dissociative identity disorder (DID), or “multiple personality disorder,” as it was termed at the time. Milligan was the second child of Dorothy Turner and Johnny Morrison. He had an older brother, Jim, and a younger sister, Kathy. Johnny, a musician and comedian, was plagued by mental health struggles himself and died by suicide when Milligan was young; Dorothy remarried twice, and Milligan’s second stepfather, Chalmer Milligan, was instrumental in triggering Milligan’s illness. Milligan asserted that from the age of nine he was routinely abused, sadistically and sexually, by Chalmer. Based on the Teacher’s account, although Milligan displayed some dissociation earlier than this, Chalmer’s abuse coincided with the first major dissociation Milligan experienced, leading to the development of 24 different alters. This is consistent with the understanding of “multiple personality disorder” in Milligan’s time. Mental health professionals who examined Milligan then posited that the abuse was the possible cause of the illness. It is also consistent with a more recent understanding of DID, which observes that it develops as a response to early childhood trauma (“Dissociative Identity Disorder [Multiple Personality Disorder].” Psychology Today).

Because of Milligan’s numerous alternate identities (or alters) and their distinct traits, characterizing Milligan is difficult without referring to them. For instance, “Milligan” refers to the entire system of alters within “William Stanley Milligan,” and this is how external individuals typically viewed him, especially within the legal system. It was Milligan whom the court declared not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered to receive treatment.

However, those who interacted closely with him, such as mental health professionals and the writer, also met the unfused “Billy.” This Billy was the core identity but had been kept asleep by the alters since he was 16. The unfused Billy surfaced occasionally before the trial and was scared and confused to find himself in a different place each time he woke up. This Billy was the one who had tendencies involving self-harm, and who wanted to die by suicide because he was upset and confused by his experience of amnesia and the crimes he apparently committed that he could not remember. When he finally experienced fusion, he presented a different alter, “The Teacher,” who also answered to “Billy.”

Based on the description of the young Billy, the various interests and abilities that he displayed and acquired, and the characteristics of the alters individually as well as in fusion, a picture of Milligan emerges as an intelligent, artistic, and sensitive individual who had a tendency toward fantasy and a great deal of rage, likely in response to certain life experiences. Across his different alters, Milligan displayed a talent for language acquisition and fluency. He learned and perfected a wide range of skills, from medical knowledge to tinkering with electronics to escape tricks. Ragen even asserted that Milligan was a child prodigy.

In addition, Milligan displayed a feminine, sensitive side, even as a young child. He enjoyed helping his mother around the house, arranging flowers, and writing poetry, interests that found expression in one of many feminine alters. Milligan’s sensitivity resulted in his feeling pain deeply: He was traumatized not only by his own painful experiences but also by observing his mother’s hurt as well. Later, when he discovered that he had inflicted harm on others, Milligan was equally distraught, to the point of attempting death by suicide. Milligan wanted to help stop some of the pain children experience through abuse, which partly motivated him to tell his story. This indicates that he felt a sense of justice, potentially intensified but also corrupted by his childhood experiences. Thus, Milligan was moved by the suffering of others and did not want to cause anyone harm; however, the harm that he experienced growing up led to intense frustration that found expression as violent or criminal behavior in some of his alters. Milligan was released by the Ohio mental health system and the courts in 1988; he died of cancer in 2014.