For almost 30 years Joan Frances Casey suffered from what has been described as a disease of hiddenness. People called her compulsive, a workaholic, an over-achiever, and too intense. Nobody, least of all she herself, suspected that she was housing a flock of more than two dozen disparate personalities - all of them competing for attention, unaware of the others' existence and contributing towards her near-destruction. After the mysterious collapse of her marriage and an inexplicable flirtation with suicide, she consulted analyst Lynn Wilson, who diagnosed Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) - a severe form of psychological trauma resulting from serious child abuse - and began the years of demanding and totally unorthodox therapy recounted in this book.