DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS, a peculiar mental condition, illustrated and much over drawn by the celebrated story of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, which describes a type of phenom enon practically never met with in real life, although much utilized by the novelist, dramatist and careless observer. By double consciousness is usually meant that at cer tain times, in the waking consciousness of the individual, certain dominant ideas control and impart to the individual a definite person ality, known and recognized as such by his friends and associates, and that, at other times, also in a distinctly conscious state, an entirely different series of ideas may govern the person, making him think, feel and act in a manner entirely different from that of his former personality. No such phenomenon is really known except in conscious acting, where good actors or actresses can portray many per sonalities. What really happens in the bona fide situation is a dissociation of consciousness.
The so-called double state, which may be multi ple, is a split or part of the unconscious state of the individual.
The best examples of this dissociation states are seen in alcoholism, where the partly intoxi cated person becomes quite a different type of individual. His unconscious trends are released from a type of conscious control and come out into action. In hysteria similar dissociations are frequent. The so-called classical types of multiple personality, which have been much written about, are various mixed mental states of hysterical dissociation and shrewd duplicity. The physician is often made the dupe of a clever person. Most shrewd women have this
capacity to mingle unconscious hysterical fan tasy with conscious reality. The unconscious hysterical part of the phenomenon is bona-fide and not consciously known or controllable. This must be emphatically emphasized. In certain epileptics, an automatic mental state may arise in which the individual may carry on complex motor and intellectual activities, apparently nor -mai and conscious — to the lay observer — and yet these are dissociated mental states absolutely unknown to the waking healthy conscious state of the individual in question. During such automatic unconscious states crimes may be committed — such as larceny, murder and yet the patient is not cognizant of the act and is irresponsible. These dissociated mental states are frequent in dementia prmcox and at times in anxiety hysterias and compulsion neurosis.
The usual hypnotic seances, in which such dissociated states are demonstrated, are largely fraudulent. When bona-fide 'they are usually examples of hysterical dissociation which is an axtreinely interesting and widespread mental state. Nearly all individuals are partly capable of a certain amount of hysterical dissociation. Excessive anger and weeping are widespread illustrations of these partly dissociated states.
Consult Janet 'Mental State of Hystericals' ; Freud, 'Hysteria and the Psychoneuroses' ; Jelliffe and White, 'Diseases of the Nervous System.'