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Movie: The Three Sides of Eve

Year of Drama: 1952

Character – Eve

Axis I: Psychiatric diagnoses include recurring blackouts, moderate severity, recurring headaches, and conversion disorder. Dissociative Identity Disorder

Axis II: developmental diagnoses of childhood. Multiple discrete personality states, homicidal as a defence mechanism

Axis III: Physical illness including recurring headaches, dissociation (lapses in memory), hallucinations

Axis IV: Psychological stress factors affecting patient include mistreatment by parent (mother). Inadequate family support from husband at times, discontinuities in sense of behaviour and perception.

Axis V: Global functioning – moderate about 70

The Character’s presentation

Eve White is a woman who decides to visit a psychiatrist together with her husband Ralph White after experiencing several recurring blackouts and also headaches. After treatment from the psychiatrist Dr. Curtis Luther, Eve is fine until after about one year when Ralph discovers that his wife’s wardrobe has changed into an unusually sexy aspect. When Eve is questioned over the newly acquired wardrobe, she insists that he was the one who the clothes for her. Ralph confirms with the store that his wife indeed bought everything which makes him believe that she is lying. She does not like the accusation which prompts the acute headaches. This leads to her attacking her own daughter who is trying her mother’s new clothes and high heeled shoes. A visit to Dr. Luther results in Eve revealing that although she denies the attack, she hears a voice instructing her to run from her husband and elope with a lover. She admits that she does not understand what is happening with her, a fear that eventually is the turning point of Eve’s shift in personality, who she calls Eve Black. After the family moves to Florida, she turns on and off as either Eve Black or Mrs. White after secret nocturnal escapades. A third personality appears when Mrs. Luther the psychiatrist attempts suicide. In the middle of the three personalities, she reveals that she had been mistreated at the age of six. Finally, two of her personalities banish and she bonds back to her family.

Diagnosis justifications

Dissociative identity disorder is a mental disorder whereby a sufferer experiences two or more distinct personality or identity states which are quite varied with regard to how they view the world. The three Faces of Eve is a story whereby a woman is believed to suffer from such. The diagnosis of Dissociative identity disorder is supported by the fact that Eve seems to be traumatized by events that occurred when she was six years old. Sufferers of this mental disorder usually have had traumatic experiences as either infants or children. These experiences are responsible for a child’s mind trying to dissociate the frightening memories. The fact that the personalities appear interchangeably within a period of one year is truth enough to view it not as a memory lapse. Dissociation is also evident when Eve attacks her own daughter meaning that her mind lapses to the realization that that is her own daughter.

Other symptoms include experiencing blackouts which are Eve’s initial symptoms. These blackouts recur and often are the indicators of a change in personality. When Eve goes to Florida, she often escapes at night and dances in clubs. After the personality alters into Mrs. White, she is regretful of her actions. This is also a significant sign of detecting dissociative identity disorder whereby the sufferer finds him/herself in places where they are not aware of themselves having travelled.

Eve is very angry after her husband accuses her of lying. She believes that Ralph her husband bought her the sexy clothes and shoes. Additionally, she does not believe that she attacked her own daughter. This is usually the case with Dissociative identity disorder sufferers who believe that they are being accused falsely of lying as they do not realize or even believe that they lied. When told of things they do not recall, they believe that these are just false accusations. At times, sufferers of this mental disorder may find themselves in possession of items they do not understand how they acquired. Eve finds herself with new sexy wardrobe and because she does not recalling buying the same, she assumes that it is her husband who bought the clothes and shoes for her. Eve at one time claims to be Eve Black, a situation whereby the sufferer of this mental disorder finds them claiming or being called names that they are not familiar with. At one point, Eve confides in Dr. Luther that she hears voices in her head telling her to elope with one Bonnie. Sufferers of dissociative identity disorder may hear voices and even recognize that indeed the voices are not their own even though they come from their own heads.

The most significant symptom that makes one identify Eve’s condition as dissociative Identity disorder is the feeling that one is more than one person which is evidenced in her three personalities as Mrs. White, Eve (Jane) and Eve Black.

Reference

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., TR). Washington, DC: Author