Switching Time

By Richard Baer

Book Overview

"One afternoon in 1989, Karen Overhill walks into psychiatrist Richard Baer's office complaining of vague physical pains and depression. Odder still, she reveals that she's suffering from a persistent memory problem. Routinely, she "loses" parts of her day, finding herself in places she doesn't remember going to or being told about conversations she doesn't remember having. Her problems are so pervasive that she often feels like an impersonator in her own life; she doesn't recognize the people who call themselves her friends, and she can't even remember being intimate with her own husband." "Baer recognizes that Karen is on the verge of suicide and, while using various medications to keep her alive, tries to discover the root cause of her strange complaints. It's the work of months, and then years, to gain Karen's trust and learn the true extent of the trauma buried in her past. What she eventually reveals is nearly beyond belief, a narrative of a childhood spent grappling with unimaginable horror. How has Karen survived with even a tenuous grasp on sanity?" "Then Baer receives an envelope in the mail. It's marked with Karen's return address but contains a letter from a little girl who writes that she's seven years old and lives inside of Karen. Soon Baer receives letters from others claiming to be parts of Karen. Under hypnosis, these alternate Karen personalities reveal themselves in shocking variety and with undeniable traits - both physical and psychological. One "alter" is a young boy filled with frightening aggression; another an adult male who considers himself Karen's protector; and a third a sassy flirt who says she emerges when Karen has sex. It's only by compartmentalizing her pain, guilt, and fear in this fashion - by "switching time" with alternate selves as the situation warrants - that Karen has been able to function since childhood." "Realizing that his patient represents an extreme case of multiple personality disorder, Baer faces the daunting task of creating a therapy that will make Karen whole again. Somehow, in fact, he must gain the trust of each of Karen's seventeen "alters" and convince them of the necessity of their own annihilation."--BOOK JACKET.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307382664
• ISBN13: 9780307382665
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 1.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Captivating True Life Story - Outstanding Writing

Karma matched up Karen with Dr. Baer when his partner was unavailable and she was in desperate need of help. This book describes horrrific abuse (that word came to mind everytime I picked up the book) as it is truly sick what she was subjected to from her own father and grandfather. It's amazing, though, to see how the body will do whatever it takes to protect us from this type of evil. As Dr. Baer and us, as readers, come to discover and meet each of Karen's alters and when and why they were born you begin to learn their function in protecting Karen as well as preventing her from becoming whole. Dr. Baer's dedication over 18 years of therapy, his unselfish willingness to devote his time at all hours to helping her through crisis and his caution in treating her is rare. As I said, karma brought them together. As others have said, this book, although at times extremely disturbing, is wonderfully written and I too fell asleep on several nights because I couldn't put it down. There were several points where I couldn't help but cry, but there finally tears of joy when Karen was finally Karen. As if the 30+ years she lived with the abuse, depression, losing time, etc. weren't enough she is without a doubt one of the bravest people I have come to "know" by having her story told - if one child is saved it is worth it. I have already recommended this book to several people. And this is rare for me. I will be reading this book again. It is that captivating. I highly recommend.

An Incredible Journey

I was skeptical that such a thng as multiple personality disorder even existed. After reading Switching Time, I am not only convinced, but am in awe of the complexity of the human ability to cope with horrific abuse. This is a beautifully written journey: but not just the journey of Karen, the woman with 17 personalities, but of the Psychiatrist who diagnosed it, and ultimately reintegrated her into one functional being. This is a stunning , must- read book.Every word of it is true, but it reads like a novel. Don't start it unless you have time to keep going. I guarantee you won't want to put it down.

Facinating & Horrifying

I bought this book for my wife who usually likes reading about such subjects, but I will admit that the publisher's summary did intrest me enough to read the first chapter. After that I was hooked, and had to force myself to put it down to get enough sleep for work the next day. I thought that knowing that she has 17 personalities would ruin any suspense of the story, but I was mistakened. Learning how they function, and how and when they were "born" was facinating. Not being schooled in psychology, I have only a layman's understanding of this disorder, and I was blown away to learn how the 'aters' interacted within Karen's subconscience and what purposes they served when they revealed themselves. The horror that Karen suffered which brought on the personalities was equally as facinating as it was sad. I guess on a certail level I knew that the things described in this book can and do happen, but to read about them happening and especially happening to a young girl, made me cringe. This story in this book is strong enough to appeal to anyone and the detail of the disorder is well written enough to keep someone with a PhD in psychology entranced. I have never read a story like it. If you are at all interested in this book after reading the publisher's tag, then you will not be disappointed. I wish there were more stars, I don't think 5 is enough.