Could Shallan have a fourth, hidden personality?

[IcaroRibeiro he/him]

5 hours ago, Jenet said:

And what made Pattern attracted to her in the first place? We can only speculate, which I won't do here. I expect Sanderson to come up with something we never would have imagined. I only wish to imagine what all this must have done to a small child. She was nine when she killed her mother, wasn't she?

She was eleven

[snoopy]

In WoR, Mraize discovers that Veil is also Shallan and he believes Shallan to be the false identity.  Shallan contradicts him.  

Quote

"Veil is the false identity, Mraize,"  Shallan said.  "I am me."

He inspected her. "I think not."

However, I don't think we should underestimate Mraize.  Veil's appearance may be false, but I think he is on to something regarding true identity/personality and Veil.  

 

Then in Oathbringer, when Shallan is speaking to Vatnah and Ishnah, and she shows them how she can untransform her appearance to that of Shallan from Veil, they think Veil is a false identity and Shallan the true one. 

Quote

"I was suspicious when Veil... when you told me to go on this mission," she said.  "Then I saw the illusions, and guessed."  She paused.  "I had it reversed.  I thought Brightness Shallan was the persona.  But the spy - that's the false identity."

"Wrong," Shallan said.  "They're both equally false."  

This is a moment of truth for Shallan in admitting that the persona 'Shallan' is not her true self.

[agrabes]

21 minutes ago, snoopy said:

In WoR, Mraize discovers that Veil is also Shallan and he believes Shallan to be the false identity.  Shallan contradicts him.  

However, I don't think we should underestimate Mraize.  Veil's appearance may be false, but I think he is on to something regarding true identity/personality and Veil.  

 

Then in Oathbringer, when Shallan is speaking to Vatnah and Ishnah, and she shows them how she can untransform her appearance to that of Shallan from Veil, they think Veil is a false identity and Shallan the true one. 

This is a moment of truth for Shallan in admitting that the persona 'Shallan' is not her true self.

There are also in context explanations for both of these instances.  Especially the Mraize situation.  The other one I think might be something if the theory that there is a totally different "true" Shallan out there we haven't met yet is correct.

Mraize first heard about her from Tyn, who reported to him that she was a con artist pretending to be Shallan Davar.  He then saw the way she behaved herself around him and the other Ghostbloods, confirming his suspicions.  The reason he believed that Veil was the real one and Shallan was fake all goes back to the reports that came from Tyn.  And if you think about it logically, it's much more likely that a darkeyed con artist would want to impersonate a lighteyes who is engaged to be married into one of the wealthiest families in Alethkar, than for that lighteyes to impersonate a random darkeyes.  It's not some deep insight into her true nature, it's that he got bad information to start with and then made a wrong conclusion from that.

In the OB scene, she says both are equally false for two reasons.  First, this is during the time she is starting to lose control of herself.  This is her mental illness starting to show through.  Second, Shallan doesn't really trust Ishnah.  She is trying to keep Ishnah from getting leverage on her and has to keep up all kinds of subterfuge related to the Ghostbloods, so she lies about her identity.  She doesn't want Ishnah to try to come into her normal life.

@Jenet My theory in terms of Shallan's truths is that she still has not truly faced her 3rd truth.  She said it, but still hasn't internalized or processed it yet.  She's avoiding it.  I think based on Pattern's reactions when they talk about it and also the way Shallan herself acted afterward, I think saying the truth without being ready really messed her up.  Though maybe she was able to come to terms with it in the 1 year gap between books.  So, I think her path forward is to first come to terms with all the truths she's said so far if she hasn't already and then work toward the final truth.  I think after that final truth we'll see her have a similar moment of triumph but then when the action fades it's going to mess her up for a while again, like her 3rd Truth.

[Lccaseiro58]

13 minutes ago, agrabes said:

There are also in context explanations for both of these instances.  Especially the Mraize situation.  The other one I think might be something if the theory that there is a totally different "true" Shallan out there we haven't met yet is correct.

Mraize first heard about her from Tyn, who reported to him that she was a con artist pretending to be Shallan Davar.  He then saw the way she behaved herself around him and the other Ghostbloods, confirming his suspicions.  The reason he believed that Veil was the real one and Shallan was fake all goes back to the reports that came from Tyn.  And if you think about it logically, it's much more likely that a darkeyed con artist would want to impersonate a lighteyes who is engaged to be married into one of the wealthiest families in Alethkar, than for that lighteyes to impersonate a random darkeyes.  It's not some deep insight into her true nature, it's that he got bad information to start with and then made a wrong conclusion from that.

I think you got it wrong here, at this point Mraize knows Shallan true identify they even talk about her brothers and such.

In my opinion the truest Shallan we've seen is the one that appears when her survival is at risk, when fighting with Tyn and the Midnight Mother.

 

[scm288]

5 minutes ago, Lccaseiro58 said:

In my opinion the truest Shallan we've seen is the one that appears when her survival is at risk, when fighting with Tyn and the Midnight Mother.

Good call on the Re-Shephir. I wonder if the Midnight Mother fled because 1) she knew she could be captured by someone like Shallan, or 2) when she and Shallan connected, Re-Shephir saw the truth of Shallan that Shallan is hiding from herself... and was terrified?

Or even both?

What is Shallan still hiding?

[Jenet]

1 hour ago, scm288 said:

What is Shallan still hiding?

So, let's try to map what we know about her childhood. What happened at the Davar Estate when she was a child? What do we know?

- Her family was happy and their economy was healthy. They were not very rich and powerful, but quite respectable as a House. At some point this changed. Was it when Shallan killed her mother, or was it before that?

- When did Helaran seek out the Skybreakers? Shallan says she had not seen her brother much.

- What did they have that Shallan remembers? A garden. A library, Outbuildings with horses and axehounds? Servants that were nice and served then for a long time.

- Her mother was good at drawing. Both parents were loving and caring.

You get where I am going? Can we collect all we know and all we guess about the Davar family about the time before she killed her mother? Maybe we can guess something from the collected information?

[agrabes]

3 hours ago, Lccaseiro58 said:

I think you got it wrong here, at this point Mraize knows Shallan true identify they even talk about her brothers and such.

In my opinion the truest Shallan we've seen is the one that appears when her survival is at risk, when fighting with Tyn and the Midnight Mother.

 

I pulled up the chapter.  You're right that by this time Mraize had figured out her true identity.  It's actually the scene where he tells her he's just figured it out.  I really don't think there's much that can be taken from that Mraize section.  He claims that Shallan Davar is the false identity, but then later he says "I should have guessed that you would turn out to be Shallan Davar."  So, he already says he knows that Shallan is the true identity.  Everything he says beyond that, in the context of the scene, seems to be pure manipulation.  He is trying to manipulate Shallan to work for the Ghostbloods.  And at least for now the Ghostbloods are being portrayed as a pretty sinister organization.  Maybe later on we'll learn they're actually some of the good guys, but I'd guess at most they are like anti-hero types, bad on all other accounts except that they are possibly fighting Odium.

I think you see one aspect of Shallan in those two pivotal battles, an aspect she did try to hide.  But I think that's just a small part of her.  Like, I don't think the way she was in those two short scenes are the way she would be all the time if she was 100% fully integrated.  But it's a true part of her that she's able to do it and not scared to do it if she needs to.

[+Bliev she/her]

I suppose I have a different perspective than many here, in that I think that we all contain multitudes. Am I the "same" Bliev when I'm nursing my son as when I'm on a stage, giving a presentation to 1,000 managers? Am I the "same" when I'm lifting weights as when I'm coaching a grad student through a statistical analysis? Or when I'm dancing with friends versus pitching a book to a publisher? Sure I am. I know who I am. But I also know that different tasks require different things of me and I employ different traits to meet the moment. To me, in this RoW segment, Shallan is doing the same. She is consciously using her personas for a task, and she's aware of it. Now, hers are magical, so, a bit different, but she's all of these personas, and they are all her. There's no "real" Shallan, or, rather, they're ALL the "real" Shallan. And that's what she'll have to accept in the end.

ETA: it made me think of something my husband said the other day since we're working from home now--"I can always tell when you're on a call with someone important because your voice changes, it's hilarious." So who's the real me? The woman my husband knows or the one my department chair knows? And does it matter?

Edited August 4, 2020 by Bliev

[GudThymes he/him]

27 minutes ago, Bliev said:

I suppose I have a different perspective than many here, in that I think that we all contain multitudes. Am I the "same" Bliev when I'm nursing my son as when I'm on a stage, giving a presentation to 1,000 managers? Am I the "same" when I'm lifting weights as when I'm coaching a grad student through a statistical analysis? Or when I'm dancing with friends versus pitching a book to a publisher? Sure I am. I know who I am. But I also know that different tasks require different things of me and I employ different traits to meet the moment. To me, in this RoW segment, Shallan is doing the same. She is consciously using her personas for a task, and she's aware of it. Now, hers are magical, so, a bit different, but she's all of these personas, and they are all her. There's no "real" Shallan, or, rather, they're ALL the "real" Shallan. And that's what she'll have to accept in the end.

I totally hear you on this, and definitely agree with a lot of the sentiment here. BUT, Brandon has confirmed that Shallan has Dissociative Identity Disorder (also referred to as DID or Multiple/Split personality disorder) and it is non-magical. He has done extensive research on the topic and recruited an alpha reader with the disorder to help ensure that he is accurate. I think we can certainly say that the way that Shallan works when it comes to "personas" or "the self" is very different than anyone who doesn't have DID. It's great for us to use our own experiences to understand and sympathize with her, but we can't use them as a comparison tool in this instance.

With that said, I think there is a point to saying that the personalities Shallan has will change/evolve over time and may be different "people" in different scenarios, but they are indeed distinct selves. We know she has 3 selves at this point in time, but may have more.

Edited August 4, 2020 by GudThymes
changed description of DID

[Rainier]

On 7/31/2020 at 6:00 AM, snoopy said:

However, I don't think we should underestimate Mraize.  Veil's appearance may be false, but I think he is on to something regarding true identity/personality and Veil.  

Exactly. Shallan can't tell herself the truth, why would we expect her to tell Mraize the truth?

On 7/31/2020 at 11:21 AM, agrabes said:

He claims that Shallan Davar is the false identity, but then later he says "I should have guessed that you would turn out to be Shallan Davar."  So, he already says he knows that Shallan is the true identity. 

He should have guessed that Veil and Shallan were the same, not that Shallan is the true identity.

[+Bliev she/her]

42 minutes ago, GudThymes said:

I totally hear you on this, and definitely agree with a lot of the sentiment here. BUT, Brandon has confirmed that Shallan has Dissociative Identity Disorder (also referred to as DID or Multiple/Split personality disorder) and it is non-magical. He has done extensive research on the topic and recruited an alpha reader with the disorder to help ensure that he is accurate. I think we can certainly say that the way that Shallan works when it comes to "personas" or "the self" is very different than anyone who doesn't have DID. It's great for us to use our own experiences to understand and sympathize with her, but we can't use them as a comparison tool in this instance.

With that said, I think there is a point to saying that the personalities Shallan has will change/evolve over time and may be different "people" in different scenarios, but they are indeed distinct selves. We know she has 3 selves at this point in time, but may have more.

Yes, I know. :-) My comment was not as to whether she actually has different personalities (after all, I don't speak to "professor" Bliev when I'm being "mommy" Bliev, nor am I attracted to different men lol), but as to whether (a) having Veil and Shallan talk to one another in such a way is indicative of her worsening state, and (b) whether there is one "true" Shallan at all (which the prior conversation was debating). 

 

[GudThymes he/him]

45 minutes ago, Bliev said:

Yes, I know. :-) My comment was not as to whether she actually has different personalities (after all, I don't speak to "professor" Bliev when I'm being "mommy" Bliev, nor am I attracted to different men lol)

Apologies, I misread your intent on the initial comment.

 

45 minutes ago, Bliev said:

whether (a) having Veil and Shallan talk to one another in such a way is indicative of her worsening state, and (b) whether there is one "true" Shallan at all (which the prior conversation was debating). 

a) I think that the best way to answer this question is to dive into the treatment paradigms that therapists use when treating DID. I have not studied clinical psychology or looked into this much, so I won't answer either way on this one. I think that's up for debate.

(b) Given that Shallan has DID I think we need to look into the clinical definition and interpretations to answer this question, rather than our experiences. 

Quote

namely, that it is characterized by a fragmentation or splintering of identity, rather than by a proliferation or growth of separate personalities. The symptoms of DID cannot be explained away as the direct psychological effects of a substance or of a general medical condition.

two things here. 1) the "personalities" that are created are not unique entities, they are related to the "true" person that existed before the splintering. 2) You are not born with DID, there is some external trigger that causes this to manifest (trauma, drug usage, something).

Ok, so this means that at some point in time (I'm assuming before she bonded with Pattern and killed her mother) there was a single Shallan just like you or me, and now the personalities that we interact with are different manifestations of that core person.

Quote

Usually, a primary identity carries the individual's given name and is passive, dependent, guilty, and depressed.

 Ok, this is tricky given the context of the story. If you look at the three personalities right now (Shallan, Veil, and Radiant) it's easy to say that "Shallan" would be the primary, she fits that diagnostic tool. However, let's look at the period before Veil and Radiant (WoK and flashbacks), we don't see a point in which "Shallan" is created, she always has been. However, I'm fairly comfortable saying that she already had DID at this point in time, and only had the one splinter personality.

For me, all of this points that yeah, there is definitely one "true" Shallan. Whether that is the Shallan personality we have seen or is some other version of Shallan is up for debate. 

 

My opinion is that Shallan is the primary personality and that the pre DID version of Shallan no longer exists. The primary personality that came out of that splintering is definitely Shallan, and the path towards improvement within her mental disorder is to find a balance with her personalities that leaves Shallan in charge. 

Edited August 4, 2020 by GudThymes

[Cortez he/him]

On 29/07/2020 at 8:33 PM, Pathfinder said:

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news in this sense, but it is going the DID route, which is why out of curiosity I began to read up more on it. WoB below:

 

 

I know people who relate a lot to Shallan's arc due to how similar her personalities are to Dissociative Identity Disorder. Did you intentionally write her to be recognizable DID?

Brandon Sanderson

I did, but I shied away from it in the earlier books, because I knew I was going to be doing fantastical things, and I didn't want to be offering too much commentary on DID. That was kind of my worry. With Kaladin, I knew depression well enough from family members and things that I felt like I could be a very strong contributor to the conversation. But, I started with Shallan saying, "I don't know if I'm gonna go this route." But then, the further I went, the more I felt it would be irresponsible to not do this. And so, in the last books, I just bit the bullet, dug really far into the DSMV and into reading firsthand, primary accounts from people. We got a very helpful person with DID to be one of our beta readers for this last book. And I just did my best to present it accurately and to present the non-Hollywood verison of it. And so, basically, Oathbringer and Rhythm of War lean into it a little more than the first two books do, though that was where I was going. And I do have a working knowledge of Dissociative Identity Disorder, and did even back then. I don't think I did a terrible job, but I think it would have been irresponsible for me to go forward without digging in a little further.

YouTube Livestream 13 (July 23, 2020)

That's disappointing as it's completely ruined my favourite character. It somewhat spoiled Oathbringer for me and I was hoping it would quickly be resolved in this book. If it's a permanent thing then I suspect I'll just end up skipping most of Shallan's chapters, assuming I even bother buying the book.

[slipwiz]

i would agree.    i'm starting to form a theory (please tell me if this as been discussed already) .   this theory is based on the fact that for a Radiant to attach to a spren they must have some kind of flaw / condition that cause a "crack" for the spren to take a hold of (i've fairly sure Brandon confirm this ) .   and the 5 stages of becoming a Radiant forces the person to confronts / accepts these "flaws" . in the case of Shallan  she creating personality to help her cope with her truths.  this would lend to speculate that there is one more personality to come out.    

now that being said my theory for the the 5th stage (full Radiance)  involve full acceptance and the bond with the spren "healing"  the Radiant .  i would suspect (my opinion) that in Shallan case it would be a reamalgamation of all 5 personalities or at least a balance established 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by slipwiz

[Pathfinder]

3 hours ago, Cortez said:

That's disappointing as it's completely ruined my favourite character. It somewhat spoiled Oathbringer for me and I was hoping it would quickly be resolved in this book. If it's a permanent thing then I suspect I'll just end up skipping most of Shallan's chapters, assuming I even bother buying the book.

I am sorry you feel that way, and if that is your prerogative, then you are certainly entitled to it. Just hope your enjoyment of the other aspects of the novel out weight your disappointment in this aspect. 

[Karger he/him]

2 hours ago, slipwiz said:

now that being said my theory for the the 5th stage (full Radiance)  involve full acceptance and the bond with the spren "healing"  the Radiant .  i would suspect (my opinion) that in Shallan case it would be a reamalgamation of all 5 personalities or at least a balance established 

Kaladin claims that things don't get easier because of radiance.  He might be wrong but I think in general you don't get magical fixes to your problems even in SA.

[slipwiz]

4 minutes ago, Karger said:

Kaladin claims that things don't get easier because of radiance.  He might be wrong but I think in general you don't get magical fixes to your problems even in SA.

i don't mean heal as you don't have the problem anymore.   i mean heal in acceptance and the issue being under some kind of contious control.  sort of the same way we go see psychologist / psychiatrist .    

[Karger he/him]

1 minute ago, slipwiz said:

i don't mean heal as you don't have the problem anymore.   i mean heal in acceptance and the issue being under some kind of contious control.  sort of the same way we go see psychologist / psychiatrist .    

Didn't Teft do that at oath three?  He swore to start taking care of himself.

[slipwiz]

1 minute ago, Karger said:

Didn't Teft do that at oath three?  He swore to start taking care of himself.

he acknowledged that this was is issue. and he need to work towards it 

[Karger he/him]

Just now, slipwiz said:

he acknowledged that this was is issue. and he need to work towards it 

Ah so you think by oath five they should have gotten to a place where they can manage it successfully?

[slipwiz]

Just now, Karger said:

Ah so you think by oath five they should have gotten to a place where they can manage it successfully?

yes sort of like AA 12 step..    i see Radiant as people that have mental or psychological conditions/trauma they need to work on. the first oauth is really accepting that you have a problem and will to take the journey to better/fix yourself.  the 5 stages of radiance as milestones of this acceptance.  hence the difference between Kaladin and Telf oaths and the deaply personal truths that Shallan had to admit to herself. 

the core of the 5 stages are "know thyself" and learn to accept or better yourself     

[GudThymes he/him]

9 hours ago, Cortez said:

That's disappointing as it's completely ruined my favourite character. It somewhat spoiled Oathbringer for me and I was hoping it would quickly be resolved in this book. If it's a permanent thing then I suspect I'll just end up skipping most of Shallan's chapters, assuming I even bother buying the book.

I understand and respect your opinion but I would encourage you to reflect on this, and share your reasoning with us.

I think that "reading about someone with a mental illness spoils a book or prevents me from buying a sequel" is very damaging and disrespectful to people with mental health issues. 

 There are people with this disorder who may read SA and see Shallan as a representation of their illness in a major novel for the first time and it may help them on the path towards healing. I think giving Shallan a magical way out of her illness cheapens any character development she has with her personalities.

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by GudThymes
cleaned up my atrocious syntax

[agrabes]

On 8/5/2020 at 7:45 AM, Cortez said:

That's disappointing as it's completely ruined my favourite character. It somewhat spoiled Oathbringer for me and I was hoping it would quickly be resolved in this book. If it's a permanent thing then I suspect I'll just end up skipping most of Shallan's chapters, assuming I even bother buying the book.

I also felt pretty similarly, but kind of got over it.  It's sort of like reading GRRM - your favorite character died and it feels terrible and you may even take a break from reading the series for a while.  For me, I put down GRRM's series for 10 years after reading the Red Wedding.  I'm glad I picked it up again though, the books are good and it's much easier to deal with the deaths when you know they are coming.  

Shallan was probably my favorite character going into this.  I do think that while Shallan will probably never again be the same Shallan of WoK and WoR, she will get back to being closer to who she was.  For me, I just pretty much had to accept that we're dealing with something different now.  Before, reading Shallan's story and how she advanced her goals and dealt with her challenges was one of my most favorite things in reading the books.  Shallan is no longer toward the top of my list for favorite characters, reading her chapters are more like some kind of psychological study - how is she doing mentally and how is that impacting the way she acts? How do we tease out what her actual goal is now and is that a good goal for her to have?

16 hours ago, GudThymes said:

I understand and respect your opinion but I would encourage you to reflect on this, and share your reasoning with us.

I think that "reading about someone with a mental illness spoils a book or prevents me from buying a sequel" is very damaging and disrespectful to people with mental health issues. 

 There are people with this disorder who may read SA and see Shallan as a representation of their illness in a major novel for the first time and it may help them on the path towards healing. I think giving Shallan a magical way out of her illness cheapens any character development she has with her personalities.

 

Shallan has a mental illness which has completely changed who she is as a person in the middle of a book series.  It's perfectly reasonable for someone to find that upsetting and off putting.  Having a mental illness of this severity is not something that should lead to Shallan being demonized, but it's not something that should be celebrated either.  It's natural to be upset if someone you care about develops a serious illness - the same applies for a fictional character you like.

If Shallan is ultimately able to manage her illness in a healthy way as defined by mental health professionals, then maybe her character provides a good role model for those who suffer with her same afflictions.  But please don't tell someone they are a morally bad person because they are sad and upset that their favorite character has had a major and likely permanent personality change caused by a mental illness.  Most of us read these books and participate in this community because we love the story and characters, not because we're interested in encouraging people with rare mental health conditions.  I hope anyone who does have DID is able to find a way to get as healthy as they can through appropriate doctor's care and support from friends and family.  If I'm in contact with someone who has DID in real life, I'll do my best to be a good influence in their life.  But that's separate from what I want to read about for my own personal enjoyment.  It's not morally wrong to dislike reading from the POV of a character who has DID or any mental illness of any type. 

[Aminar]

DID is not a good disorder to try to tackle without a great deal of knowledge. I'll admit to being incredibly disappointed Brandon's going this route. 

The first reason is because there's a great deal of discussion about the existence of DID in the mental health world. It's existence is constantly debated, which means no amount of research is going to give reliable answers as to what the condition looks like. I don't have a personal stake in that side of things. I just think it muddies the waters and leaves the series very vulnerable to aging badly. 

The second is that what Shallan has is nothing like the diagnostic criteria of DID. 

1. Two or more distinct identities or personality states are present, each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self.
2. Amnesia must occur, defined as gaps in the recall of everyday events, important personal information, and/or traumatic events.
3. The person must be distressed by the disorder or have trouble functioning in one or more major life areas because of the disorder.
4. The disturbance is not part of normal cultural or religious practices.
5. The symptoms cannot be due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (such as blackouts or chaotic behavior during alcohol intoxication) or a general medical condition (such as complex partial seizures).

The important part there is #2. Shallan is not exhibiting a loss of memory of what she does in her other guises. This creates a misinformed perspective on the condition. This kind of Hollywoodization of the condition will always bother me. I'd much rather he explain that it's a function of her Radiance interacting with her Trauma than to try to use a real life disorder and then misrepresent it. I get that DID is a fascinating idea. 

 

Shallan's burying of her memories is a function of PTSD but in DID the gaps in memory have to be an ongoing thing. She has to be losing time to her other identities, not swapping between them like a person playing D&D getting into character. 

 

If you want a work of fiction written by someone with DID about their experience I recommend Catskinner's Book by Misha Collins. It's self published but it's by a person with the diagnosis and thus comes with the weight of a case study. 

 

[agrabes]

13 minutes ago, Aminar said:

DID is not a good disorder to try to tackle without a great deal of knowledge. I'll admit to being incredibly disappointed Brandon's going this route. 

The first reason is because there's a great deal of discussion about the existence of DID in the mental health world. It's existence is constantly debated, which means no amount of research is going to give reliable answers as to what the condition looks like. I don't have a personal stake in that side of things. I just think it muddies the waters and leaves the series very vulnerable to aging badly. 

The second is that what Shallan has is nothing like the diagnostic criteria of DID. 

1. Two or more distinct identities or personality states are present, each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self.
2. Amnesia must occur, defined as gaps in the recall of everyday events, important personal information, and/or traumatic events.
3. The person must be distressed by the disorder or have trouble functioning in one or more major life areas because of the disorder.
4. The disturbance is not part of normal cultural or religious practices.
5. The symptoms cannot be due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (such as blackouts or chaotic behavior during alcohol intoxication) or a general medical condition (such as complex partial seizures).

The important part there is #2. Shallan is not exhibiting a loss of memory of what she does in her other guises. This creates a misinformed perspective on the condition. This kind of Hollywoodization of the condition will always bother me. I'd much rather he explain that it's a function of her Radiance interacting with her Trauma than to try to use a real life disorder and then misrepresent it. I get that DID is a fascinating idea. 

 

Shallan's burying of her memories is a function of PTSD but in DID the gaps in memory have to be an ongoing thing. She has to be losing time to her other identities, not swapping between them like a person playing D&D getting into character. 

 

If you want a work of fiction written by someone with DID about their experience I recommend Catskinner's Book by Misha Collins. It's self published but it's by a person with the diagnosis and thus comes with the weight of a case study. 

 

While you seem to be someone with much more knowledge of this topic than me and much more capability to understand what is "right" and "wrong" about portraying someone with a mental illness, I will say that I feel like this is also part of the issue for me.  Even from someone with no real knowledge on the topic, it feels like it's not being done quite right.  Sanderson himself has said he wasn't sure if he was going to go this route and only decided to do it for OB.  I think we are supposed to take it that Shallan has had DID since her childhood trauma.  But her behavior changed significantly in OB, when Sanderson decided he was going to take her the DID route.  So it feels like she only developed the condition in OB, even if that's not supposed to be the case.  Maybe a professional or someone who actually has experience with the condition would say this is totally normal, but it doesn't feel right to me.

I think if he had decided and committed on day one that she always had DID and wrote her consistently that way, even if it wasn't completely accurate to the medical diagnosis of the condition, it would feel a lot more right to us.  At least, it would to me.