What Kim Noble couldn’t have known was that she was
suffering from a rare condition called Dissociative Identity
Disorder (DID) — more commonly known as ‘split personality
disorder’ — and that her mind would regularly switch from one
character to another without warning.
The most consistent of Kim’s personalities is called
Patricia, which attempts to piece together Kim’s extraordinary,
chaotic life.
### In fact, Kim Noble no longer really exists. She
explains: ‘To most of the outside world I am Kim Noble, and I’ll
answer to that name. But the truth is her mind shattered into
fragments before she could even talk, leaving numerous alter egos
to take over.’
Today, there are more than 20 alter egos who can appear at
any given moment. Alongside he serious Patricia, there’s Abi, who’s
single and looking for love, Bonny, a single mother, and Salome, a
devout Roman Catholic. There’s a little boy called Diabalus who
only writes in Latin, and a depressed Ken.
But even on a good day, two or three other personas will
take over completely and do whatever they want while in control of
Kim’s body.
When a switch happens, it’s literally as though someone
else slides into Kim’s skin. Her face twitches as the eloquent,
rational Patricia gives way to mischievous Judy, a self-conscious
15-year-old who often appears at mealtimes.
‘Sometimes, I can end up wearing five different outfits in
one morning,’ explains Patricia.
### ‘Coming back after a personality switch is
like waking up from a nap. It takes a few seconds of blinking and
looking around to get my bearings, to work out who I’m with, where
I am, and what I’m in the middle of doing,’ she says.
‘I could disappear from my sofa and wake up at a pub, or a
supermarket, or even driving a car without a clue where I’m
heading.’