Sat. Dec 21st, 2024

Dishonorable Mentions

This “wall of shame” is earned by casual mentions of plurality (i.e. multiple personalities, dissociative identity disorder, split personality (double ugh!), etc.) where the terminology is misused (it is not used to describe a person or character who actually has or has claimed to have a plural neurodivergence, identity, experience, or disorder, or even is suspected of it — or it’s applied to inanimate objects, social groups, situations, cultures, nations, etc.). These articles do not feature actual plural persons, experiences, or situations in any way.

If your article is on this list, you’ve been called out as an examples of how not to talk about plural experiences in the media; you’re misusing terminology for people who are potentially disabled, and ostracized, outcast, stigmatized, and made fun of all the time. Stop it. If you want to be removed from the list, edit your article and contact us to verify.

2019

  • April 26, 2019 — albums don’t have “multiple personalities” https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/marina-love-and-fear-review-album-tracklist-release-date-tour-a8885791.html
  • April 15, 2019 — saying a person has “online multiple-personality disorder” when they don’t is out of bounds. https://triblive.com/sports/first-call-miles-sanders-to-steelers-tiger-wrecks-bookies-lightning-nearly-fried/
  • April 15, 2019 — double dishonorable mention: both calling politics schizophrenic and a “split personality” — half point for putting quotes on the latter. http://www.politicspa.com/politically-uncorrected-incivility-and-its-discontents/90925/
  • April 15, 2019 — Places cannot have a “split personality.” https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/allison-hanes-parc-jean-drapeau-report-sets-stage-for-traffic-showdown
  • April 15, 2019 — Opinion piece by Antonio J. Montalvan II (obviously an assumed name) in which he earns a full dishonorable mention. Antonio, politicians do NOT have DID when they’re being willfully deceitful and acting “nice” during campaign season only to reveal their true colors once elected. That’s just willful deceit, not a dissociative disorder. Side note: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde are also not DID.  They acquired their duality through a potion, not childhood trauma, so it would hit the exclusion criteria that it happened via drug use. https://opinion.inquirer.net/120787/the-time-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde
  • April 14, 2019 — Places cannot have a “split personality.” https://www.independent.ie/business/commercial-property/looking-out-for-dublin-1-ambitious-plans-to-boost-dublins-historic-district-38010628.html
  • April 12, 2019 — Los Angeles doesn’t have a “split personality.” https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/shana-cleveland-night-worm-moon
  • March 10, 2019 — a band’s jarring performance was suddenly and shamefully diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder by Cleveland Scene author Eric Sandy. https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2019/03/10/fans-get-two-shows-in-one-from-mumford-and-sons-at-the-q
  • March 3, 2019 — https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/opinion/2019/03/03/you-celebrating-multiple-personality-day/3016414002/
  • March 1, 2019 — months don’t have a split personality https://mltnews.com/sponsor-spotlight-chanterelle-welcomes-march-with-comfort-food-lighter-fare/
  • February 22, 2019 — A play cannot have a “split-personality”. https://www.ajc.com/entertainment/arts–theater/unwieldy-goodnight-tyler-wavers-the-alliance/32NWn6ScdekExls5fhxzyO/
  • February 20, 2019 — Don’t blame “split personality” where hypocrisy will do. https://haysfreepress.com/2019/02/20/a-border-crisis-sized-to-tv-screens/
  • February 19, 2019 — Liking 2 styles of the same overall cuisine does not imply you (the author Nadine Kam) have a split personality. https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/02/19/food/crave-weekly-eater/the-weekly-eater-new-vietnamese-inspired-restaurants-offer-different-takes/
  • February 18, 2019 — A country does not have a split personality. https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/burberry-designer-tisci-juggles-u-k-style-amid-brexit-divisions#gs.IiGjdKHA
  • February 9, 2019 — The (election?) commissioner in a Pennsylvania county (USA) feels like they have a split personality over making tough decisions for voting machines.  https://www.sharonherald.com/news/mercer-county-seeking-home-for-new-voting-machines/article_f9f043f8-2c1c-11e9-aa1a-37505f0257ea.html
  • January 29, 2019 — The Hans India reports that someone will be taking a role playing someone “suffering from spilt personality disorder” — there is no such thing. Get with the times. Nothing else of significance to say in the article. https://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Tollywood/2019-01-29/Ram-Suffers-Split-Personality-Disorder/484293
  • January 22, 2019  — Samantha Lewis at DailyMail.com (UK) earns a Dishonorable Mention for the saying a quirky 2-sided “superyacht” that has an extremely different appearance on the port vs. starboard has a “split personality.” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-6619247/Stunning-100-million-superyacht-features-red-carpet-entrance.html
  • January 14, 2019 — Describing the opera as having a “split personality” — again, it’s a thing not a person. It can’t. https://www.cleveland.com/arts/2019/01/cleveland-orchestra-emerges-on-top-from-artistic-conflict-in-strausss-ariadne-auf-naxos.html
  • January 11, 2019 — Jacob Ogles writing for The Advocate gets a Dishonorable Mention for the title of the piece “When It Comes to LGBTQ Rights, Florida Has a Split Personality” but note that the author may have had the title changed on them, since the word “split” is not repeated in the article.  Ogles, you should yell at the editor who made that decision. It doesn’t look good on you.
  • January 4, 2019 — Editorial in Kashmir Images daily newspaper (India) called ‘Split Personality Syndrome’ uses the term to describe local cultural divisions and conflict.  http://thekashmirimages.com/2019/01/04/split-personality-syndrome/
  • January 3, 2019 — author Robert Salonga (The Mercury News, USA) can’t help but make fun of a homeless man whose last name is Jekyll, who apparently had a crisis while on parole and broke into someone’s home. Implying that the man has “an alter ego” because he shares a last name with a fictional character is way out of bounds. https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/03/man-named-jekyll-arrested-after-mr-hyde-moment-with-police/

2018

  • December 31, 2018 — Albany Herald (USA) OpEd author T Gamble writes that their lack of executive function, willpower, and daily procrastination (our wording) is like having a “split personality” for an entire article of misuse of terminology. https://www.albanyherald.com/opinion/t-gamble-constant-battle-of-nighttime-morning-guys/article_2f247e2a-1f8c-5de3-96c9-a90bcd85a115.html
  • December 30, 2018 — author Mythreya Kodakandla (Telangana Today, India) does a run-down of fiction films with health themes, and says “While movies like Awe and Amar Akbar Anthony used dissociative identity disorder which is also called multi-personality disorder…” (sic.) making an erroneous mention of DID’s much-maligned predecessor (Mythreya: it was once “multiple personality disorder”).  https://telanganatoday.com/telugu-cinemas-year-of-health-disorders
  • December 28, 2018 — author March Mercanti (CBC Arts, Canada) mentioning artist 2Fik as having a “multiple-personality mind” when they’re a performance artist with many characters. https://www.cbc.ca/arts/looking-back-at-the-great-canadian-art-of-2018-alphabet-style-1.4956758
  • December 21, 2018 — Scott Lucas (The Conversation, US — author is in the UK) says “The loss of Mattis will likely deepen the split personality of the Trump administration towards Russia.” An administration is ineligible for psychiatric diagnosis, nor would having a duality of opinion towards something or someone qualify even if it were the opinions of a single body-person. http://theconversation.com/james-mattis-what-defence-secretarys-resignation-means-for-syria-afghanistan-and-nato-as-trump-leans-in-to-putin-109204
  • December 21, 2018 — Deccan Herald author Madhu Jawali (AU) earns a Dishonorable Mention for use of “split personality” to describe the difference in a sports player who is in the Zone or concentrating while at bat in cricket versus when they’re otherwise occupied. https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/two-faces-virat-kohli-709239.html
  • December 19, 2018 — A prototype Porche built with a hybrid rear to show 2 different designs is not “suffering from multiple personality disorder” — thus editor Adrian Padeanu of Motor1.com earns a Dishonorable Mention. https://www.motor1.com/news/298154/porsche-top-5-secret-prototypes/
  • December 19, 2018 — HopWin’s Brewery earns a Dishonorable Mention for calling beers “split-personality” because they divide a batch of brew and change one factor in the fermentation process that creates a different-tasting end product, as mentioned in an interview in GreaterBayShore (USA). https://bayshore.greaterlongisland.com/2018/12/19/hopwins-brewery-gets-ready-to-launch-in-bay-shore/
  • December 17, 2018 — Painter Bob Jackson calls himself a “split personality” because of his hybrid painting style, as quoted in an article in the Chadds Ford Live Arts & Entertainment section (UK) by Lora B. Englehart. https://chaddsfordlive.com/2018/12/17/can-you-keep-a-secret/
  • December 15, 2018 — James Connell doesn’t get the nomination, quoted defending lawyer Neil Davis does for using “split personality” in describing his client in a Worchester News (UK) story about a driver under the influence who was arrested.  https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/17300326.dangerous-driver-christopher-lewis-flouted-ban-and-was-high-on-cocaine-and-cannabis/
  • December 13, 2018 — Shoshana Bryen (The Algemeiner, USA) says, “If Lebanon was a person, it would be diagnosed with multiple personality disorder…” because it’s a melting pot of a wide variety of religions at odds with each other. https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/12/13/how-america-helps-hezbollah/
  • December 12, 2018 — Chris Newbould (The National, UAE) earns a Dishonorable Mention for referring to actor Jason Momoa & the character in Aquaman as having “split personality” because of dual cultural heritages. https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/film/aquaman-s-jason-momoa-is-tough-but-a-softy-at-heart-1.801978
  • December 9, 2018 — Wong Chun Wai (The Star Online, Malaysia) for using both multiple personality disorder and dissociative identity disorder to describe a duality in Malaysian cultural pride and heritage versus shame and embarrassment while acknowledging that he’s misusing it. https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/on-the-beat/2018/12/09/on-the-beat-calling-the-kettle-black/
  • December 8, 2018 — Yassin Konbar at CBR.com (formerly Comic Book Resources, a Valnet Property, Canada) says “Imprisoned by a multiple personality disorder, Arnold Wesker is helpless and hides behind an evil dummy by the name of Scarface that he is a servant to.” Nominated for misuse of terminology. Arnold& would have DID/MPD; Scarface is not “a multiple personality disorder” one can simply discard.  The entire group entity either has it, or they don’t. Arnold may be imprisoned by Scarface, but he is not imprisoned by a disorder. https://www.cbr.com/9-myers-briggs-personality-types-of-batmans-villains/
  • December 5, 2018 — John Stonestreet (CNSNews.com, USA)  misuse of terminology.  “Body dissociative disorder” in quotes in the article where they probably meant “body dysmorphic disorder”. The former is associated with PTSD symptoms and other dissociative disorders.  The latter with trans issues and terminology. The article is about trans issues. https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/john-stonestreet/new-york-times-reveals-serious-problems-trans-ideology-opinion-piece
  • December 5, 2018 — Sabrina Hornung (High Plains Reader, USA) is nominated for casual misuse of “multiple personality” to describe cultural affectation differences after emigration. http://hpr1.com/index.php/arts-entertainment/arts/take-only-what-you-can-carry-in-your-heart/
  • November 2018 — Danielle Burgos (Bustle, USA) earns an honorable Dishonorable Mention nomination for comparing people having many online identities between social media networks to (“curating your social presence to symptoms of…”) dissociative identity disorder.  https://www.bustle.com/p/cam-on-netflix-portrays-online-sex-work-sensitively-while-still-being-intensely-scary-says-madeline-brewer-13138610
    The author references other articles((2011 Forbes article at https://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2011/01/26/multiple-personalities-and-social-media-the-many-faces-of-me/#5a43d7f16d51, which links to this 2010 Science 2.0  article https://www.science20.com/mark_changizi/multiple_personality_social_media discussing “multiple personalities” in online personas without mentioning “disorder”)) ((2017 HowStuffWorks article at https://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking/networks/online-personality-change-social-media.htm; referencing this study with no mentions of DID: http://pike.psu.edu/publications/icwsm17.pdf)) to document this comparison, which is only a brief mention in the Bustle article, where it was unnecessary as it is far afield from the actual topic of the article. [Plurality note: it’s possible that folk are noticing highly aspected persons experiencing high compartmentalization and even having different names/usernames/handles/avatars for different identity-aspects that they allow to have more influence on different social media platforms.  A research article on this theory would fall into original works.]
  • Sundance film, Hereditary — Ari Aster gains a nomination for mention of DID (dissociative identity disorder), and SRA abuse theme. There is no supporting evidence nor plot-based necessity for the mention of DID that we could tell. CW: cult, decapitation, suicide, rituals, ritual paraphernalia, ghosts, demonic possession, potential gaslighting/”crazyness” accusations in the face of real (fictional) abuse, intergenerational abuse, etc. — note: we did not view this film.