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Speaking For Our Selves (MPD newsletter, 1985-1987)
"It doesn't matter what the professionals think; we don't think we're a multiple." (S4OS I:4, pg. 14)
(many thanks to![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sobqjmv_sphinx for linking me about this!)
Running for 9 issues from 1985-1987, Speaking for Our Selves (or S4OS) was possibly the first newsletter for people with MPD. It not only predated Many Voices by a couple years; it may have been the inspiration: "After a group called Speaking For Ourselves closed (which was the first newsletter for individuals with dissociative disorders) –– Lynn Wasnak picked up where they left off and she founded the organization 'Many Voices'" (The Awareness Center, "Remembering Lynn Wasnak," 2013). It was based out of Long Beach, California, and the subscription rate for six issues was $6 for multiples, $12 for all others (S4OS I:4, pg. 22).
Unfortunately, the only digital copy of any of the issues I have been able to find is the onesobqjmv_sphinx linked me, Vol. 1 no. 4 from June 1986. (Not screenreadable.) Nevertheless, here's the data I've managed to dig up:
History and Purpose
S4OS was born "at the 1985 meetings of the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality [now the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation]," when "a group of multiple personality patients announced the creation of a newsletter." (Becker, 2004, pg. 24, citing Kenny, 1986, pg. 174) The first issue came out that autumn. They become a nonprofit by June 1986 (S4OS I:4, pg. 1), "a publication of the California Non-profit Public Benefit Corporation" (pg. 2).
The stated purpose of S4OS was "to give people with multiple personalities a written forum for learning from each other about their experiences and to educate helping professionals about the diversity and range of experience of people who have multiple personalities. [...] It is vital that people with multiple personalities have our own forum to present our view of our experiences, fears, dreams, and hopes--to SPEAK FOR OUR SELVES" (pg. 1). Issues contained a letters column, poetry, drawings, articles, a joke column, and Q&A between singlets and multis.
The newsletter shut down in December 1987 "(temporarily, it was hoped) due to a personal crisis in the life of the editor," (Humphrey and Dennett, 1989) but sadly, it seems to have been permanent: the United States Copyright Office has no records after this time. The Awareness Center claims that S4OS "closed in 1989" (the Awareness Center, "Honoring S4OS" 2013) but if so, they seem to have been inactive.
Publication Dates, Subscriber Data
Vol. 1, no. 1: October 1985 (S4OS I:4, pg. 2)
Vol. 1, no. 2: December 1985 (ibid)
Vol. 1, no. 3: March 1986; 107 multi subscribers (ibid, pg. 4, 5)
Vol. 1, no. 4: June 1986; 350 subscribers, of which 189 were multiples, 102 shrinks, 58 "other" (ibid, pg. 2)
Vol. 1, no. 5: September 1986; theme of "children" (ibid, pg. 21)
Vol. 1, no. 6: December 1986 (Copyright Public Records System)
Vol. 2, no. 1: March 1987 (Copyright Public Records System)
Vol. 2, no. 2: June 1987 (ibid)
Vol. 2, no. 3: September 1987; 691 subscribers (ibid; Humphrey and Dennett, 1989)
People Involved (pg. 2, 12)
* Rachel A. (President, probably the main editor)
* Dena R. (Editorial Advisory Committee, Board Member)
* Cyndi B. (Editorial Advisory Committee, Secretary/Treasurer): "I am 33 years old and the single parent of a pre-adolescent son. I am presently in the process of completing a mster's program in nursing."
* Linda P. (Editorial Advisory Committee, Vice-President)
* JoAnne R. (Editorial Advisory Committee, Board Member)
* Jaimee K. (Editorial Advisory Committee, Board Member)
* Barbara P. (Editorial Advisory Committee)
* P.D. & Co. (Editorial Advisory Committee, submitter)
* Karsjens (word processing and computer specialists)
Miscellaneous Points of Interest (all from I:4)
* Language: Headmates are referred to as "people/parts/personalities" (pg. 1) and "alters" (19). Singlets are referred to as "non-multiples" (pg. 8). Multiples are sometimes referred to as "MP's" (pg. 9), "MPD's" (18), or in one case, "the community" the way some would nowadays say "my system" (19).
* An article where a multi mother describes how she disclosed it to her children (pg. 8)
* An article from a singlet who loves his multi girlfriend, and how she disclosed it to him (ibid)
* People debating whether support groups for multiples, including ones run by multis themselves, should be listed in the newsletter, and the risks and logistical frustrations thereof (pg. 1, 9). We can verify these problems are just as big a pain thirty-five years later.
* Only one group is stated to exist; quoth Diedre & Annabelle for P.D. & Co.: "We are proud to announce that we and three other charter MPD members have finally begun a Multiple Personality Support Network. [...] We want mainly to offer support - the knowledge that other multiples can KNOW they are not alone, and offer any helpful hints we've learned the hard way on how to cope with living as a multiple. The biggest problem is getting word out that we exist" (pg. 9)
* A submitter by name of Ann H. submitted 38 poems, a handful of which were published (pg. 11). Here's one:
Why Dig Up The Past? (12-9-1985)
People like to think
The past is dead.
No. Its bones
Are stuck in my throat.
I must dig them out,
Give them proper burial.
Citations:
The Awareness Center. (2013). Honoring S4OS (Speaking for Our Selves). Blog post. Retrieved from https://theawarenesscenter.blogspot.com/2013/04/s4os-speaking-for-our-selves.html
The Awareness Center. (2013). In Memory of Lynn Wasnak. Blog post. Retrieved from https://theawarenesscenter.blogspot.com/2013/04/honoring-lynn-wasnak.html
Becker, Judith. (2004). Deep Listeners: Music, Emotion, and Trancing, vol. 1. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Humphrey, N. and Dennett, D. (1989). Speaking for our selves: an assessment of multiple personality disorder. Raritan, 9:1, 68-98. Retrieved from https://web-archive.southampton.ac.uk/cogprints.org/810/1/s4os.htm
Kenny, Michael G. (1986). The Passion of Ansel Bourne: Multiple Personality in American Culture. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institute Press.
Speaking for Our Selves. (1986, June). Speaking for Our Selves. Vol. I, no. 4. Long Beach: self-published. Retrieved from https://www.arttherapy.org/ARCHIVES/Publications/Newsletters/Speaking%20for%20Ourselves%20Vol.%201%20No.%204%201986.06.pdf
U.S. Copyright Office. Official Public Catalog. https://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First
(many thanks to
sobqjmv_sphinx for linking me about this!)Running for 9 issues from 1985-1987, Speaking for Our Selves (or S4OS) was possibly the first newsletter for people with MPD. It not only predated Many Voices by a couple years; it may have been the inspiration: "After a group called Speaking For Ourselves closed (which was the first newsletter for individuals with dissociative disorders) –– Lynn Wasnak picked up where they left off and she founded the organization 'Many Voices'" (The Awareness Center, "Remembering Lynn Wasnak," 2013). It was based out of Long Beach, California, and the subscription rate for six issues was $6 for multiples, $12 for all others (S4OS I:4, pg. 22).
Unfortunately, the only digital copy of any of the issues I have been able to find is the one
sobqjmv_sphinx linked me, Vol. 1 no. 4 from June 1986. (Not screenreadable.) Nevertheless, here's the data I've managed to dig up:History and Purpose
S4OS was born "at the 1985 meetings of the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality [now the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation]," when "a group of multiple personality patients announced the creation of a newsletter." (Becker, 2004, pg. 24, citing Kenny, 1986, pg. 174) The first issue came out that autumn. They become a nonprofit by June 1986 (S4OS I:4, pg. 1), "a publication of the California Non-profit Public Benefit Corporation" (pg. 2).
The stated purpose of S4OS was "to give people with multiple personalities a written forum for learning from each other about their experiences and to educate helping professionals about the diversity and range of experience of people who have multiple personalities. [...] It is vital that people with multiple personalities have our own forum to present our view of our experiences, fears, dreams, and hopes--to SPEAK FOR OUR SELVES" (pg. 1). Issues contained a letters column, poetry, drawings, articles, a joke column, and Q&A between singlets and multis.
The newsletter shut down in December 1987 "(temporarily, it was hoped) due to a personal crisis in the life of the editor," (Humphrey and Dennett, 1989) but sadly, it seems to have been permanent: the United States Copyright Office has no records after this time. The Awareness Center claims that S4OS "closed in 1989" (the Awareness Center, "Honoring S4OS" 2013) but if so, they seem to have been inactive.
Publication Dates, Subscriber Data
Vol. 1, no. 1: October 1985 (S4OS I:4, pg. 2)
Vol. 1, no. 2: December 1985 (ibid)
Vol. 1, no. 3: March 1986; 107 multi subscribers (ibid, pg. 4, 5)
Vol. 1, no. 4: June 1986; 350 subscribers, of which 189 were multiples, 102 shrinks, 58 "other" (ibid, pg. 2)
Vol. 1, no. 5: September 1986; theme of "children" (ibid, pg. 21)
Vol. 1, no. 6: December 1986 (Copyright Public Records System)
Vol. 2, no. 1: March 1987 (Copyright Public Records System)
Vol. 2, no. 2: June 1987 (ibid)
Vol. 2, no. 3: September 1987; 691 subscribers (ibid; Humphrey and Dennett, 1989)
People Involved (pg. 2, 12)
* Rachel A. (President, probably the main editor)
* Dena R. (Editorial Advisory Committee, Board Member)
* Cyndi B. (Editorial Advisory Committee, Secretary/Treasurer): "I am 33 years old and the single parent of a pre-adolescent son. I am presently in the process of completing a mster's program in nursing."
* Linda P. (Editorial Advisory Committee, Vice-President)
* JoAnne R. (Editorial Advisory Committee, Board Member)
* Jaimee K. (Editorial Advisory Committee, Board Member)
* Barbara P. (Editorial Advisory Committee)
* P.D. & Co. (Editorial Advisory Committee, submitter)
* Karsjens (word processing and computer specialists)
Miscellaneous Points of Interest (all from I:4)
* Language: Headmates are referred to as "people/parts/personalities" (pg. 1) and "alters" (19). Singlets are referred to as "non-multiples" (pg. 8). Multiples are sometimes referred to as "MP's" (pg. 9), "MPD's" (18), or in one case, "the community" the way some would nowadays say "my system" (19).
* An article where a multi mother describes how she disclosed it to her children (pg. 8)
* An article from a singlet who loves his multi girlfriend, and how she disclosed it to him (ibid)
* People debating whether support groups for multiples, including ones run by multis themselves, should be listed in the newsletter, and the risks and logistical frustrations thereof (pg. 1, 9). We can verify these problems are just as big a pain thirty-five years later.
* Only one group is stated to exist; quoth Diedre & Annabelle for P.D. & Co.: "We are proud to announce that we and three other charter MPD members have finally begun a Multiple Personality Support Network. [...] We want mainly to offer support - the knowledge that other multiples can KNOW they are not alone, and offer any helpful hints we've learned the hard way on how to cope with living as a multiple. The biggest problem is getting word out that we exist" (pg. 9)
* A submitter by name of Ann H. submitted 38 poems, a handful of which were published (pg. 11). Here's one:
Why Dig Up The Past? (12-9-1985)
People like to think
The past is dead.
No. Its bones
Are stuck in my throat.
I must dig them out,
Give them proper burial.
Citations:
The Awareness Center. (2013). Honoring S4OS (Speaking for Our Selves). Blog post. Retrieved from https://theawarenesscenter.blogspot.com/2013/04/s4os-speaking-for-our-selves.html
The Awareness Center. (2013). In Memory of Lynn Wasnak. Blog post. Retrieved from https://theawarenesscenter.blogspot.com/2013/04/honoring-lynn-wasnak.html
Becker, Judith. (2004). Deep Listeners: Music, Emotion, and Trancing, vol. 1. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Humphrey, N. and Dennett, D. (1989). Speaking for our selves: an assessment of multiple personality disorder. Raritan, 9:1, 68-98. Retrieved from https://web-archive.southampton.ac.uk/cogprints.org/810/1/s4os.htm
Kenny, Michael G. (1986). The Passion of Ansel Bourne: Multiple Personality in American Culture. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institute Press.
Speaking for Our Selves. (1986, June). Speaking for Our Selves. Vol. I, no. 4. Long Beach: self-published. Retrieved from https://www.arttherapy.org/ARCHIVES/Publications/Newsletters/Speaking%20for%20Ourselves%20Vol.%201%20No.%204%201986.06.pdf
U.S. Copyright Office. Official Public Catalog. https://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First
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We wish Sneak luck in cataloging it all, because OH WOW is it a slog.
Theres Hydrus Network (https://hydrusnetwork.github.io/hydrus/), but its mostly for images (though it will take pdfs) and exporting the tagging setup to an online thing would probably be very hard.
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We've made been quietly making local back-ups of certain files, but we try not to be a data hoarder, so there are limits.
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Yeah we have a backup external drive we can put stuff on, but we try not to download everything we come across, only really irreplaceable internet things for us because there is so much more out there than will fit in the drive and we dont want to have a stack of hard drives in the closet we never actually use. That would get expensive.