When criminal psychologist Mira Skyles is assigned by a court order to evaluate Egon Norwood, a person of interest in a serial murder investigation, she recognizes both a man with a dissociative identity disorder and the boy who once saved her life, with whom she shares a secret history.
Dissociative identity disorder, also known as multiple personality disorder, is a condition wherein a person’s identity is fragmented into two or more distinct personalities. People who suffer from this rare condition are usually victims of severe child abuse. Traumatic events are the cause for alternate personalities to emerge. These various identities may deny knowledge of one another, or be in conflict with each other. The manifested behavior of these alternates can appear as if a spirit has taken possession of an individual. Dissociative identity disorder is one of the most controversial psychiatric disorders with no clear consensus regarding its diagnosis or treatment.
The idea for God, Sex & Psychosis occurred while I was at the University of Oregon, where I graduated with a degree in psychology. Since then I have read numerous articles and books on dissociative identity disorder and have interviewed medical professionals familiar with this unique mental condition. The list would be very long and of little value because, all things considered, this is a book of fiction. It is a novel, a work of art using words instead of notes or paint to formulate a DNA of indelible visions and emotions to touch the soul. And, in the words of Pablo Picasso: “Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.”
With this story, I endeavored to explore the depths of this psychological condition to tell a story that is disturbing, yet one that entertains, informs, and inspires. It took several years to write. And it was challenging. It felt like a journey through a labyrinth. And I was grateful to reach the light at the end of the tunnel – to use a metaphoric expression dating back from the 1800s, if not further.
“Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument. The artist is not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own ends, but one who allows art to realize its purpose through him. As a human being he may have moods and a will and personal aims, but as an artist he is “man” in a higher sense— he is “collective man”— one who carries and shapes the unconscious, psychic forms of mankind.” — Carl Jung