It is probable that none of us are completely free
from the taint of divided personality, but most of
us need not fear any disastrous developments. The
dangerous cases are those in which one side of
the character has been long repressed, but is still
smouldering. The individual, for instance, gives
rein usually to the moral member of his team of
selves, and allows the lewd character to express itself
only at the infrequent times when he thinks he is
safe from the observation of his associates. In this
case, some change in the bodily condition, deeply
stirring the whole self, gives the repressed self its
chance, and flaring up, perhaps suddenly, it be-
comes dominant. In extreme cases the sets of
ideas constituting the character side of the previously
dominant self, and the other groups of ideas asso-
ciated with these, are completely lost, and hence the
patient not only evinces a seemingly new person-
ality, but actually loses the memory of years of his
life. These sudden changes are called alterations
of personality, and in the cases where there is re-
peated change from one personality to the other
or others the terms alternation of personality and
alternating personality are applied. These cases
will be further discussed in Chapter XIX.

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