90210’s AnnaLynne McCord reveals she suffers from multiple personality disorder and hits out at the ‘shame’ attached to it
- The actress, 33, who is best known for roles in Nip/Tuck and 90210, discussed her diagnosis with brain disorder specialist Dr. Daniel Amen in a YouTube video
- Dissociative identity disorder (DID) was previously known as multiple personality disorder
- The disorder is characterized by the ‘presence of two or more distinct personality identities’
- McCord said her doctor told her she ‘had [DID] pretty seriously’
- Atlanta native admitted that her acting career has also been impacted by DID
- McCord recalls having a split personality at the age of 13, who she referred to as ‘little Anna’, describing her as ‘an anarchist from hell’
- She said that the ‘balls to the wall’ personality helped her to cope with the trauma of childhood sexual abuse between the ages of five and 11
90210 star AnnaLynne McCord has revealed she has dissociative identity disorder, a condition once known as multiple personality disorder.
The 33-year-old actress shared her diagnosis while discussing her condition with brain disorder specialist Dr. Daniel Amen in a new YouTube video, in which she spoke out about the importance of removing the stigma that is attached the disorder – and the traumas that so often cause it.
‘The way this is talked about has so much shame – I am absolutely uninterested in shame,’ the Atlanta native said in the video. ‘There is nothing about my journey that I invite shame into anymore.’
She continued: ‘That’s how we get to the point where we can articulate the nature of these pervasive traumas… as horrible as they are – so however we can get it out there, I am wanting to do it.’
The Nip/Tuck star has previously revealed she was raped at the age of 18, a horrific attack that then triggered memories of childhood sexual abuse she suffered between the ages of five and 11.
The latest: AnnaLynne McCord, 33, opened up about her battle with dissociative identity disorder in a clip with Dr. Daniel Amen, saying she was disregarding any attached stigmas in hoping to encourage positive discussions moving forward
‘I don’t have anything until around five, and then from five to 11, I recount incidents throughout and then when I was 13, I have a singled-out memory that was just one thing, that I don’t have a sense of anything else at that time,’ she said.
McCord said that her doctor said that she ‘had it pretty seriously,’ and that she had ‘definitive splits’ prior to her memory returning.
McCord said she’s ‘absolutely uninterested in shame’ in speaking up about the condition
The Nip/Tuck star said that a sexual assault she suffered at the age of 18 triggered memories of child sexual abuse she suffered
McCord was engaged in an in-depth discussion with the doctor about the brain and how it works
‘In my history, you’ll see me, I would just show up with the black wig and a new personality and I was this tough little baddie,’ she said, ‘and then I’d be the bohemian flower child and also being an actress, my ability to split all of my roles, all of my roles were split.’
McCord, who played Naomi Clark on 90210 between 2008 until 2013, said she learned playing the role of Pauline in the 2012 movie Excision during a hiatus on the Fox series.
‘I played a very cerebral, disturbed, strange girl, that was very close to to who I feel I am on the inside,’ she said. ‘And it was very exposing, confronting, and a little bit traumatic without realizing and even healing as well.’
She said that it was difficult to go back to playing her 90210 role of Clark amid her immersion in her Excision character.
Candid: McCord opened up about a number of personalities she has taken on in the past
Dr. Daniel Amen spoke with the Hollywood star about brain function and diagnosing
McCord said that her goal is to shift the way society views people dealing with the disorder
She said that in ‘one moment,’ she was conscientious of the split she was experiencing.
‘I spent a lot of my life as the split I was when I was 13 and on. And she was a balls to the wall, middle fingers to sky, anarchist from hell, who will stab you with the spiked ring she wears, and you will like it and she’ll make you lick the blood from it,’ she said. ‘She was a nasty, little creature but I have so much attitude for her because she got me out of the hell I was in.’
McCord – noting that there is a ‘massive spectrum obviously’ of disorder in how it impacts people battling it – said that her goal is to shift the way society views people dealing with the disorder.
‘For me, my heart is to change this narrative around, these behaviors that follow trial of the trauma, and not treating someone or responding to someone or judging someone from their actions but asking what happened to you – how did we get here?’ she said.
If you or someone close to you is in need of mental health help, text ‘STRENGTH’ to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to speak to a certified crisis counselor.