Dr Jeni Haynes says 2,682 personalities stand down after trial

Seven years after her landmark abuse trial, dr jeni haynes says many of her 2,682 personalities have been able to stand down. The 56-year-old said the change came after her abusive father was sent to prison for 45 years, ending a period in which alters she describes as protectors were still working.

Haynes told Yahoo Lifestyle that the shift did not mean the personalities disappeared. It meant many no longer had to keep taking abuse, because it was no longer happening.

Symphony and the alters

One of Haynes's alters, Symphony, said many of them have started to live more ordinary lives. Some have taken up making jewellery, eating pineapple, playing Magic: The Gathering, and putting on makeup and fingernails.

“It's important to give them opportunities to have a life of their own and do the fun things that they enjoy — making jewellery, eating pineapple, playing Magic: The Gathering, putting on makeup and fingernails” Symphony said in the interview.

Haynes said that after the trial, “Symphony told the army to stand down.” She also said, “That didn't mean they all left. It just meant that a large proportion of them could stop doing their jobs of protection, of taking abuse, because it wasn't happening anymore.”

Australian court history

Haynes has said her alternate personalities were created in childhood to shield her from abuse, rape and torture by her father. In court, several of her alters were permitted to give evidence, and her father's conviction made legal history in Australia.

That legal result is now paired with a personal one: alters that once existed to help her survive are taking on interests of their own. Haynes said some have transformed the roles they were originally created to perform, while Symphony said she remains frozen as a little girl.

For readers following Haynes's case, the shift is not in the trial itself but in what came after it. Seven years on, the change she describes is practical and immediate: the personalities that once had to work for survival are now able to spend time on their own lives.