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TRUDDI CHASE
One of the most unforgettable guests in Oprah Show history was Truddi Chase, a woman living with 92 distinct personalities. Truddi's condition—now called dissociative identity disorder, or DID—was caused by years of brutal sexual abuse by her stepfather that started when she was just 2 years old.
Truddi's 1990 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show
Oprah says Truddi's story moved her to tears because she was just beginning to contemplate her own childhood abuse. "I really connected the dots of how profound the manifestation of abuse can be in other people's lives," she said. "The way she shattered her personality and became a multiple [was] her way of protecting herself. Her own little inner-spirited child."
Twenty years after Truddi's Oprah Show appearance, two viewers spoke out about how Truddi inspired them to break the silence of their own abuse. Truddi's daughter, Kari, said her mother would have been happy to hear how her story helped change lives. "For people who are being abused: Talk, find whoever you can and have a voice," Kari said. "I think [my mother] wanted to be that voice for people, to know that it was okay to talk and to step up and not hide."
Truddi passed away in March 2010, but her legacy lives on.
Oprah follows up with Truddi's daughter
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