Reviews for Switching Time: A Doctor's Harrowing Story of Treating a Woman with 17 Personalities

The average rating for Switching Time: A Doctor's Harrowing Story of Treating a Woman with 17 Personalities based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-07-25 00:00:00 Alan Smith There were many problems with this book. The one I noticed first was composition. Dr. Baer is a terrible writer. He has a tendency to repeat words within the same sentence. I can't remember how many times a sentence would start out with the word "Suddenly," only to have the same word appear toward the end of the sentence, as in "Suddenly, X shook her head and suddenly changed her mind." Furthermore, Baer tends to repeat words and phrases - particularly descriptive terms - in three or four consecutive sentences. This makes for a boring, repetitive read. Baer also writes with a sense of complete emotional detachment. I understand that, in practice, psychologists and psychiatrists need to be emotionally detached from their patients, so that they can give that patient the best treatment without feeding his or her mental illness. However, Baer maintains this emotional distance throughout the book. In moments that are supposed to be frightening or disturbing, such as when one of the personalities is talking about ritual abuse and its desire to kill others and itself, the narration is flat and boring. For all the depth of emotion displayed in this book, Dr. Baer could have been napping instead of treating an extraordinarily difficult patient. Finally, I'm convinced the book is a hoax. The story relies heavily on the patient's recovered memories or ritual Satanic abuse as a child. This is reminiscent of the recovered memories scandals of the 1980s, where hundreds of children "recovered" memories of Satanic abuse, hundreds of families were destroyed by the revelations, and years later it came out that the recovered memories were hoaxes that had been accidentally planted during hypnosis. I'm not saying the character's abuse could never have occurred, just that I find the presentation suspicious. It may not even have been an intentional hoax - suggestion is a very powerful thing, especially when the patient is under hypnosis, and it is entirely possible that Dr. Baer could have accidentally suggested a possibility of MPD, which resulted in the patient displaying such suspicious memories and symptoms. Then there's the fact that Dr. Baer can't keep his story straight. He gets dates and locations jumbled, saying that something occurs before something else, but then providing dates that would necessitate that it occurs AFTER, not before, the other thing. Then there's the doctor's breach of ethics - treating a patient for free, in his own home, rather than in an office. Then there is the fact that I've looked up Dr. Baer online. The photos and resume all matched the author's information on the back of the book, so I know I was referring to the correct doctor. Dr. Baer had terrible patient reviews - I couldn't find a single patient who said they would recommend him. The reviews said he was rude, was not punctual, and was generally uncaring. Lastly, the patient from the book supposedly has a Twitter feed. She advertises herself as "I am Karen, from the book "Switching Time" author Richard Baer." She also has a Facebook page. She appears to use both pages to advertise "Switching Time," Dr. Drew, articles from psychology magazines, and other such media. Her pages seem more like a marketing ploy than the social networking sites of a real person. This book was a quick, easy read, but that does not save it. I wish I could have the time I spent reading it returned to me, so that I might read something better.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-11-11 00:00:00 Adriene Crubbrest I finished this book last night at 2 AM, I couldn't put it down. This has been the most twisted, disturbing and crazy book I have ever read. I rated four stars, but I wouldn't recommend it to the ladies in my book club! I think I might be sick in the head lol, but I was so fascinated by this book, the same way I am fascinated when I see a fatal car accident on the side of the highway. The things that happened to Karen when she was younger were hard to believe and it is also hard to believe that the human mind is capable of protecting you in the way that it protected Karen. Karen wasn't able to face and accept the horrible things that happened to her and so her mind created alter personalities that could face it. I think once she found a way to cope, it just carried on like a snowball. It was all very organized inside her mind, and she was able to live day to day life with out making it obvious that she had this illness. She had two main alters that controlled everything for her and knew about all the other personalities inside her. When Karen found her self in a confusing situation or one she couldn't handle, one of the main alters would come out and find another alter who's "job" it was to take care of that kind of situation. As I was reading it I had to close the book many times, thinking to my self "this is some crazy stuff!" Wow! I feel like I might be a little sicker in the head for having read this book. What a mind warp!