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In the film “Psycho,” we learn from a psychologist that Norman has multiple personalities, and his “Mother” personality was created by the trauma of killing his mother and her boyfriend. In “Bates Motel,” Norman’s dissociative episodes began earlier in life, when he was a teenager, and were preceded by entirely different traumas.
In Alfred Hitchcock’s film and Robert Bloch’s novel, Norman’s father died when Norman was just a child, and he was emotionally damaged by his demanding, controlling, and religiously obsessive mother. Ed Gein’s life inspired these experiences, as relayed in “The Shambles of Ed Gein.” In “Bates Motel,” Norman’s father abused Norman and Norma, which traumatized Norman at a young age.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), dissociative disorders are “an involuntary escape from reality characterized by a disconnection between thoughts, identity, consciousness, and memory.” Most people experience a dissociative episode in their lifetime, but only 2% of the population experience multiple episodes and are diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). DID is precipitated by traumatic experiences and worsened by trauma.
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As reported by Reel Run Down, Norman Bates from “Psycho” and “Bates Motel” exhibits symptoms of DID, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder. Norman experiences amnesia when an alternate personality takes over. We see Norman’s blackouts develop into the Mother persona in “Bates Motel.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.
