ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230132
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: Associated Press
SUSANNA VAN DE CASTLE sought professional care from her now-husband, Robert, but she says he worked harder at exploiting her condition than curing it.
A woman who has multiple-personality disorder is suing her former therapist, who is also her estranged husband, alleging that he aggravated her condition instead of making her whole.
Susanna Van de Castle, who manifests 11 separate personalities, testified last week in the $1 million malpractice lawsuit she filed against retired University of Virginia psychologist Robert Van de Castle.
Testimony last week from Susanna Van de Castle's alter ego Susy and from friends and acquaintances that include actress Sissy Spacek afforded a glimpse of how multiple personality disorder affects lives.
Susanna Van de Castle, 40, is the woman's legal identity. Her lawsuit alleges that her husband, who was her therapist from 1987 to December 1993, staged public lectures showcasing her as a subject and negligently handled her treatment.
Robert Van de Castle, 68, who has been a professor emeritus at the medical school since 1992, has published several books about dreams and has appeared on television talk shows, including those of Phil Donahue and David Letterman. His attorneys characterize the lawsuit as nothing more than a divorce gone awry.
Susy spoke last week of Susanna Van de Castle's other personalities the way some women might discuss their friends or sisters. Susy testified that she - not Susanna - was actually the mother of the Van de Castles' 4-year-old daughter.
``I was the one that was pregnant, so there was no need to tell Susanna,'' Susy said in response to one question. Susanna, she said, is the mother of two children by an earlier marriage.
Susy also described some of the other personalities for which Susanna Van de Castle is host:
* Ann, a 16-year-old girl who loves to party and travel.
* Mary, a deaf-mute 9-year-old.
* Honey, a sweet 6-year-old girl.
* Katherine, a spiritual sort who helps Susanna Van de Castle with therapy.
Other personalities include Richard, Chris and Deborah, she said.
Susy testified that Susanna's personality has managed to take control only rarely in the last couple of years, since Robert Van de Castle told her she could lose her children if she said anything against him. Susy said she can watch what happens in Susanna's life by looking out the window of the room where she stays when she is ``losing time.''
Susy admitted getting Susanna into trouble. Once, she bought a set of dishes when her first marriage was in trouble. Another time, Susy testified, she picked up an unsavory man and left Susanna to deal with the consequences of a rape and beating she suffered.
Susanna Van de Castle's two oldest children testified that they miss Susanna's personality. One of the children recalled telephoning her present therapist in terror late one night when Honey's personality emerged and they didn't know what to do.
Spacek testified that she met the Van de Castles after Robert Van de Castle discovered the actress was interested in doing a film about multiple personality disorder. She said that during a visit to the couple's Fluvanna County farm, Robert Van de Castle talked his wife through the process of ``going from one personality to another over a course of 10 or 15 minutes, so I was able to experience that and speak with the different personalities.''
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Susanna Van de Castle, Robert Van deby CNBCastle.