(2)

On his return from Chicago on March 19, Dr. George Harding, Jr., was annoyed that his careful arrangements had been upset by the early transfer. He had planned to greet Milligan in person. He had gone to a great deal of trouble to assemble a therapy team: psychologist, art therapist, adjunctive therapist, psychiatric social worker, doctors, nurses, psych-techs and the Wakefield unit coordinator. He had discussed with them the complexities of multiple personality. When some of the staff admitted openly that they didn't believe in the diagnosis, he listened to them patiently, spoke of his own skepticism and asked them to assist him in fulfilling the charge of the court. They would all have to keep open minds and work together to get an insight into William Stanley Milligan.

Dr. Perry Ayres gave Milligan a physical examination the day after Dr. Harding returned. Ayres wrote in the medical history that frequently Milligans lips moved and his eyes were diverted to the right, usually before responding to a question. Ayres noted that when he asked the patient why he did that, he responded that he was talking to some of the others, especially Arthur, to get the answers to the questions.

“But you're supposed to call us Billy,” Milligan said, “so no one will think we’re crazy. I’m Danny. It was Allen that filled out that form. But I’m not supposed to talk about the others.” Dr. Ayres quoted this in his report and added:

We agreed early that we would try to talk only about Billy, with the understanding that Danny would give us the health information related to all of them. It was his inability to stick to this agreement that led to the disclosure of the other names. The only ailment he recalls is the hernia repair when Billy was 9— “Davids always been 9,” and it was David who had the hernia repair. Allen has tunnel vision, but everyone" else has normal vision …

Note: Before going into the examining room, I discussed with him the nature of the examination contemplated, describing it in detail. I emphasized that it would be important to check his hernia repair and his prostate by rectal examination, the latter because of the urinary abnormality [pyuria]. He became very anxious and his lips and eyes moved rapidly as he apparently held a conversation with the others. He nervously but politely told me “that might mess up Billy and David because that’s where Chalmers raped each of them 4 times when we lived on the farm. Chalmers was our stepfather.” He also added at about this point that the mother described in the family history is Billy’s mother, “but she’s not my mother—I don’t know my mother.”

Rosalie Drake and Nick Cicco, co-therapists in Wakefield Cottage’s “mini-group” program, became most closely involved with Milligan on a day-to-day basis. At ten each morning and three each afternoon, seven or eight of the Wakefield patients would be brought together to work on projects and activities as a group.