Insomvita. Oleksandr Dan

Trevor. Now, let’s go back to yesterday. Morning…” Amanda said firmly with confidence.

      Suddenly Trevor’s voice became clear: “Amanda?! I can’t see anything… What happened? How did she do that?” the voice cried out.

      “Trevor, I induced sleep hypnosis. You are under the influence of my suggestion,” Amanda’s voice was firm and slow. “I want you to go back to yesterday…”

      “Amanda, Amanda, it’s alright! To hell with yesterday! I can’t see anything… I am here… Is this a dream? You are my dream? I guess…” Trevor was agitated.

      Amanda induced sleep hypnosis, but for some reason Trevor did not act the way her patients usually did. His body tensed, his eyelids began to throb, and so she decided to cut the session short.

      “Trevor, you are in a state of sleep hypnosis. Try to calm down. Everything is fine.” Amanda’s voice was also agitated, but it remained firm. “I will start the countdown now and you will wake up.”

      “Stop, Amanda. Stop! Don’t do it! How do I explain this?.. This is the one chance in a thousand for me! Even if he wakes up, convince him to have another session."

      “Who wakes up?” Amanda asked. The session clearly was not going as planned and something had to be done about it.

      “Trevor… I mean me… I mean… I need to explain something to you.”

      “Okay, Trevor, don’t worry so much. Calm down. Your body is very tense. It is very hard to maintain control like that. Relax.” Amanda passed a hand over Trevor’s eyes. “What do you see?”

      “I told you, nothing. I see nothing, my eyes are closed… You are good, you know! We need to speak calmly about this, now. I can hear you so clearly!”

      Amanda looked at Trevor. He was lying on the couch, relaxed, without an emotion showing on his face. She was very confused. Trevor from the sleep hypnosis spoke with her surprisingly loudly and clearly. Most importantly, it was as though he was not under her suggestive power at all. Rather, she got the impression that he was trying to communicate on his own, not just answer questions, as what usually happens when a hypnotherapist works with a patient.

      She contemplated the situation. This was the first time something like this had happened in all her years as a psychologist.

      Meanwhile, Trevor continued: “Amanda, you and I need to figure out what is happening to me. Or to him… Well, we need to figure out who is who.”

      Amanda listened, growing even more confused. Her eyes were wide open and she did not understand what she was hearing.

      “Well, and who might you be then?” she finally asked.

      The idea of a split personality came to mind and she tried to recall the symptoms of the disorder. The thought calmed her a bit, since she could rationally explain what was happening.

      “I am Robert,” the voice answered, “Robert from the other life of Trevor.”

      “Robert?” Amanda asked again. “What other life?”

      “A very real one, but another. At least, that’s what I think. Although sometimes I am not so sure. But right now, you are my dream. And everything that is happening to Trevor – that is my dream, do you understand? And you are also my dream. Oh my God, I am talking to my dream! Unbelievable!”

      “You are talking to your dream?” Amanda asked, confused. “How long has this been going on for?”

      “This is all very strange and complicated. For so long that I can no longer understand who is who.”

      “Trevor, I don’t think I quite understand.”

      “Amanda, I am Robert, I am, like, inside Trevor’s consciousness, I mean, he is inside mine. Well, not exactly inside me. He exists in my dreams. Well, how do I explain this… But this is the first time this has happened! I’ve never experienced this before.”

      “Ok, fine. You are Robert. But you say everything is very complicated. Can you explain to me clearly from which dream you are talking to me?”

      Amanda regained her composure and decided to end the session.

      “I only have one dream and one dream only, and that is the life of Trevor. Please, just listen to me without interrupting and, maybe, you will understand.”

      The voice from the recorder told the incredible story of Robert’s life on the other side of the dream, the diaries he kept, recording everything that was happening to Trevor, the feelings and doubts of the reality of his world.

      This was the second time Amanda had listened to the story, but now she was looking intently at Trevor. She was confused, excited and intrigued by what she heard. A completely different person was living inside Trevor, about whom he had no idea and who had been observing this from inside his dream for nearly thirty years. Robert truly believed that he was sleeping at the moment and dreaming. He could not influence Trevor’s life and actions in any way, couldn’t reveal himself in any way, as what usually happens in split personalities, but he wanted to figure out for himself what the reality was and what the dream was.

      “… My world is almost the same as how I see Trevor’s world in my dreams,” continued Robert. “But we are so different, living in different countries, having different circles of friends and acquaintances, different professions, jobs, and at the same time I see my world as reality every second and every minute. I haven’t seen any other dreams in my life. Only one – about Trevor."

      Amanda was so captivated by the conversation that she completely lost any sense of time, while the voice kept talking. There was something fascinating in his story, but it was a story of a healthy, it would seem, person, who objectively evaluates everything around him, a person, seeking a way out of the situation he is in.

      Amanda tried to stop the session, but the voice kept asking her not to. He needed to speak; he was seeking answers to his questions. Amanda was encountering this phenomenon for the first time, which was why her only guess was split personality. She could not think of any other explanation for the moment.

      Right, it must be dissociative identity disorder, but in some weird, incredible form, thought Amanda, while the voice inside Trevor told about the other side of his life.

      Suddenly Amanda said: “Robert, if your life is so realistic, are there psychologists or psychiatrists in your world?”

      “Of course, there are… I guess. I hope there are,” Robert answered unconvincingly. “Do you think I’m crazy?”

      “No, Robert, of course not,” Amanda replied quickly. “Here’s what I thought… I’d like to propose something to you… in the other, your life. But you have to treat this very seriously. I have an idea here. Let’s conduct an experiment, but I will need your help for this… and the help of a professional…"

      Amanda had no doubt that she was seeing dissociative identity disorder and she wanted to check if there were any other personalities inside Trevor’s subconscious. In some people, different, sometimes diametrically opposed personalities co-existed, including those that consider themselves experts in psychology, and they were usually the ones who helped establish and identify other personalities existing in the patient’s subconscious. Amanda decided to summon this personality from Trevor’s subconscious. She explained the experiment to Robert. However, she also believed that there could be another, negative consequence of this experiment. The situation could swiftly deteriorate, and then it would be very difficult to go back, even impossible.

      “Robert, you must understand that during such a session everything could get out of your… your psychologist’s control. If your condition is what I think it is, there is a risk that you will disappear as a personality from Trevor’s subconscious for some time.”

      “What do you mean disappear? I don’t understand. Disappear where?”

      “You see, as a result of direct interference, a kind of replacement could happen in Trevor’s subconscious, where one personality will replace another. Maybe that is when we will find the answers to your questions. But you, Robert, could