Vivet was born on February 12, 1863, in Paris to a young mother who worked as a prostitute and who beat and neglected him. After turning to crime at age eight, Vivet was sent to a house of corrections, where he was raised until the age of 18. While working on a farm at age 17, Vivet became paralyzed from the waist down due to severe trauma resulting from a viper wrapping itself around his hand, inducing psychosomatic paralysis. Vivet went on to work as a tailor during his paralysis, until one-and-a-half years later, when he suddenly regained the use of his legs and began walking. When confronted by the asylum regarding his newfound ability to walk, Vivet responded with confusion, not recognizing any of the hospital staff and accusing them of imprisoning him.
Although Vivet was purported to have up to ten personalities, recent re-evaluations of the medical literature has led some psychologists to believe that he had only two personalities, and that any other personalities were the direct result of hypnosis by therapists. Vivet's symptoms, including loss of time and amnesia, were explained by the first psychologist to treat him, Camuset, as divisions in his personality, and were not directly linked to his history of childhood trauma until his case was re-evaluated approximately 100 years later. Some experts believe that Vivet did not have DID at all, and that his behavior was similar to that of a fugue state. Philosopher Ian Hacking has argued that the term "multiple personality disorder" first came into use on July 25, 1885, when Vivet entered the health system and became the subject of intensive psychiatric experimentation. He was subjected to a variety of treatments for what doctors initially believed to be "hysteria," including "morphines, injections of pilocarpine, oil of ipecac to induce vomiting, and magnets on numerous parts of the body; but the only treatment that could halt an attack was pressure on the achilles tendon or the rotulian tendon below the kneecap...he was repeatedly hypnotized."
Multiple personalities
The return of Vivet's motor skills was accompanied by a stark change in personality: when paralyzed, Vivet was kind, reserved, intellectual, and meek, while in his walking state, he was arrogant, confrontational, and conniving. Vivet's memories were segregated entirely between his different personalities. He had no recollection of his actions conducted as his various personalities...he could only recall the memories of his current personality, except any memories pre-dating the traumatic viper incident. Psychologist Pierre Janet described Vivet as having six different "existences." He continues:
