Raising just one child all by yourself is a lot of hard work, now imagine taking care of two children while living with a severe mental illness.
Unless you're in Jane Hart's shoes, you'll probably have a hard time understanding what it's like to be a mother while her brain constantly switches between identities.
The 28-year-old single mom of two lives with dissociative identity disorder (DID), a condition where a person develops one or more alternative personalities.
After years of living with the condition, Hart is opening up about the different sides of her in very public ways, through interviews and an upcoming docuseries on A&E.
Hart, who developed DID as a result of childhood abuse, has nine different types of personalities, ranging from the ages of six to 28.
The youngest, six-year-old Janey, does not remember the sexual abuse while 10-year-old Beth is fully aware of the trauma and is always trying to protect the younger identities.
There is 11-year-old Jayden, 17-year-old Alexis, who Hart describes as confident, and 28-year-old Madison, who identifies as a lesbian and a mom figure to all of Hart's identities.
"It felt like I always had a crowd of people around me, looking over my shoulder, commenting and arguing over everything I did," Hart who used to hear voices inside her head, told People magazine.
After her marriage failed, things seemed to get worse. Hart finally "reached a breaking point" in 2014, and contemplated taking her own life. However, for the sake of her sons she sought help instead.
It took two years, but after going through intensive psychotherapy Hart was finally diagnosed with DID, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder.
"It's validating to finally know I have a reason for the way I am," she said. "But it's also really scary to know I have it, to know that my personality has been fragmented and I don't have control over the identities inside me."
As for how her condition affects motherhood, it can be a challenge, but for now, Hart just tells her sons that their mom has a "unique brain."
Despite the difficulties, Hart credits her condition for saving her.
"My whole childhood I knew I was afraid"”I just didn't know of what," she explained. "I didn't know the true breadth of the abuse until after my parts began telling their stories."
Also an activist, Hart wants to use her story to shed a lit on mental illnesses that aren't talked about very much. She hopes to end the stigma because "it's time to right that wrong."
"It's nothing like Hollywood portrays it," she added. "When people look at someone with DID they immediately think, 'That person has someone inside who wants to kill people.' But that's just not how it works."
