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Multiple Personality Disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

August Piper Jr*
Affiliation:
Providence Hospital, Seattle, Washington, USA; Overlake Hospital, Bellevue, Washington, USA
*
Cabrini Medical Tower, 901 Boren Avenue, Suite 701, Seattle, Washington 98104, USA

Abstract

Five aspects of the diagnosis and treatment of multiple personality disorder (MPD) were examined. The following five conclusions were made: the contemporary diagnostic criteria are vague and overinclusive; the recent alleged increase in prevalence of the disorder is almost certainly artefactual; legal proceedings involving MPD patients raise disturbing questions about personal responsibility; there is little literature support for the theory that MPD results from childhood trauma; and many of the techniques used to diagnose and treat the condition reinforce its symptoms. A careful revision of diagnostic criteria for the disorder is recommended.

Type
Review Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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