Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T21:32:01.284Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A sceptical reflection on the diagnosis of multiple personality disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Ray Aldridge-Morris
Ray Aldridge-Morris*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Middlesex University, England
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Multiple personality disorder (MPD) is being diagnosed with increasing frequency, especially in North America. However, soaring estimates of its current prevalence are accompanied by considerable controversy and heated debate. The author presents a number of grounds on which it seems reasonable to base a sceptical view of the validity of this disorder as a naturally occurring diagnostic entity.

Keywords

Multiple personality disorderDissociationIatrogenic
Type
Perspective
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , September 1994 , pp. 126 - 129
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Boor, M. The multiple personality epidemic: additional cases and inferences regarding diagnosis, etiology, dynamics and treatment. J. Nerv Ment Dis 1982; 170: 302–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Coons, P. The prevalence of multiple personality disorder. Newsletter of the International Society for the Study of Dissociation and Multiple Personality Disorder 1986; 4: 6–8.Google Scholar
3.Ross, CA. Twelve cognitive errors about multiple personality disorder. American Journal of Psychotherapy 1990; 44: 348–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Dell, PF. Professional scepticism about multiple personality. J Nerv Ment Dis 1988; 176: 528–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Bliss, E. Professional scepticism about multiple personality: commentary. J Nerv Ment Dis 1988; 176: 533–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Ross, CA. Multiple personality disorder: diagnosis, clinical features and treatment. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1989.Google Scholar
7.Aldridge-Morris, R. Multiple personality: an exercise in deception. Hillsdale USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1989.Google Scholar
8.Fahy, TA. The diagnosis of multiple personality disorder: a critical review. Br J Psychiatry 1988; 153: 597–606.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Merskey, H. The manufacture of personalities. Br J Psychiatry 1992; 160: 327–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Boon, S, Draijer, N. Multiple personality disorder in the Netherlands: a clinical investigation of 71 patients. Am J Psychiatry 1993; 150: 489–93.Google ScholarPubMed
11.Putnam, FW, Guroff, JJ, Silberman, EKet al.The clinical phenomenology of multiple personality disorder: review of 100 recent cases. J Clin Psychiatry 1986; 47: 285–93.Google ScholarPubMed
12.Chodoff, P. More on multiple personality disorder. Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144: 127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Mulhern, S. Letter to the editor (untitled). J Child Ab Negl 1991; 15: 609–11.Google Scholar