Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-03T14:48:53.297Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Manufacture of Personalities

The Production of Multiple Personality Disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

H. Merskey
H. Merskey*
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario, Director of Research, London Psychiatric Hospital, 850 Highbury Avenue, PO Box 2532, London, Ontario N6A 4H1, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Unprecedented numbers of cases of MPD have been diagnosed, mainly in North America, since 1957. Widespread publicity for the concept makes it uncertain whether any case can now arise without being promoted by suggestion or prior preparation. In order to determine if there is any evidence that MPD was ever a spontaneous phenomenon, a series of cases of MPD from the earlier literature has been examined, with particular attention given to alternative diagnoses which could account for the phenomena reported and to the way in which the first alternate personality emerged. The earlier cases involved amnesia, striking fluctuations in mood, and sometimes cerebral organic disorder. The secondary personalities frequently appeared with hypnosis. Several amnesic patients were trained with new identities. Others showed overt iatrogenesis. No report fully excluded the possibility of artificial production. This indicates that the concept has been elaborated from the study of consciousness and its relation to the idea of the self. The diagnosis of MPD represents a misdirection of effort which hinders the resolution of serious psychological problems in the lives of patients.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 160 , Issue 3 , March 1992 , pp. 327 - 340
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1992 

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

Adityanjee, , Raju, G. S. P. & Khandelwal, S. K. (1989) Current status of multiple personality disorder in India. American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 1607–1610.Google Scholar
Aldridge-Morris, R. (1989) Multiple Personality. An Exercise in Deception. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Allison, R. & Schwarz, T. (1980) Minds in Many Pieces.Google Scholar
New York: Rawson Wade. American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Azam, E. E. (1876) Amnésie périodique, ou doublement de la vie. Revue Scientifique, 2me. Serie, X, 481–489.Google Scholar
Allison, R. (1887) Hypnotisme, Double Conscience, et Altérations de la Personalité. Paris: Bailliere.Google Scholar
Allison, R. (1892) Double consciousness. In A Dictionary of Psychological Medicine, vol. 1 (ed. Hack Tuke, D.), pp. 401–406. London: Churchill.Google Scholar
Binet, A. (1891) Alterations of Personality (ed. Robinson, D. N., 1977), p. 146. Georgetown: Georgetown University Publications of America.Google Scholar
Bliss, E. L. & Jeppsen, E. A. (1985) Prevalence of multiple personality disorder among in-patients and out-patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 250–251.Google Scholar
Boor, M. (1982) The multiple personality epidemic. Additional cases and references regarding diagnosis, etiology, dynamics, and treatment. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 170, 302–304.Google Scholar
Bourru & Burot (1885) De la multiplicité des états de conscience. Revue Philosophique, 20, 411–416.Google Scholar
Camuset, L. (1882) Un cas de dédoublement de la personnalité. Annates Medico-Psychologiques, 7, 75–86.Google Scholar
Carlson, E. T. (1981) The history of multiple personality in the United States: I. The beginnings. American Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 666–668.Google Scholar
Carlson, E. T. (1984) The history of multiple personality in the United States: Mary Reynolds and her subsequent reputation. Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 58, 72–82.Google Scholar
Chodoff, P. (1987) Multiple personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 124.Google Scholar
Committee On Sexual Offences Against Children And Youth (1984) Report. Ottawa: Minister of Supply & Services, Canada.Google Scholar
Congdon, M. H., Hain, J. & Stevenson, I. (1961) A case of multiple personality illustrating the transition from role-playing. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 132, 497–504.Google Scholar
Coons, P. (1984) The differential diagnosis of multiple personality. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 7, 51–67.Google Scholar
Cory, C. E. (1919) A divided self. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 14, 281–291.Google Scholar
Coupland, W. C. (1892) Philosophy of mind. In A Dictionary of Psychological Medicine, vol. 1 (ed. Hack Tuke, D.), pp. 27–49. London: Churchill.Google Scholar
Dailey, A. H. (1894) Mollie Fancher. The Brooklyn Enigma. New York: Mary J. Fancher.Google Scholar
Daniels, A. (1990) Daily Telegraph, 13 November, p. 17.Google Scholar
Despine, Pere. (1840) De l'emploi du magnétisme animal et des eaux minérales dans le traitement des maladies nerveuses, suivi d'une observation tres curieuse de guerison de névropathie. Paris: Germer, Bailliere.Google Scholar
Ellenberger, H. (1970) The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Fahy, T. A. (1988) The diagnosis of multiple personality disorder. A critical review. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 597–606.Google Scholar
Fahy, T. A., Abas, M. & Brown, J. C. (1989) Multiple personality. A symptom of psychiatric disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 99–101.Google Scholar
Franz, S. I. (1933) Persons One and Three. A Study in Multiple Personalities. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Gmelin, E. (1791) Materialen für die Anthropologic I. Tubingen: Cotta.Google Scholar
Goddard, H. H. (1926) A case of dual personality. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 21, 170–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goddard, H. H. (1927) Two Souls in One Body. A Case of Dual Personality. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.Google Scholar
Goetz, C. G. (1987) Charcot The Clinician. The Tuesday Lessons. New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Greaves, G. B. (1980) Multiple personality 165 years after Mary Reynolds. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 168, 577–596.Google Scholar
Hacking, I. (1986) The invention of split personalities. In Human Nature and Natural Knowledge. (eds Donagan, A., Perovich, A. N. Jr. & Wedin, M. V.), pp. 63–85. Dordrecht: Reidel.Google Scholar
Hacking, I. (1991) Two souls in one body. Critical Enquiry, 17, 838–867.Google Scholar
Hart, B. (1912) A case of double personality. Journal of Mental Science, 58, 236–243.Google Scholar
Hawksworth, H. & Schwarz, T. (1977) The Five of Me. Chicago: Henry Regnery.Google Scholar
Hilgard, E. R. (1988) Professional scepticism about multiple personality. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 176, 532.Google Scholar
Hodgson, R. (1891) A case of double consciousness. Proceedings of Social Psychical Research, 7, 221–257.Google Scholar
Horton, P. & Miller, D. (1972) The etiology of multiple personality. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 13, 151–159.Google Scholar
James, W. (1890) Principles of Psychology, vol 1. New York: Henry Holt.Google Scholar
Janet, J. (1888) L'hysterié et l'hypnotisme d'après la théorie de la double personnalité. Revue Scientifique, 41, 616–623.Google Scholar
Janet, P. (1887) L'Anesthésie Systematisée. Révue Philosophique, 23, 449–472.Google Scholar
Janet, P. (1888) Les actes inconscients et la memoire. Revue Philosophique, 25, 238–279.Google Scholar
Janet, P. (1889) L'Automatisme Psychologique. Paris: Alcan.Google Scholar
Janet, P. (1907) The Major Symptoms of Hysteria. New York: MacMillan.Google Scholar
Janet, P. (1911) L'État Mental des Hystériques. Paris: Alcan.Google Scholar
Janet, P. (1913) L ‘Automatisme Psychologique (7th edn). Paris: Alcan.Google Scholar
Keyes, D. (1981) The Minds of Billy Milligan. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Kluft, R. P. (1982) Varieties of hypnotic intervention in the treatment of multiple personality. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 24, 230–240.Google Scholar
Kluft, R. P. (1989) Iatrogenic creation of new alter personalities. Dissociation, 2, 83–91.Google Scholar
Lewis, A. J. (1953) Hysterical dissociation in dementia paralytica. Monatschrift für Psychiatrie und Neurologic 125, 589–604.Google Scholar
Lipton, S. (1943) Dissociated personality: a case report. Psychiatry Quarterly, 17, 35–56.Google Scholar
Ljungberg, L. (1957) Hysteria. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica (suppl. 112).Google ScholarPubMed
Mayo, T. (1845) Case of double consciousness. London Medical Gazette, New Series, 1, 1202–1203.Google Scholar
Mayer-Gross, W., Slater, E. T. O. & Roth, M. (1954) Clinical Psychiatry. London: Cassell.Google Scholar
Mayer-Gross, W., Slater, E. T. O. & Roth, M. (1977) Clinical Psychiatry (3rd edn). London: Bailliere, Tindall.Google Scholar
McDougall, W. (1926) An Outline of Abnormal Psychology (6th edn). London: Methuen.Google Scholar
McKellar, P. (1979) Mindsplit. London: Dent.Google Scholar
Merskey, H. (1979) The Analysis of Hysteria. London: Bailliere Tindall.Google Scholar
Merskey, H. (1986) A variable meaning for the concept of disease. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 11, 215–232.Google Scholar
Merskey, H. & Buhrich, N. A. (1975) Hysteria and organic brain disease. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 48, 359–366.Google Scholar
Mitchell, S. W. (1888) Mary Reynolds: a case of double consciousness. Transactions of the College of Physicians, Philadelphia, 10, 366–389.Google Scholar
Mitchill, S. L. (1816) A double consciousness, or a duality of person in the same individual. Medical Repository (New Series), 3, 185–186.Google Scholar
Myers, A. T. (1886) The life-history of a case of double or multiple personality. Journal of Mental Science, 31, 596–605.Google Scholar
Myers, W. H. F. (1903) Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death, vol 1. London: Longmans Green.Google Scholar
Owen, A. R. G. (1971) Hysteria, Hypnosis and Healing: The Work of J. M. Charcot. London: Dennis Dobson.Google Scholar
Peters, C. & Schwarz, T. (1978) Tell Me Who I Am Before I Die. New York: Rawson Associates.Google Scholar
Plumer, W. S. (1860) Mary Reynolds: a case of double consciousness. Harper's Magazine, 20, 807–812.Google Scholar
Prince, M. (1900) The Problem of Multiple Personality. Paris: International Congress of Psychology.Google Scholar
Prince, M. (1908) The Dissociation of a Personality (2nd edn). London: Longmans Green.Google Scholar
Prince, W. F. (1916) The Doris case of quintuple personality. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 73–122.Google Scholar
Proust, A. (1890) Automatisme ambulatoire chez un hystérique. Revue de I'Hypnotisme, Psychologic et Physiologic, 4, 267–269.Google Scholar
Putnam, F. W. (1989) Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder. London: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Putnam, F. W., Guroff, J. J., Silberman, E. K., et al (1986) The clinical phenomenology of multiple personality disorder: review of 100 recent cases. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 47, 285–293.Google ScholarPubMed
Richet, C. (1883) La personnalité et la mémoire dans le somnambulisme. Revue Philosophique, 15, 225–242.Google Scholar
Rochas, A. de (1887) Hypnotisme et changement de personnalite. Revue Philosophique, 5, 330–333.Google Scholar
Ross, C. A. (1987) Inpatient treatment of multiple personality disorder. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 32, 779–781.Google Scholar
Ross, C. A. (1989) Multiple Personality. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Ross, C. A., Norton, G. R. & Fraser, G. A. (1989) Evidence against the iatrogenesis of multiple personality disorder. Dissociation, 2, 61–65.Google Scholar
Fraser, G. A., Miller, S. D., Reager, P., et al (1990) Structured interview data on 102 cases of multiple personality disorder from four centers. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 596–601.Google Scholar
Schreiber, F. R. (1973) Sybil. Chicago: Henry Regnery.Google Scholar
Sidis, B. & Goodhart, S. P. (1904) Multiple Personality. Appleton. (Reprinted New York: Greenwood Press.)Google Scholar
Sim, M. (1981) Guide to Psychiatry. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Simpson, M. A. (1989) Multiple personality disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 565.Google Scholar
Sizemore, C. C. & Pittillo, E. S. (1977) I'm Eve. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Skae, D. (1845) Case of intermittent mental disorder of the tertian type with double consciousness. Northern Journal of Medicine, 4, 10–19.Google Scholar
Slater, E. (1965) Diagnosis of ‘hysteria’. British Medical Journal, i, 1395–1399.Google Scholar
Spanos, N. P., Weekes, J. R., Menary, E., et al (1986) Hypnotic interview and age regression procedures in the elicitation of multiple personality symptoms: a simulation study. Psychiatry, 49, 298.Google Scholar
Spencer, H. (1855) The Principles of Psychology (3rd edn, 1897). New York: Appleton.Google Scholar
Stengel, E. (1941) On the aetiology of fugue states. Journal of Mental Science, 87, 572–599.Google Scholar
Stout, G. F. (1919) Manual of Psychology (3rd edn). London: University Tutorial Press.Google Scholar
Sutcliffe, J. P. & Jones, J. (1962) Personal identity, multiple personality and hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical Experimental Hypnosis, 10, 231–269.Google Scholar
Takahashi, Y. (1990) Is multiple personality disorder really rare in Japan? Dissociation, 3, 57–59.Google Scholar
Taylor, W. S. & Martin, M. F. (1944) Multiple personality. Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology, 39, 281–330.Google Scholar
Thigpen, C. H. (1984) On the incidence of multiple personality: a brief communication. International Journal of Clinical Experimental Hypnosis, 32, 63–66.Google Scholar
Thigpen, C. H. & Cleckley, H. M. (1954) A case of multiple personality. Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology, 9, 135–151.Google Scholar
Thigpen, C. H. & Cleckley, H. M. (1957) The Three Faces of Eve. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Tourette, Gilles de la. (1887) L'hypnotisme et les états analogues au point de vue médico-legal. Paris: Plon, Nourrit et Cie.Google Scholar
Victor, G. (1975) Sybil: grande hysterie or folie à deux. American Journal of Psychiatry, 132, 202.Google Scholar
Walker, E., Katon, W., Harrop-Griffiths, J., et al (1988) Relationship of chronic pelvic pain to psychiatric diagnoses and childhood sexual abuse. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 75–80.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.