ABSTRACT
The authors interviewed 102 individuals with clinical diagnoses of multiple personality disorder at four centres using the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule. The patients reported high rates of childhood trauma: 90.2% had been sexually abused, 82.4% physically abused, and 95.1% subjected to one or both forms of child abuse. Over 50% of subjects reported initial physical and sexual abuse before age five. The average duration of both types of abuse was ten years, and numerous different perpetrators were identified. Subjects were equally likely to be physically abused by their mothers or fathers. Sexual abusers were more often male than female, but a substantial amount of sexual abuse was perpetrated by mothers, female relatives, and other females. Multiple personality disorder appears to be a response to chronic trauma originating during a vulnerable period in childhood.
Subject(s)
Battered Child Syndrome/psychology , Child Abuse, Sexual/psychology , Dissociative Identity Disorder/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Battered Child Syndrome/diagnosis , Child , Child Abuse, Sexual/diagnosis , Child, Preschool , Dissociative Disorders/diagnosis , Dissociative Disorders/psychology , Dissociative Identity Disorder/diagnosis , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Personality Assessment , Personality Development , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
Patients with multiple personality disorder (N = 102) at four different centers were interviewed with the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule. The presenting characteristics of the patients at all four centers were very similar. The clinical profile that emerged included a history of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse in 97 (95.1%) of the cases. The subjects reported an average of 15.2 somatic symptoms, 6.4 Schneiderian symptoms, 10.2 secondary features of the disorder, 5.2 borderline personality disorder criteria, and 5.6 extrasensory experiences; their average score on the Dissociative Experiences Scale was 41.4. The results indicate that multiple personality disorder has a stable, consistent set of features.
Subject(s)
Dissociative Identity Disorder/diagnosis , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Borderline Personality Disorder/diagnosis , Borderline Personality Disorder/psychology , Child Abuse , Child Abuse, Sexual , Child, Preschool , Diagnosis, Differential , Dissociative Identity Disorder/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Parapsychology , Personality Inventory , Schizophrenic Psychology , Self Mutilation/diagnosis , Self Mutilation/psychologyABSTRACT
We report structured interview data from a series of 102 cases of multiple personality disorder (MPD) diagnosed in four centers. Schneiderian first-rank symptoms of schizophrenia were equally common in all four centers. The average MPD patient had experienced 6.4 Schneiderian symptoms. When these 102 cases are combined with two previously reported series of MPD cases, an average of 4.9 Schneiderian symptoms in 368 cases of MPD is noted. This compares with an average of 1.3 symptoms acknowledged by 1,739 schizophrenics in 10 published series. Schneiderian symptoms are more characteristic of MPD than of schizophrenia.
