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Multiple personality, seizure disorder, and the electroencephalogram.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) in a case of multiple personality was described. Despite conflicting reports in the literature we found no changes in the EEG which could not be ascribed to the normal changes seen in transitions from various states of alertness. The problems of differentiating multiple personality as a psychiatric entity in itself from those cases arising as a result of chronic partial or partial-complex epilepsy are discussed. Further research with more sophisticated electrophysiological data acquisition and data reduction equipment is suggested.

Alpha Rhythm↗

Differing reports of pain perception by different personalities in a patient with chronic pain and multiple personality disorder.

There have been several reports of patients with chronic pain (CP) and dissociative or multiple personality disorder (MPD). This report describes a patient with MPD in whom 4 different personalities reported different perceptions of pain. Psychological testing was used to confirm the diagnosis of MPD. Visual analogue scales (VAS) and the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) were used on each of the 4 personalities. Each personality completed pain drawings to indicate currently perceived pain and resulting disability, and had EMG recordings of muscle tension. These studies documented a difference in pain perception, location, and estimates of secondary functional impairment between different personalities in the same patient.

Chronic Disease↗

Assessment of ego functioning in multiple personality disorder.

The dissociative disorder known as multiple personality disorder (MPD) presents a diagnostic challenge to psychological assessment techniques. A case example is presented in which a new self-report, multifactorial measure of ego functioning discriminated distinct profiles for four personalities within one multiple personality organization. Interpretations of characteristics of the primary and secondary personalities based on the Bell Object Relations Reality Testing Inventory (BORRTI) are presented. The relationship between these findings and other approaches to psychological testing for dissociation and MPD are discussed. It is suggested that this approach will facilitate the clinical assessment of suspected MPD subjects and contribute to affording appropriate treatment to this population.

Adult↗

An occupational therapy perspective in the treatment of multiple personality disorder.

Adult persons with multiple personality disorder have survived a traumatic past. After diagnosis and the initiation of psychotherapy, they frequently face a long and arduous treatment process. During this time, intense emotions and memories are retrieved that can disrupt functional life skills in an already disjointed life. The stresses of life combine with therapeutic issues to perpetuate the dissociation that interrupts functional performance. The original traumas occurred when the child was functioning primarily at a sensorimotor level. Occupational therapy can identify sensorimotor activities that provide a focal point of control to reduce stress during the therapeutic process and to develop new life skills.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Multiple personality disorder in Japan.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the features of multiple personality disorder (MPD) in Japan are similar to those in North America, although a wide disparity exists in the prevalence of MPD between the two areas. In order to describe the features of MPD in Japan, we obtained clinical data from MPD case reports, including two of our own cases, published in Japanese academic journals and compared it with the data from other countries. The cases in Japan differed significantly from those in North America in the mean number of personalities and prevalence of sexual and/or physical abuse.

Adult↗

Introject and identity: structural-interpersonal analysis and psychological assessment of multiple personality disorder.

Revisions of the diagnostic nomenclature have contributed to renewed interest in multiple personality disorder (MPD). Identity and self-organization in MPD are assessed using a sophisticated structural-interpersonal measurement system, Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB). Two important features of the SASB model applied to MPD are the assessments of interpersonal perceptions of childhood initiators of abuse and of the introject or self-organization of host and secondary personalities. SASB findings from a clinical series of six cases of MPD are analyzed to illustrate the use of this assessment technique. Host personalities and abused secondary personalities differed in their identity and self-organization. Host personalities evidenced internalization of abuse dynamics related to self-destructive trends. Secondary personalities, despite having experienced abuse, did not manifest such dynamics. Implications for understanding personality processes in MPD and for further research are discussed.

Adult↗

One or two: an examination of the recent case of the conjoined twins from Malta.

The article questions the assumption that conjoined twins are necessarily two people or persons by employing arguments based on different points of view: non-personal vitalism, the person as a sentient being, the person as an agent, the person as a locus of narrative and valuation, and the person as an embodied mind. Analogies employed from the cases of amputation, multiple personality disorder, abortion, split-brain patients and cloning. The article further questions the assumption that a conjoined twin's natural interest and wish is separation. I first contend that separation is such a radical procedure as to render the post-separation person different from the pre-separation one. Therefore, it is not possible to benefit the pre-separation twin by the act of separation. The article concludes with a critical evaluation of the tendency in bioethics to regard ethical challenges as rivalry between individuals competing for scarce resources.

Abortion, Induced↗

The parental fitness of mothers with multiple personality disorder: a preliminary study.

Recent studies show that nearly all individuals who develop multiple personality disorder (MPD) were abused as children. The majority of identified MPD patients are women in the age range associated with child-rearing responsibilities. A review of the parenting patterns of 75 mothers with MPD yielded findings suggesting that 38.7% were competent or exceptional mothers, 16% were grossly abusive to the extent of injuring, molesting, or placing their children at risk, and 45.3% were compromised or impaired as parents. The compromised/impaired mothers were a mixed group, including psychologically abusive individuals and those whose symptoms interfered with parenting despite their best efforts. Clinical illustrations are offered.

Child↗

Schneiderian symptoms in multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia.

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.

Adult↗

Multiple personality disorder. A clinical investigation of 50 cases.

To study the clinical phenomenology of multiple personality, 50 consecutive patients with DSM-III multiple personality disorder were assessed using clinical history, psychiatric interview, neurological examination, electroencephalogram, MMPI, intelligence testing, and a variety of psychiatric rating scales. Results revealed that patients with multiple personality are usually women who present with depression, suicide attempts, repeated amnesic episodes, and a history of childhood trauma, particularly sexual abuse. Also common were headaches, hysterical conversion, and sexual dysfunction. Intellectual level varied from borderline to superior. The MMPI reflected underlying character pathology in addition to depression and dissociation. Significant neurological or electroencephalographical abnormalities were infrequent. These data suggest that the etiology of multiple personality is strongly related to childhood trauma rather than to an underlying electrophysiological dysfunction.

Adolescent↗

Professional skepticism about multiple personality.

Therapists who have treated patients with multiple personality disorder (MPD) were surveyed about professional skepticism regarding the existence of MPD. Of these therapists, 78% reported that they had encountered intense skepticism from fellow professionals. Much of this skepticism appears to be explainable in terms of a) the lengthy decline of psychiatry's interest in dissociation, b) underappreciation of the prevalence of individuals with dissociative ability, and c) misconceptions about the natural clinical presentation of patients with MPD. These factors, however, could not explain the behavior of those skeptics who deliberately interfered with the clinical care of patients and who engaged in repeated acts of harassment against the patient and/or therapist. Half of the survey respondents reported that they had encountered these latter forms of extreme skepticism.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

The multiple personality and the criminal law.

Multiple personality disorder (MPD) is a growing phenomenon in the United States. The number of cases have mounted following the celebrated cases of 'Three Faces of Eve' and 'Sybil' that have been popularized over the past several decades. How can--or should--the criminal law deal with multiple personality? Should the defendant suffering MPD be deemed competent to stand trial, or be able successfully to assert the insanity defence, or diminished capacity or automatism? Does MPD qualify as a mental disease or defect under the test of criminal responsibility, which would call for commitment upon a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity? What is the effect of MPD on cognition or control? These issues are discussed.

Dissociative Identity Disorder↗

The criminal responsibility of people with multiple personality disorder.

Because multiple personality disorder (MPD) is more frequently diagnosed today than in the past, it is likely that more multiples will plead insanity. The courts are in a state of disarray as to how best to respond to these pleas. This article considers multiples' responsibility on three interpretations of the status of their alters: that they are different people; that they are different personalities; or that they are parts of one complex, deeply divided personality. On all three theories multiples are nonresponsible. Nevertheless, three rare circumstances exist under which multiples should be found guilty. The article concludes by indicating the kinds of issues psychiatry might explore to further assist the law in its analysis of the criminal responsibility of multiples.

Dissociative Identity Disorder↗

Child abuse and multiple personality disorder: review of the literature and suggestions for treatment.

The syndrome of multiple personality is associated with a high incidence of physical and/or sexual abuse in childhood. Occasionally those with multiple personality abuse their own children. Multiple personality is difficult to diagnose both because of the nature of the syndrome and because of professional reluctance. Although multiple personality is most difficult to diagnose during childhood because of the subtlety of the syndrome, the much higher morbidity found in adult cases makes it imperative that it be diagnosed and treated early in order to avoid further abuse and greater morbidity and to shorten treatment time. This review describes the history, clinical features and treatment of multiple personality, particularly in children, in addition to exploring the professional reluctance to make the diagnosis.

Child↗

Memory and awareness in a patient with multiple personality disorder.

We studied an individual with multiple personality disorder in whom each of several personalities claimed to have no direct awareness of the others and to be unable to consciously remember the experiences of other personalities. A broad selection of implicit and explicit memory tests was used to determine the extent to which one personality had access to knowledge acquired by another and the circumstances in which that knowledge would be expressed. The implicit assessment of memory was a necessary but not sufficient condition for demonstrating interpersonality access. The degree of compartmentalization of knowledge in this patient depended largely on whether the interpretation of presented information was likely to differ across personalities.

Awareness↗

Suicide and parasuicide in multiple personality disorder.

Multiple personality disorder (MPD) has been diagnosed with increasing frequency in the 1980s: according to one estimate 6,000 cases have now been diagnosed in North America (Coons 1986). The diagnosis of MPD can be difficult because patients usually present in a polysymptomatic fashion, and the specific features of their dissociative disorder may be difficult to elicit (Kluft 1985a, 1987). One of the most common presenting features consists of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Putnam et al. (1986), for instance, noted suicidality as a presenting symptom in nearly 70% of 100 cases of MPD reported to them by 92 clinicians throughout North America. We have collected a series of 236 cases of MPD reported to us by 203 clinicians throughout North America. Our results show that 72% of the patients attempted suicide. The purpose of this report is to compare 48 cases of MPD from this series with no previous suicide attempts to 167 cases that have attempted suicide to determine features that differentiate the patients who attempt suicide from those who do not.

Adult↗

A comparison of three Rorschach diagnostic systems and use of the Hand Test for detecting multiple personality disorder in outpatients.

Eleven individuals diagnosed with multiple personality disorder (MPD) on the basis of clinical observation by experienced therapists plus elevated scores on the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES; Bernstein & Putnam, 1986) were administered the Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Hand Test. Results from the sample (n = 11) and a matched control group (N = 22) were analyzed and discussed in accordance with previous Rorschach diagnostic systems. The Wagner Signs diagnosed 91% (n = 10) of the MPD cases in this outpatient sample, with no false positives. The Labott Signs were found to have no utility, and the Barach Signs, when they occurred, seemed to be diagnostic of MPD but yielded a high rate of false negatives. Hand Test results were analyzed and found to be possibly diagnostic of MPD. Tentative criteria were proposed for its use as an additional tool for diagnosing MPD.

Adult↗

Differential autonomic nervous system activity in multiple personality disorder.

The cardinal feature of multiple personality disorder (MPD) is the existence of two or more alter personality states that exchange control over the behaviour of an individual. Numerous clinical reports suggest that these alter personality states exhibit distinct physiological differences. We investigated differential autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity across nine subjects with MPD and five controls, who produced "alter" personality states by simulation and by hypnosis or deep relaxation. Eight of the nine MPD subjects consistently manifested physiologically distinct alter personality states. Three of the five controls were also produced physiologically distinct states, but these differed from those of the MPD subjects. A habituation paradigm demonstrated carryover effects at the ANS levels from one state to the next for both groups.

Adult↗