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Multiple Personality Disorder

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Handbook of Prescriptive Treatments for Adults

Abstract

Multiple personality disorder (MPD), which has been described elsewhere (Coons, Bowman, & Milstein, 1988; Kluft, 1991b; Putnam, 1989; Putnam, Guroff, Silberman, Barban, & Post, 1986; Ross, 1989), is a polysymptomatic disorder which most often presents in women who report histories of long-standing and severe physical and sexual abuse beginning in early childhood. Depression most commonly overlies the more subtle dissociative symptomatology. Loewenstein (1991a) best articulated the polysymptomatic nature of MPD by dividing the syndrome into symptom clusters, including process, amnesic, autohypnotic, posttraumatic, somatoform, and affective symptoms. The dissociative symptoms will be described first, even though they are more subtle and have prompted one expert to call for a radical change in the way MPD is diagnosed (Nakdimen, 1992).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Larue D. Carter Memorial Hospital, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46202, USA

    Philip M. Coons

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  1. Philip M. Coons
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Psychological Studies, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 33314, USA

    Michel Hersen

  2. Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213-1499, USA

    Robert T. Ammerman

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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Coons, P.M. (1994). Multiple Personality Disorder. In: Hersen, M., Ammerman, R.T. (eds) Handbook of Prescriptive Treatments for Adults. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1456-9_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1456-9_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-1458-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-1456-9

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