The Clinical Phenomenology of Multiple Personality Disorder: Review of 100 Recent Cases

The clinical syndrome of multiple personality disorder is an unusual dissociative condition that has been poorly characterized. In an attempt to better delineate its clinical phenomenology, 100 cases were collected on a 386-item questionnaire completed by clinicians involved in the treatment of patients with multiple personality disorder. This study documents the existence of a clinical syndrome characterized by a core of depressive & dissociative symptoms & a childhood history of sifnificant trauma, primarily child abuse. (40 refs)