Year: 1982 Source: Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, v.20, no.3, (1982), p.100-104 SIEC No: 19841041

Although rare, a person with multiple personalities has extra selves for avoiding a situation that is beyond the person’s coping abililties. Some cases examined are “Three Faces of Eve”, “Sybil” & “The Five of Me”. Each self is created as a coping mechanism for a particular trauma. The concept of multiple personality demonstrates aspects of defence mechanisms such as dissociation, repression, and amnesia in their pathological forms. (GW)