Psychiatrists' Attitudes to Multiple Personality Disorder: A Questionnaire Study

Abstract

Objective To assess the attitudes of a random sample of Canadian psychiatrists to Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) and assess the relative prevalence of the condition in three comparable cities in Ontario. Method A questionnaire was sent to all psychiatrists who were members of the Canadian Psychiatric Association and who were resident in Ottawa, Kingston and London. Questions were asked on the respondent's personal clinical experience of MPD and his/her attitude to this condition. Some personal and demographic questions were also included. Results 180 out of 294 questionnaires (61.2%) were returned. The existence of MPD was doubted by 27.8% of psychiatrists who responded to the questionnaire, with a significantly higher proportion in London than in Kingston or in Ottawa. A substantial majority in all three cities agreed that media publicity and the psychiatrist's own belief system affected the prevalence of MPD. Conclusion These results confirm that there is a split in the profession regarding belief in the existence of MPD as a diagnosis.

The rational-choice theory of neurosis: Unawareness and an integrative therapeutic approach.

“…Similarly, it is also unclear why the prevalence of neurotic disorders should be affected by sociocultural factors, such as the significant relationship between OCD and religion (e.g., Abramowitz, Deacon, Woods, & Tolin, 2004;Raphael, Rani, Bale, & Drummond, 1996), the striking differences between Western and non-Western countries in the prevalence of neurotic disorders (e.g., Bhadrinath, 1990;Keel & Klump, 2003;Pate, Pumariega, Hester, & Garner, 1992), and the higher prevalence of conversion disorder among lower socioeconomic classes (e.g., Jones, 1980;Kuloglu, Atmaca, Tezcan, Gecici, & Bulut, 2003;Nandi, Banerjee, Nandi, & Nandi, 1992). Likewise, traditional theories have difficulty explaining the diagnostic fluctuations in neurotic disorders across different periods of time, such as the significant decrease in conversion disorder (e.g., Jones, 1980;Nandi et al, 1992), or the steep increase in cases of DID (e.g., Lilienfeld et al, 1999;Mai, 1995;Merskey, 1995;North, Ryall, Ricci & Wetzel, 1993) and eating disorders (e.g., Lucas, Beard, O'Fallon, & Kurland, 1991;Mitchell & Eckert, 1987;Willi, Giacometti, & Limacher, 1990).…”