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Published on: March 8, 2018
Canadian and American psychiatrists' attitudes toward dissociative disorders diagnoses
J K Lalonde1, J I Hudson, R A Gigante
1Biological Psychiatry Laboratory, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478, USA. biopsych@mclean.org
Objective:
To compare the opinions of Canadian psychiatrists regarding dissociative disorder diagnoses with those of previously surveyed American psychiatrists.
Method:
We sent a 1-page questionnaire to a stratified representative sample of 550 Canadian psychiatrists.
Results:
Eighty percent of Canadian psychiatrists responded. Fewer than one-third replied that dissociative amnesia and dissociative identity disorder should be included without reservations in the DSM-IV; fewer than 1 in 7 felt that the validity of these diagnoses was supported by strong scientific evidence. French- and English-speaking Canadians had similar opinions. Overall, Canadians were significantly less accepting than Americans.
Conclusion:
Both Canadian and American psychiatrists show little consensus regarding the diagnostic status or scientific validity of dissociative amnesia and dissociative identity disorder.
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