Multiple personality: a psychiatric misadventure

Though multiple personality disorder has been diagnosed with increasing frequency over the past decade, its validity has been called into question. A brief review of the literature indicates a likelihood of socio-cultural influences and iatrogenicity in many if not most cases. Symptoms of multiple personality disorder parallel other psychiatric syndromes but are usually given diagnostic priority. The author has described five cases diagnosed multiple personality disorder by another health professional in which iatrogenic influences are clearly evident. All renounced both the diagnosis and the alleged sex abuse etiology. The patients possess insight into the role their attachment and dependency on their former therapist played in the development of their apparent multiple personality disorder.