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Two-year follow-up of inpatients with dissociative identity disorder
1University of Texas at Arlington, TX, USA.
Objective:
A group of 135 inpatients with dissociative identity disorder was followed for 2 years to monitor treatment outcome.
Method:
Fifty-four of the patients were located and reassessed after a 2-year period through the use of the same self-report measures and structured clinical interviews that had been initially administered.
Results:
The patients showed marked improvement on Schneiderian first-rank symptoms, mood and anxiety disorders, dissociative symptoms, and somatization, with a significant decrease in the number of psychiatric medications prescribed. Patients who were treated to integration were significantly more improved than those who had not yet reached integration.
Conclusions:
These findings, although preliminary, provide empirical validation of previous clinical impressions that patients with dissociative identity disorder may respond well to treatment.