The Bifurcation Of The Self - History And Theory Of Dissociation

Few disorders are so shrouded by myth and distortion as MultiplePersonality Disorder (MPD), now known as Dissociative IdentityDisorder (DID). That so many people are under the impression thatthe disorder, while a real one, is far more widespread than it actuallyis no doubt stems from the treatment it has received in the media.Those responsible for perpetrating the myth that this is a widespreaddisorder or exaggerating the implications of the handful of cases thathave been documented do not only include writers of popular fictionor movie makers, who might be expected to shun science in favor ofsensation, but also self-declared authorities, therapists of variousstripes, and researchers whose methodology is, to be polite, ratherquestionable. This book is intended as a corrective, an attempt to setthe record straight, offering as it does an examination of the bestknowncases from the nineteenth century on as well as a discussion ofhow a few of these cases—notably Sybil—have been exploited to fuelsome disturbing social phenomena. Were cases of MPD/DID solelythe concern or the purview of psychologists and academics, or appropriatedfrom time to time by enterprising novelists or filmmakers, itmight not be necessary to revisit it now.