ABSTRACT
Typically, the predominant personality is not aware of the other person alities; consequently, reports of unaccounted for gaps in memory (amnesic periods) are characteristic of such patients.
Though the syndrome has been recognized for over a century (see reviews by Ellenberger, 1970; Sutcliffe & Jones, 1962; Taylor &: Martin, 1944), during the past decade an increasing number of case studies have appeared in the literature describing personal histories and symptoms that frequently accompany the disorder (e.g., Allison & Schwarz, 1980; Bliss, 1980; Braun, 1984; Coons, 1980; Greaves, 1980; Gruenewald, 1971; Kluit, 1982). Once considered extremely rare, a review of the literature shows that at least two to three times as many cases of multiple personality have been reported in the last 10-15 years than in the entire 100-150 years prior to 1970.°
There has been controversy, however, particularly since the well-known cases reported by Prince (1906), over the role of the therapist in the development of the syndrome (e.g., Ellenberger, 1970; Harriman, 1942; McDougall, .1926; Sutcliffe &: Jones, 1962); the discovery or exploration of the alter personalities typically occurs in a hypnotic interaction between patient and therapist. Though it is now widely believed that hypnosis as such does not create alter personalities, it is also argued that implicit and explicit suggestions in the hypnotic context can shape the expression of ego fragments such that the therapists interest in w’hat may be considered nascent "selves” serves to reify the fragments into personalities — wBich
may evolve their own histories, temperaments, and motivations (see Gruenewald, 1977, 1978). This may help explain why some therapists see a high incidence of multiple personality among their patients, while other therapists who are familiar with the syndrome — even those who use hypnosis — view it as a relatively rare entity, as does DSM-IIL
Though it remains controversial as to how much of the recent dramatic increase in the incidence of diagnosed multiple personality is due to iatrogenic factors, there is little doubt that once the syndrome is devel oped-iatrogenicallv or not — it can be subjectively real to the patient. What makes the syndrome so compelling to the observer is that the behavior of the individual changes dramatically in accordance with the professed temperament and motivations of the personality elicited.
