Chapter 30 postscript

Over the past two decades, there have been dozens of criminal trials in which defendants allege multiple personalities.The crimes covered a wide range of acts: including murder, kidnapping, rape and arson. Multiple personality disorder, also known as split personality disorder, is a controversial topic among psychotherapists.Some psychotherapists don't think it exists.On the other hand, many doctors, hospitals, and social service agencies have been treating patients with multiple personality disorder for many years.Some studies estimate that between 5 and 15 percent of the mentally ill suffer from it.

The latest statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that about one-third of adolescent victims of sexual abuse are children under the age of six; one-third of girls under the age of eighteen have been sexually abused. Most reported cases of incest involved fathers and daughters. A research project conducted in three countries showed that 1 percent of the population suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. Dissociative disorder is often misdiagnosed, and some studies show that people with multiple personality disorder spend an average of seven years seeking treatment before receiving a precise diagnosis.

Two-thirds of multiple personality disorder cases are treatable. (End of the book)