How Does DID or Multiple Personality Disorder Differ from Schizophrenia?
On page 211 of the text we emphasize the difference between DID (“disorders of multiple personalities”) and Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia does not mean split personality as in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Lewis Stevenson’s classic short novel describing a fictional character with DID). Instead, Schizophrenia is a term chosen to emphasize the serious effects of this disorder on language and thought. Persons with DID retain full control of their thought processes, though they may be amnestic for major periods of their lives. DSM-IV adopted the term Dissociative Identity Disorder at least in part because in psychological terms an individual has only one personality but may have a number of independent identities. The older term (multiple personality disorder) was apparently felt to misrepresent the unity of personality. How is DID treated? There is no good evidence that supports the use of medication in treating DID. Psychotherapy has been the major form of treatment used, and remains t
