Am J Psychiatry 1993; 150:1048-1052
Copyright © 1993 by American Psychiatric Association
Treatment of multiple personality disorder: a survey of current practices
FW Putnam and RJ Loewenstein
Laboratory of Developmental Psychology, NIMH, Bethesda, MD 20892.
OBJECTIVE: Reported cases of multiple personality disorder have increased
dramatically in the last decade. Few data are available on the treatment of
multiple personality disorder. Current recommendations are based on the
experience of individual clinicians rather than on systematic research.
METHOD: A questionnaire study of 305 clinicians representing a spectrum of
mental health professionals was conducted to survey the types and relative
efficacy of treatment modalities currently used with cases of multiple
personality disorder. RESULTS: Individual psychotherapy facilitated by
hypnosis was uniformly endorsed as the primary treatment by all
practitioner groups. The average patient was in twice-weekly psychotherapy
facilitated by hypnosis for 3.8 years. Antidepressant and anxiolytic
medications were reported to be moderately useful adjunctive treatments.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings support current impressionistic treatment
recommendations for multiple personality disorder regarding the primacy of
psychotherapy and the moderate benefits of psychopharmacology with
antidepressant and antianxiety agents.
