Nancy is not the only one "highly skeptical of the existence of MPD/DID."
For a quick review check the entry for MPD/DID in the online Skeptics'
Dictionary (http://skepdic.com/mpd.html), which includes a listing of
related readings and interesting discussions/debates on the Reader
Comments link. I've copied a (nonrandom) paragraph from that source below.

I would suggest a reading of Nick Spanos' book for those interested in the
socio-cognitive aspects of MPD/DID [Spanos, Nicholas P. Multiple
Identities and False Memories: A Sociocognitive Perspective (Washington,
D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1996)]. 

-Max

 
"Psychologist Nicholas P. Spanos argues that repressed memories of
childhood abuse and multiple personality disorder are "rule-governed
social constructions established, legitimated, and maintained through
social interaction." In short, Spanos argues that most cases of MPD have
been created by therapists with the cooperation of their patients and the
rest of society. The experts have created both the disease and the cure.
This does not mean that MPD does not exist, but that its origin and
development are often, if not most often, explicable without the model of
separate but permeable ego-states or "alters" arising out of the ashes of
a destroyed "original self." "



On Fri, 26 Apr 2002 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> I will freely admit that I am highly skeptical of the  existence of MPD/DID 
> and am more inclined to view it as an iatrogenic disorder related to 
> psychotherapy and a culture that bombards us via the media with enough vivid 
> characterizations that any of us could produce "personalities" given the 
> right context.
> 
> I would rather risk being wrong (as in being conservative about it). Even if 
> I am wrong (and it does exist in rare cases) I would bet big money that many 
> (a large proportion) cases were produced in therapy or just downright faked.
> 
> Nancy Melucci
> LACCD
> 

Maxwell Gwynn, PhD                              [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Psychology                        (519) 884-0710 ext 3854
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, Ontario  N2L 3C5 Canada



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