Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder

I find this book well-researched and written. It provides an extremely thorough overview for clinicians about what was known at the time of its writing about the diagnosis and treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder (currently called Dissociative Identity Disorder) as well as the history of trying to understand DID. Psychotherapists like me who don't specialize in DID need to recognize this condition and its symptoms in order to refer clients to those with sufficient experience to treat it or to get consultation for doing so if we must. I believe that understanding this condition can also help us understand the separate ego states that most people have, which store our responsiveness to emotionally impactful experiences, and the idea that personality is not necessarily unitary (consider the object relations school of psychoanalysis, for instance). Contrary to other reviewers who have said the author is disrespectful of women or that he suggests all those suffering DID must be integrated, the author is humble about these issues. He states that more women than men may be diagnosed with DID because men suffering the disorder may more often find themselves encountering the criminal justice system instead of being treated in mental health settings. (I would add that more girls than boys are, unfortunately, sexually abused, which may help account for more women suffering such severe trauma that they develop DID.) He also suggests that full integration is not as valuable a goal as is helping clients achieve higher functioning and better communication across the personality system. He adds that therapy is considered only partially done once someone with DID has achieved apparent fusion and much work needs to be done in mourning and in accommodating oneself to the stresses of living in the world with a wider variety of coping mechanisms than dissociative ones alone.

I wanted to read this book, because I read " Thanks for the Memories " by Brice Taylor first. The more education on this subject the better... because awareness about this problem is growing. This book gives some important insight and much needed answers !

I found Dr. Putnam's book to be helpful in very real ways. Not only did he go into the anatomy of the disorder -- and there were plenty of things I disagreed with given my insights into my own experiences with myself and other multiples -- but he went into helpful methodologies for exploration and treatment. He was respectful that multiples do not need to integrate. He mentioned that not all entities in a multiple's head are human-identified. These were critical to me. I don't expect that any one book would get "everything right" for such a complicated, unusual, and ill-understood mental landscape. What I do expect is that people who write about it write from either a wealth of experience, clinical understanding, personal experience, or bountiful qualifications that they are merely stating their opinion. Dr. Putnam has a wealth of observational and clinical experience to share, and his own personal experience with people he is helping. I take each individual statement as a possibility within the wide and deep realm of multiple personality, but I do not apply his individual statements to individuals. Individuals and their expressions of multiple personality vary widely. I have my own perceptions and insights and share them at kinhost.org. Dr. Putnam gives me a book I enjoy arguing with -- and quoting. I would venture to say there's no better book for a clinician to familiarize themself with the phenomenon and possible ways to explore it from a clinical standpoint, but I would also tell you that your experience of any one individual with multiple personalities is not easily reflected by ANY one book. Read away, but then be prepared for any individual multiple to go "out of bounds".

This is a wonderfully written book on MPD. I consider Dr. Putnam and Dr. Ross to be wonderful resources for information (although I do have a bit of disagreement with Dr. Ross on his views about memories). Dr. Putnam provides a thorough and in-depth journey into the therapy and recovering process of someone with MPD (or DID). Whether you're a doctor, a friend or family member of a multiple, someone recently diagnosed or a seasoned veteran, I think you will find many useful things within this book.

Read it, you will know why. Putnam adresses a great deal of issues that a therapist may encounter, and truly gives both the Therapist and the paitent hope.