On March 27, 1992, Mark Olson wrote about a friend with MPD. He
threw out several questions to the clinicians in the group
concerning MPD and HPCT. I have one patient with MPD, have read a
few books on the topic, have attended a few workshops, and
monthly participate in a study group made up of about six
clinicinas who have patients with MPD.
Here is a book I would recommend to learn more about the subject:
Putnam, F. W. (1989). Diagnosis and treatment of
multiple personality disorder. New York: Guilford.
Question: Is it OK to equate self-concept with personality? This
is the way that Dick Robertson and I think of it within HPCT. The
self-image is a perception at the systems level which is
a controlled variable. A self-image perception is formed from
combining lower level perceptions, with an emphasis on the
principle level perceptions.
Question: What keeps this from being more prevalent? Is it only
random variation and selection probabilities which make most of
us have one personality? Something like 95% of people with MPD
have a background of severe physical, sexual or psychological
abuse. They also have a special talent to experience hypnotic
phenomena. MPD is thought to be on the extreme end of a continuum
of dissociative disorders which you can read about in the DSM-3-
R.
A second point is that I am not so certain that we all have one
personality defined as self-image. In some research I am doing
now, it seems that "normal" people have more than one self-image.
I am using Q methodology to carry out these clinical case
studies.
Question: Is MPD "simply" a multiplicity of self-concepts
residing at the systems level? That would be my guess at this
point. Obviously, there are many differences between a normal
person with multiple self-images and a person with MPD. But I
don't think it is simple one versus many.
Question: If person B wants A not to see something (say, three
words in a amessage) she can make A not "see" those words. How
might this fit into PCT? A "normal" person with high hypnotic
ability can demonstrate the above phenomenon which is called
negative hallucination. I am not really sure how to model it. Is
the perceptual signal wiped out? Is a person's awareness diverted
from tuning into the perceptual signal? I don't know.
Mark, one word of caution with your friend. It is not unusual for
one of the "alters", as they are sometimes called, to be suicidal
or homocidal. It probably is wise to ask permission of your
friend to meet with the therapist who can provide some concrete
suggestions for you.
Best regard,
David Goldstein
internet: goldstein@saturn.glassboro.edu
···
To: Mark Olson and others interested in MPD
From: David Goldstein
Subject: MPD & HPCT
Date: 03/29/92