Dissociative identity disorder: an Australian series.

OBJECTIVE: Series of patients fulfilling diagnostic criteria for Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), otherwise known as multiple personality disorder, have particularly been reported on in North America and increasingly in other countries. The present study investigated the trauma and past treatment histories, symptom profiles and dissociative phenomenology of 62 patients fulfilling diagnostic criteria for DID seen in Brisbane (Queensland, Australia).

METHOD: From 1992, systematic assessments, including the Dissociative Experience Scale and the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule, were performed with a personal series of 57 patients with DID seen by one of the authors (WM) and five patients seen by the second author (JB).

RESULTS: The histories of childhood trauma, the clinical profiles and dissociative indices of these patients closely approximate those described in series reported in other countries.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients fulfilling diagnostic criteria for DID are regularly seen in Australian inpatient and outpatient settings. The dissociative symptomatology of the patients examined in the present study represents a significant component of a complex syndrome associated with a history of severe ongoing developmental trauma dating from early childhood.