Psychiatric Professional Beliefs Regarding Dissociative Identity Disorder

Presenter Information

Nicole Draheim, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Amber Schramm, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Location

CSU Ballroom

Start Date

9-4-2012 1:00 PM

End Date

9-4-2012 2:30 PM

Student's Major

Psychology

Student's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mentor's Name

Liesa Klein

Mentor's Department

Psychology

Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Second Mentor's Name

Daniel Houlihan

Second Mentor's Department

Psychology

Second Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Third Mentor's Name

Carlos Panahon

Third Mentor's Deparment

Psychology

Third Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder, continues to be a highly controversial diagnosis. Controversy may arise due to differing opinions, perceptions, and observations of DID symptomology. The current study sought to examine the skepticism of the DID diagnosis in psychiatrists for a 10-year re-evaluation of the prevalence of skepticism, prevalence of psychiatrists’ beliefs about DID as sociocognitive or posttraumatic in origin, and the relationship between skepticism and origin model. Nine hundred licensed psychiatrists were contacted for participation with 120 responders. Results indicated that almost half of respondents indicated some level of skepticism regarding the clinical diagnosis of DID, though the majority endorsed the posttraumatic model of symptoms. Further, those endorsing the sociocognitive model of DID reported significantly more skepticism regarding the disorder.