Psychologists and Psychiatrists know that there is a normal version of multiple personality (dissociative identity), but they choose to ignore it.

The diagnostic criteria for dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality) in the official psychiatric diagnostic manual, DSM-5 (1), includes these two requirements:

“The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of function” (p. 292).

“In children, the symptoms are not better explained by imaginary playmates or other fantasy play” (p. 292).

Why are these two cautionary statements necessary? Obviously, because there are adults who have the signs and symptoms of multiple personality, but who are not distressed or impaired by it, and so are not mentally ill; and because the imaginary playmate in childhood is, essentially, the same phenomenon as multiple personality, but most of these children are normal and healthy.

Clinical psychologists and psychiatrists know that there is a normal version of multiple personality in both adults and children, but they don’t care, because, as clinicians, they are interested only in mental illness.

But why do nonclinical, academic psychologists ignore the normal version of multiple personality? There are two reasons. First, they may have no clinical experience with multiple personality, and so may not even believe it exists. Second, they don’t know where they would find normal people with multiple personality to study. This blog is a hint.

1. American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Arlington, VA, American Psychiatric Association, 2013.