“Mr. Mercedes” (post 3) by Stephen King: Holly’s confusing multiplicity of symptoms is a classic presentation of multiple personality disorder

Holly, in spite of her confusing array of dysfunctional symptoms (1, pp. 407-410), is surprisingly helpful in tracking down the villain. One of her symptoms—“self-directed dialogue” (1, p. 408)—is suggestive of conversations between alternate personalities, but other symptoms are compatible with multiple different diagnoses. This is a common clinical presentation of multiple personality disorder (a.k.a. dissociative identity disorder):

“There is a patient profile that should suggest MPD. The core features of this profile are that these patients typically suffer from a profusion of psychiatric, neurological, and medical symptoms; have received a host of diagnoses, and are refractory to the standard treatments for these diagnoses. Unfortunately, this profusion of symptoms…usually obscures the underlying dissociative pathology, so that these patients often spend years in treatment for conditions they do not have” (2, pp. 57-58)

Comment: I have not seen above issues raised anywhere else (3).

1. Stephen King. Mr. Mercedes. New York, Scribner, 2014.

2. Frank W. Putnam MD. Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder. New York, The Guilford Press, 1989.

3. Wikipedia. “Holly Gibney.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holly_Gibney