Abstract:
The authors hypothesize that multiple personality disorder is related to the processes that lead to the formation in children of a distinct and cohesive self. Three clinical propositions concerning MPD derived from this hypothesis are: first, multiple personality disorder should be
seen as a childhood disorder; second, cohesion of the self is best understood as a developmental achievement mediated by specific experiences in the early years of life; third, some dissociative disorders, including multiple personality disorder, are survivals of an earlier personality organization in which distinct centers of experience and initiative existed Within a single individual.