Abstract:
This paper contrasts the roles of splitting and dissociation in multiple personality disorder. It is proposed that dissociation
is a unique defensive process that serves to protect the patient from the overwhelming effects of severe trauma and that multiple
personality disorder need not call upon splitting as its central defensive process. Fantasies of restitution may be incorporated into the dissociative defense. Psychological, physiological, and behavioral models all are of use, making it likely that ultimately dissociation will be understood along multiple Iines of study.