Abstract:
Of 112 consecutive admissions to a dissociative disorders clinic, 10% of patients with symptoms characteristic of MPD ultimately were discovered to have factitious disorder or were malingering. They were compared with 50 MPD patients previously reported. There were few differences in demographic variables, presenting symptoms, or characteristics of alter personalities between the groups. The use of electroencephalograms and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory was not helpful in differentiating the two groups. There was a striking difference, however, between genuine MPD and simulators for the presence of symptoms characteristic of either malingering or factitious disorder. Although some cases of simulated MPD are easy to discern, others may be extremely difficult, even for the experienced clinician. The use of collateral interviews and probing for symptoms common to factitious disorder and malingering are invaluable aids in the differential diagnosis of genuine from simulated MPD.
