Quote:
Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot  How about :
1. diabetes in one personality, but not in the others?
2. Different reactions by different personalities to the same drug?
3. Different food allergies, in different personalities?
4. Different vision, to the extent that the person carries around different pairs of glasses, so that he can wear the right glasses for each personality?
5. Colour blindness in one personality, but not in the other personalities? NEW FOCUS ON MULTIPLE PERSONALITY - New York Times |
Sorry, ALG, but I asked for published studies, not a New York Times article from 1985. The understanding of this condition has evolved a lot in the 24 years since. The DSM-IV doesn't even call it multiple personality disorder anymore.
I asked for published studies, not because I have some vested ego interest in proving people wrong, but merely because I was doubtful about the medical "facts" being stated here.
I quickly looked through PubMed and I've found no instances of the kinds of cases that the NY Times article speaks of. The current understanding is that etiology is likely in most all cases trauma and childhood abuse, and signs and symptoms include varying psychophysiological types including anxiety, substance abuse etc, but there is
no mention of organic pathological states like diabetes or cancer etc.
In the medical references I checked they only speak about depersonalization, derealization, amnesia, and identity alteration. That's it.
Here's the Merck online manual:
Dissociative Identity Disorder: Dissociative Disorders: Merck Manual Professional
In the meanwhile, I have friends and colleagues who are Psychiatrists. I'll follow up with them and ask whether they have seen any cases like the ones you insist exist.