Most Surprising Finds

During my research, I found a few facts about the schizophrenia and the MPD myth that were the most interesting and surprising to me. A few articles I read pointed out the fact that there are many cultural differences centering on this fallacy. For instance, in “Dissociation or Culture Bound? A Malaysian Perspective”, the article emphasizes the fact that Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID or MPD) is believed to be a complete myth in certain Malaysian ethnicities such as the Latah and Amok (Jambunathan, 100).” People here with MPD are thought to be possessed by two demons or hypnotized by another person through witchcraft. Similarly, although not as extreme of a case, in even European countries today like Germany and Russia the term “schizophrenia” widely varies due to cultural misinterpretations of the disease (Schomerus, 780).

Other than the cultural misunderstandings of the two mental disorders, I was also surprised to find just how many people still misuse these two terms. If, “schizophrenia is probably the most misused psychological term in existence (McNally, 69)”, shouldn’t there be more motivation by the mass media to change the public’s perception of the disorder? Sadly, even up until 1980 MPD was considered rare with only 200 reported cases in the world because of the amount of misdiagnoses in the psychological field (Ross, 39). In one study conducted by two clinicians, it was found that, “just under 50% of MPD patients had a prior diagnosis of schizophrenia” in 1986. This information is baffling to me and at the same time saddening that so many patients suffering from MPD had been previously diagnosed with a completely different disorder. In fact, one of the most differentiating symptoms in schizophrenia is that people are born with it.

Resources:

Jambunathan, S., Gill, J., & Kanagsundram, S. (2008). Dissociation or Culture Bound? A Malaysian Perspective. (Cover story). Archives: The International Journal of Medicine,1(2), 100-104. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

McNally, K. (2007). Schizophrenia as split personality/Jekyll and Hyde: The origins of the informal usage in the English language.Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 43(1), 69-79. doi:10.1002 /jhbs.20209.

Schomerus, G., Kenzin, D., Borsche, J., Matschinger, H., & Angermeyer, M. (2007). The association of schizophrenia with split personality is not an ubiquitous phenomenon. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 42(10), 780-786. doi:10.1007/s00127-007-0235-7.

Ross, Colin A. "Multiple Personality Disorder Patients with a Prior Diagnosis of Schizophrenia." Dissociation 1.2 (1988): 39-42. UO Libraries. University of Oregon. Web. 16 May 2010. .

Why It Matters To Me

As a psychology major at Seattle University, this myth is first off important to me because it has to do with my field of study and much of the terminology included in the updated version of the DSM-IV. More personally, I especially find abnormal psychology to be a fascinating subject to study and it is my preferred area of research in my major. Last year I had the opportunity to work at day care facility for severely autistic, schizophrenic, and Down's syndrome patients who’s families did not have the money to take care of them during the work hours of the day. Through this experience I was very much touched by the people I helped and volunteered for and I wanted to know more about the differentiating abnormal mental disorders I observed there. What interested me most about this myth were the diagnoses of what people experience who have schizophrenia or MPD. Moreover, I believe psychological misunderstandings like this are important to correct because understanding an illness of any form is vital to understanding the person suffering from it.

Some Background History

Like stated in my blog post “A Better Way To Think About It”, schizophrenia was initially termed in 1911 when the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Beuler defined it as a “split-mind” disorder. Really, Beuler meant more that a person with schizophrenia suffers from a separation of psychological functions and their emotions and cognitive abilities. The first misuse of the term schizophrenia was published in the Washington Post in 1916 (Lilienfeld, 191). A journalist interviewed then first president of the American Psychological Association Stanley Hall. Hall defined schizophrenia as a way to describe someone who has a split mind such as a Jekyll-Hyde personality. Ironically, Robert Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is probably the most famous case of split personality disorder in popular literature. The Washington Post’s article’s influence over the mass media with this popular misconception is unclear but by 1933 the myth had found it’s way into pop culture. Like the quote by T.S. Elliott, “For a poet to be also a philosopher he would have virtually two men: I cannot think of any example of this thorough schizophrenia (192).”

Today this misconception continues with movies like, Me, Myself, and Irene and even shows on NBC such as My Own Worst Enemy starring Christian Slater in 2008.

References:

Lilienfeld, Scott O. 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print.