Kendall Leigh Cunningham

J. Morton
UWRIT 1102
01 December 2016
Annotated Bibliography:
Braun, BG. Multiple Personality Disorder: An Overview, US National Library of Medicine &
National Institutes of Health, November 1990,
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2252069, November 2, 2016.
A brief synopsis of Multiple Personality Disorder from the National Institute of Health
(NIH) found to be a highly credible source was a quick and easy summary to read. It held
information the other sources didnt, but also was able to elaborate on not just the depth this
disorder comes from, but also the severity it can hold.
Defense mechanisms are mental shields that prevent us from getting hurt from outsides
sources. Multiple Personality Disorder usually doesnt make itself apparent to the person until
twenties to even their fifties, which is unusual seeing as the disorder stems from a childhood
trauma. Its a hard disease to diagnosis, because the disorder usually masquerades behind other
mental disorders the child might be falsely diagnosed with throughout his or her childhood. The
synopsis states, When continuing abuse perpetuates dissociations and they are chained by
common affective themes, the foundations of Multiple Personality Disorder are laid, which
indicates that Multiple Personality Disorder isnt a genetic disorder making it all the more
dangerous to those at risk.

The difference between this source compared to the others is this article is more in depth
regarding childhood abuse. As opposed to the other articles on treatment, history, and blogging,
this in depth summary was able to shed light on the early stages of Multiple Personality Disorder,
stemming from childhood trauma and abuse. To the best of my knowledge, this article is
unbiased, however, written in the 1990s the information seems to be upheld by the medical
center and researcher of whom it was published by.
Goldberg, Joseph, MD. Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)
WebMD, LLC. May 18, 2016, http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociativeidentity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder?page=1, October 30, 2016.
The source I used was WebMD because of their research and credibility. This site was
extremely beneficial and user-friendly because of the facts, different information, and credible
sources. Similarly including frequently asked questions, the website contains places to seek help,
and additional information regarding the mental disorder.
I find this a credible resource because doctors review the information in order to maintain
accuracy and keep it up to date. Its checked quite often because the last update on this article
was within the calendar year. The links that are associated with this website are located near the
information, and its all relevant to the subject matter. I feel whats really important about this
website and how its run, is that the first few paragraphs, it states that there are (famous) people
out there who know what youre going through (if youre the individual). Also, the second page
had a title, What's the Difference Between Dissociative Identity Disorder and Schizophrenia?
and I thought that was really interesting to tie those together, because that was one of my inquiry

questions, so theyve thought about the common misconception as well, and were able to
describe and differentiate the two mental disorders.
Multiple Personality disorder (also known as DID) is a serious mental disorder that can
affect daily lives quite severely. WebMD showed me who to contact for help, how to indicate
symptoms, and recommended help, via medicine, therapy, or a simple combination of both. To
the best of my knowledge, this article is unbiased and true based on their fact checks and
doctors reviews.
Grohol, John M., Psy. D. PsychCentral. November, 03, 2016. http://psychcentral.com/lib/thedifferences-between-bipolar-disorder-schizophrenia-and-multiple-personality-disorder/?
all=1
This site entitled, The Differences Between Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia and
Multiple Personality Disorder, contrasts the different diseases that are commonly misconstrued
as the same. The majority of the article consists of summarizing the three disorders, concluding
with the official differentiation at the bottom. To the best of my knowledge, this article was
written unbiased and written with the utmost of factual information. The doctor of whom wrote
this is a known author, researcher, and doctor.
Instead of summarizing the entire article, I am going to write about a subsection, which is
the comparison of Schizophrenia and Multiple Personality Disorder. Unlike Schizophrenia, those
who suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder have the capabilities to lead a somewhat normal
life. The nature of the disorder usually doesnt hinder growth in relationships or work lives,
whereas those with Schizophrenia usually hear voices in their heads, and if those individuals
stem from an unhealthy family from the get-go, usually are abandoned by their families. This

website is extremely important because the comparison between the two disorders are commonly
misconstrued.
I feel as if this ties in quite easily with the rest of my researched websites because
similarly this site contains a summary of the disorder, facts, and information regarding coping
skills, etc. However, in contrast to the other sites, this also includes a comparison to other
disorders including Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder.
Lieber, Arnold, MD. PsyCom, Multiple Personality Disorder (Dissociative Identity Disorder),
https://www.psycom.net/mchugh.html, November 2, 2016
This articles opening paragraph was useful to me because the details regarding the
discovery of Multiple Personality Disorder are complicated. At first, the disorder was classified
as a combination of two disorders already known to mankind; hysteria, and epilepsy, aka.
Hystero-Epilepsy. In later years, we discovered that the disorder wasnt a combination of two
disorders, but an entirely new disorder. Recently, the disorder has come to be known under a
different name, Disassociated Identity Disorder.
I feel this website is important for my research because it shows the progress of the
disorder I am researching. Its incredibly important to know when, where, and how the disorder
came into the spotlight in the first place. Over time, psychologists used different techniques in
order to treat patients that were diagnosed with Hystero-Epilepsy using different therapies,
medicines, and sometimes even ignoring the symptoms in hope it was an incorrect diagnosis.
I feel as if this is a credible site because it was written and approved by a doctor, and that
makes the information more valid than another website not reviewed. To the best of my
knowledge, this article is unbiased and true based on their fact checks and doctors. PsyCom has a

myriad of other disorders, diseases, even addiction articles written and reviewed by doctors.
Their slogan is, 30 Years of Mental Health Advocacy which informs the public about these
mental disorders and normalizing the people who are affected, rather than find excuses and
reasons theyre wrong.
I felt as if this article was entirely different than the other websites I utilized because of
the attention to historical details as opposed to medical facts. Its just as important to my research
project to know how the disorders Im studying came into the world, and how they evolved. This
website not only provided information on the history but also an evolution on the disease.
Matulewicz, Crystalie. Healthy Place, Date not available,
http://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/dissociativeliving/, November 2, 2016.
Blogs are used in a variety of ways. Crystalie Matulewicz was diagnosed with Multiple
Personality disorder about a year ago and has been using this blog in order to express her
thoughts, emotions, and the process she has been taking and currently going through in order
lead and live a normal life. Through this blog she not only talks about her daily struggle, but
also how others can live, and offers a myriad of links in order to research more information.
This is an incredibly biased source particularly because its only one sided. Crystalie
Matulewicz writes what she feels and how she handles her episodes, however for all we know, it
could be a hoax. Only she knows if its the truth or not. However, she does include links for her
disorder throughout her blog in order to shed more light, and also using the DSM-5, which is the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which was updated in 2013 as the
universal authority for psychiatric diagnosis. With every symptom on her blog, there is a link that
goes into more detail without having her blog be an informative website. A majority of her blog

is her explaining what the disorder is, how to manage, and a little on how she copes on a daily
basis.
This source helps the final project I am working on because I dont have this disorder, nor
do I know anyone who does. This will be the closest I get to researching day to day activity and
coping skills. I think its very different from the other links I have found because instead of pages
of generic information and history, this is daily feedback from someone experiencing this disease
firsthand.
Rieber, R W. The Bifurcation of the Self: The History and Theory of Dissociation and Its
Disorders. New York, NY: Springer, 2006.
I chose this source because of the ease of access through the librarys database. The first
chapter is the one I will be looking at mostly; entitled The Roots of Multiple Personality
Disorder/Dissociative Identity Disorder, Rieber dives into the world of Multiple Personality
Disorder starting from the foundation of discovery in the early eighteenth century onwards.
The first sentence states, Case histories of MPD can be found in the literature as far back
as the eighteenth century; nevertheless, it is in the literature of the latter part of the nineteenth
century that we find the clearest descriptions of this disorder as we know it today. (Rieber)
Delving further into the preliminary chapter, the author states specific symptoms and cases hes
encountered. The main problem with Multiple Personality Disorders is those who are diagnosed
can have a multitude of personalities, hence the name.
This book is extremely relevant to my research project because of the in depth encounters
he includes in his chapter analysis. Comparatively speaking, Multiple Personality Disorder is a
less affected disorder, however it depends how many personalities you develop, whereas those

affected with schizophrenia hear random voices uncontrollably. This book is unbiased, and to the
best of my knowledge is accurate and factual based on the authors sources and previous
accredited works. I found this book to resemble PsyComs website more so for historical
accuracy. The other websites are more generic information, as opposed to history, and evolution
of the disease in the psychiatric field.