[.ca] Creating Hysteria: Women and Multiple Personality Disorder (ISBN 0787947946)

Well...not Exactly:
Actually I have not read this book and probably won't anytime soon. I understand there is more than one side to everything but am totally offened at the response to Dr. Barach from ISSD. The organization helped me tremdously when I first found out I had MPD/DID. I could not find Dr. Barach's response anywhere on here but I would think that in defending the organization the Dr. is also defending those of us who have a legitimate diagnosis of MPD/DID.

The Book and Author Do Not Exist:
I would have liked to have reviewed a copy of this book, however since I actually have dissociative identities and I know that I do exist, then it must be the author and the book that do not exist.

Ridiculous! No stars!:
Don't waste your time or money on this sensationalized pseudoscience. This author has no credentials in the mental health field and therefore she has little credibility writing about psychiatric diagnoses or iatrogenic psychopathology. This book should be shelved in the Fiction section.

An equivocal reaction:
I have mixed feelings about this book. Three of my seven alters found it persuasive, intelligent and informative. "Dr. Simon," a 55-year old physician with a very logical and linear cast of mind, was especially impressed by the force of Acocella's argument. "Mrs. Endicott," a church-attending lady of conservative political opinions, was likewise persuaded. "Chappy," a 35-year old comic store clerk with serious body image issues, was initially skeptical, but he usually defers to Mrs. Endicott and she eventually brought him around to accepting Acocella's perspective on MPD. The rest of my personalities took a dimmer view of this book. "Caroline," a thirteen year-old Asian-American girl, doesn't read much other than poetry, and didn't make it much past the introduction before she got bored and gave it up. "Hogarth," an alcoholic house painter aged 37 found the entire topic ridiculous and insisted that the controversy over MPD was something Acocella had made up just to sell books. "Amy," a 25 year old college student pursuing a double major in Women's Studies and Communications, had the most negative reaction to the book and characterized it as part of the larger "backlash" against feminism. "Udo," a dwarf of indeterminate age and sex, declined to comment but made a sour face when asked for his opinion.

A Skeptic's View:
Having been misdiagnosed with DID by three so-called experts, then experiencing the full internet DID subculture of support sites with 'littles', outbursts, and amateur experts self-diagnoising both themselves and other people, I was interested to read this book. I always found it interesting how people evolve at support sites on the web so they can fit into the typical DID mold. Once again with 'littles' who can read like an adult but make such an effort to spell badly it goes beyond how a young child would spell. Then the 'protector' who dishes out insults and attacks with ferocity whenever it suits and never is expected to take responsibility for their actions. Always a 'counselor' type who seems to oversee and understand the rest and is kind enough to offer explanations to rest of the ignorant world. The 'system' mapping is what I sometimes find unbelievable. It's like reading a playbill for a cast list of characters. Actually I do think that DID is a legitimate diagnosis, but not as widespread as some would have it be believed. I believe that it's become an epidemic, particularly on the internet. Having been suckered into the whole thing, I read this book with great interest but I was somewhat disappointed with it. I feel that in some ways the author's arguments are weak and almost as fantastical as the proponents of DID. She also does contradict herself in some places. I wish she took a more scientific, logical approach to writing the book and eased up on the heavy emotional perspective, but that's how I like to view things and life in general so I know I'm biased. I truly hope someone else writes a book on the subject, because I think there's a wealth of information out there that hasn't been fully explored or published. Still, the book is worth reading even if it falls short of being excellent. What else is out there after all? Many books supporting it but not much from the other side at all. Too bad. I hope that changes for those of us who've gotten labeled as such by the mental health community and would like some support for not embracing the dx whole-heartedly.