One Hundred Years Ago

100 YEARS AGO One hundred years ago The Dissociation of a Personality.. of the delirious thoughts and even hypno- dissociation was due to the hypnosis. If this By Morton Prince, MD, Professor tise them. As an alternating personality be so, it confirms the view that hypnotism of Diseases of the Nervous System, she had full knowledge of the other states, is a dangerous weapon to use, its direct ef- Tufts College Medical School; but they had none of her, nor had the real fect being to increase the evil. On the other Physician for Diseases of the self when finally reintegrated. The book be- hand, by skilful suggestions, the good thus Nervous System, Boston City fore us is the first volume of a larger work – done may far outweigh the immediate ill-ef- Hospital New York: Longmans, Problems in Abnormal Psychology – and isis–and fects. Dr. Prince seems to have benefited his Green & Co. 10ss.6dd. net..net. to be followed by another, in which the patient greatly; had he been less clear- psychological questions involved will be sighted and unwearying, he would prob- This book, which is an amplification and discussed. It will be better to defer a com- ably have done her harm. continuation of a paper read before the In- plete review of this first volume till the The book is well written and extremely ternational Congress of Psychology, Paris, work has been concluded. In the meantime, interesting. Indeed the only fear is that the 1900, is a study of perhaps the most re- however, attention may be drawn to a few story of the three personalities, with their markable case of multiple personality, or, points. First, we must congratulate Dr. different characters, their trials and difficul- to be more accurate, of dissociated person- Prince on the insight he displayed, on the ties, the practical jokes played by one upon ality, that has been recorded. The patient care and labour he devoted to following the others, and the efforts of that one to presented three distinct personalities, in ad- up the case, and on the success he so deserv- outwit Dr. Prince, so that the original per- dition to minor hypnotic states, and it was edly achieved. Secondly, his view of neur- sonality might not be reintegrated and she not till she had been carefully watched for asthenia deserves careful attention; he herself ‘‘squeezed’’ out of existence in the almost four years that her real self was dis- holds it to be a perverted reaction to the en- process, may obtain a vogue among un- covered – and found to be none of the vironment, due to dissociation of the con- scientific readers and fall into the hands of three. One of these individuals was very re- sciousness. Another point is the very the patient’s friends. It should be read by markable; the other two were alternating incomplete success of hypnotism when it all who are interested in normal psychology personalities of the more ordinary type, consisted merely of suggestions to a disinte- as well as by those who devote themselves but this was not only an alternating person- grated personality; its true work seems to to pathological states of mind. ality – in which form she displayed robust lie in the direction of reintegrating the origi- P. C. SSP.C. MITHMITH health and a vigorous character – but also nal self. Indeed, it is to be observed that an extensively developed subconsciousness. whereas the patient had exhibited only REFERENCE As such she appeared to have existed since one abnormal personality for several years childhood; she remained sane when the pa- before hypnotic treatment began, a second Journal of Mental Science, January 1907,173^174. tient was delirious during an attack of followed very rapidly over a year later. Researched by Henry Rollin, Emeritus Consultant pneumonia, so that later, as an alternating Though there is not sufficient proof, one Psychiatrist, Horton Hospital, Epsom, Surrey personality, she was able to give an account cannot help suspecting that this further doi: 10.1192/bjp.190.1.82 82 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. 30 Sep 2021 at 23:16:20, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use..

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