In 1993, records showed that three to five thousand patients were being treated for MPD compared to the hundred cases reported ten years earlier. There is still an increase in the number of cases being reported as the scientific community learns more and more about the disease and the public is becoming more and more aware of this mental disorder. But there are also many questions left unanswered about the disease, like "Is it genetic?" or "Is a certain ty

Each alter also has their own name, these names can come from anything but there are three common factors that influence the alters name. Some alters are just born with the name, this is when the alter is modeled after a real or fictional character. Some alters are named after emotional responses, such as Sad One or Angry Janie. Many alters are named for the specific job they are supposed to do, like Director, Helper or Avenger. The names chosen have been created by a child so they are most likely modeled after a fictional or real character. Although the host will have no idea of the other personalities and will not respond to the names at first, the alters respond to the birth personalities name (Clark, 1993, 90-91).

As an adult, the abused child finds it hard to keep track of time and may have episodes of amnesia. Other symptoms that will appear in adults with MPD are depression, auditory and visual hallucinations (hearing voices) and suicidal thoughts. Another major symptom is when the adult has no recollection of their childhood. The adult with MPD has no idea they were abused as children and also unaware of the other personalities living inside of their head (Multiple Personality Disorder-fact sheet, 1996-99, p.1). Multiple Personality Disorder is when there is "the presence of two or more distinct identities or personalities, each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self" (BoyyM, 1998, p.1). There can be anywhere from two to over a hundred different personalities.

if˜ The second relationship is "'two-way amnesia' exist when neither alter know about each other"(Clark, 1993, p. 87).

The host personality is the person who is the multiple, this is the original personality, or the one that created the other personalities, but is unaware of them.

The persecutor identity has a tendency to leave the host in dangerous situations. Carla, one of Clark's patients, had a persecutor alter named Godiva. Godiva was always putting Carla in sticky situations like Godiva would pick up men at bars and bring them home or go home with them. Carla would come to consciousness with an unknown man in her bed and she would pass out, another alter would have to come out and rescue Carla. CJ (Carla's big burly male alter) would come out punch the guy and leave. Christine (Carla's logical alter) would come out and handle the situation using her negotiation skills. At other times Timmy (the young boy who was an escape artist) would come out talk his way out of the situation, leaving the man so bewildered because he was with a woman who thought she was a young boy. When this occurred it would leave the other alters upset at Godiva (Clark, 1993, p.99).

Some common words found in the essay are:
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