Mythbusting 3

Myth: Schizophrenia involves dual or split personalities.

Fortunately, this myth is not wide-spread among mental health professionals, but it is still a common misunderstanding among the general public. Despite years of effort by the professional community to set the record straight, most people still believe this myth. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t hear some public figure (okay, maybe I listen to too much sports-talk radio) refer to a quarterback’s performance or a politician’s positions as “schizophrenic” – meaning inconsistent.

Apparently, people sometimes actually experience multiple personalities. The clinical term, or diagnosis, for this condition is “dis-associative disorder.” This was a very trendy diagnosis back in the 90s, but it is my impression that people with multiple, fully-developed personalities (of the sort frequently depicted by Hollywood) are extremely rare. I have worked in the field of schizophrenia for almost 35 years and I’ve never met one.

The popularity of multiple personalities began with Robert Louis Stevenson’s 19th century novel, Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde and it has been a staple of popular culture at least since then. Why does the myth that multiple personalities are common phenomena persist? I guess for the same reason that we believe in flying saucers and that strangers abduct children – we love bizarre, scary stuff.

The truth is that multiple personality or dis-associative disorder is extremely rare and has nothing to do with schizophrenia. Neither share similar symptoms and are totally different diagnosis.

Why is our culture so resistant to the fact that “schizophrenia” is the wrong label? I haven’t got a clue.