Epidemiology of multiple personality disorder and dissociation.

A recent survey of a large sample of the general population in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, showed that multiple personality disorder related to childhood abuse affects about 1% of the adult population. About 10% of the adult population has had a DSM-III-R dissociative disorder of some kind. Pathologic dissociation appears to be a major form of emotional disturbance in North America, and it appears to be about as common as anxiety, mood, and substance abuse disorders. The dissociative disorders can no longer be considered rare.