Two-year follow-up of inpatients with dissociative identity disorder.

Abstract

A group of 135 inpatients with dissociative identity disorder was followed for 2 years to monitor treatment outcome. Fifty-four of the patients were located and reassessed after a 2-year period through the use of the same self-report measures and structured clinical interviews that had been initially administered. The patients showed marked improvement on Schneiderian first-rank symptoms, mood and anxiety disorders, dissociative symptoms, and somatization, with a significant decrease in the number of psychiatric medications prescribed. Patients who were treated to integration were significantly more improved than those who had not yet reached integration. These findings, although preliminary, provide empirical validation of previous clinical impressions that patients with dissociative identity disorder may respond well to treatment.