The relationship of junk science to multiple personality disorder ...

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The relationship of junk science to multiple personality disorder (MPD), now known as dissociative identity disorder (DID), has resulted in which of the following controversies?
 
  A) Not enough data were collected to legitimize MPD as a dissociative disorder.
  B) Patients are subjected to multiple and costly pharmacological treatments.
  C) Families are torn apart by claims of unsubstantiated abuse claimed to cause MPD.
  D) Clients of DID are being treated inadequately with brief therapy.

Question 2

Health care consumers need to be educated about the dangers of quackery. Which of the following is a common characteristic of quackery?
 
  A) Research of the practice was funded by a private, rather than public, agency.
  B) It is provided by a person whose education and health care experience took place overseas.
  C) It requires the consumer to pay for treatment.
  D) Its purported benefits are exaggerated or the result of data manipulation.

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Answer to Question 1

Ans: C
Feedback:
MPD, known in the DSM-IV-TR as DID, is a legitimate, albeit rare, diagnostic category that has prompted much controversy. Despite a lack of evidence supporting the belief that abuse is a necessary or sufficient contributor to MPD, conventional wisdom is that early childhood abuse can lead to multiple personalities. Families were torn apart by claims of unsubstantiated abuse. Clients were rendered financially bankrupt by treatment that included sessions lasting up to 8 hours and costing up to 1560 per day.

Answer to Question 2

Ans: D
Feedback:
Exaggeration and data manipulation are often associated with medical quackery. Private research funding and requirements for payment are not exclusive characteristics of quackery. Practitioners with foreign education and/or experience are not necessarily involved in quackery.