Psychiatric Expertise and Forensic Management in Cases of Dissociative Identity Disorders

Dissociative identity disorders are still one of the most controversial entity within the psychiatric domain. Formerly known as †multiple personality disorder†until late 1994, the assessment of this condition has split the world of psychology and psychiatry between believers and skeptics as the characteristics of the pathology are very hard to assess with objective tools. Different theories have circulated about dissociative identity disorder over the years and some cases reached mass-media attention due to its spectacular aspect. Being a pathology with extreme and contrasting changes in behavior, judgment and affect within one individual, theoretically without control and memory on the actions of each personality, justice management can hit many blockages if that person is involved in antisocial activities. Forensic psychiatry is again the mediator of the investigation and legal conclusions over such cases but even in the moment of the psychiatric expertise, objective assessment can be complicated by the specifics of the disorder. This paper proposes a review of the current knowledge of the disorder with the theoretical legal appliance in cases of antisocial behavior with law involvement.