Subject: Re: Multiple personalities and repetitive stimuli From: boebert@sctc.com (Earl Boebert) Date: 1990-11-24, 08:05 Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks alternat@watserv1.waterloo.edu (Ann Hodgins) writes: > >In article <1990Nov22.225116.6334@sctc.com> boebert@sctc.com (Earl Boebert) writes: >> >>My SO reminds me that shifts between personalities in multiple >> >>personality disorder are triggered by repetitive stimuli such as >> >>metronomes, the passing of telegraph poles in a train ride, etc. >> >>These "triggers" are evidently well known to Lynch et al.; note the >> >>phonograph, the ceiling fans, bouncing balls, associated with >> >>transitions to BOB. >> >> > >I don't doubt what you are saying but it is news to me. I had heard of > >repetitive stimuli of a certain frequency triggering epileptic fits but > >not of it triggering personality shifts - I thought that was usually in > >response to a situation that demands the skills of the alternat > >personality. > > > >Does you SO have a reference book or article to refer us to? > > [stuff deleted] > >ann hodgins Honorable SO, who does biostatistical work for a university psychiatry department, replies that the phenomenon appears to be common knowledge among workers in the field and is the topic of numerous anecdotes; one professor reports that when MPD groups are being lectured to they all shield their eyes when the slides change, which is a bit disconcerting to an uninitiated lecturer. General references on MPD, not necessarily in support of the above: Putnam FW; Guroff JJ; Silberman EK; Post RM The clinical phenomenology of multiple personality disorder: review of 100 recent cases. J Clin Psychiatry 1986 Jun; 47(6):285-93 Ross CA; Miller SD; Reagor P; Bjornson L; and others Structured interview data on 102 cases of multiple personality disorder from four centers. Department of Psychiatry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. Am J Psychiatry 1990 May; 147(5):596-601. Franklin J The diagnosis of multiple personality disorder based on subtle dissociative signs. J Nerv Ment Dis 1990 Jan;178(1):4-14 Hope this helps, Earl