Iatrogenesis
literally means ‘illness produced by medical activity’. In terms of multiple
personality/DID it means that the illness is caused by a therapist persuading
their patient he has the illness when he actually doesn’t.
For those who
believe multiple personality/DID is caused by a therapist, they argue that when
the client begins therapy his symptoms get worse. They conclude that the
therapist is encouraging the client to have more symptoms and create
personalities.
While this may be
possible, it is much more likely that, as the person remembers his trauma, his
dissociative symptoms may increase. This is because he is trying to protect
himself from remembering the trauma. Remembering childhood trauma is very
painful and it makes sense that a person does not want to remember.
As well, as the
memories of the trauma emerge so too do the personalities who hold those
memories.
So, the person may
well get worse early on in therapy because it is a natural reaction to remembering
childhood trauma and not because the therapist is encouraging an illness.
