Posted by So much blather! on May 22, 2006 at 15:41:39
Although you can find DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) in the DSM-IV and ICD-9 as a diagnosis for which a practitioner can bill for services, it is a highly controversial diagnostic label.
There is a very good discussion about the controversy at the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_personality_controversy
DID is less stigmatizing than a diagnosis of personality disorder. For this reason, some clinicians prefer to use the DID label as a "rule out" while they continue to assess whether the inidividual actually has a personality disorder.