Multiple personality in eating disorder patients.

Although the overlap between childhood sexual and physical abuse and eating disorders is well known, little work has been done on the sequelae of childhood trauma in eating disorder patients. Dissociative phenomena are common in adult survivors of childhood abuse, with multiple personality disorder (MPD) being the most extreme form of dissociative disorder. We describe two women who presented for inpatient treatment of eating disorders who were subsequently found to have MPD. Because the eating pathology in these patients contained atypical features related to the MPD process, uncovering MPD was critical in the treatment of their eating behavior. MPD should be considered in any atypical or treatment-resistant eating disorder patient.