Psychiatric Health Care Costs of Multiple Personality Disorder

The lifetime psychiatric health care costs of 15 women with multiple personality disorder (MPD) who were admitted to the senior author's inpatient service over a four-year period were tabulated. A calculation of the projected costs of treatment based on costs incurred since diagnosis was made, and this was compared to prediagnosis baseline costs projected forwards for ten years. The result of the calculation was a saving of 84, 899. 44 per patient over ten years due to the diagnosis and psychotherapeutic treatment of MPD. If the length of time in the health care system prior to diagnosis was reduced from the average of 98. 77 months experienced by these 15 women to 12 months, the savings would be over 250, 000. 00 per case. Because the potential savings from the diagnosis and treatment of MPD appear to be so large, replication of the study with a longer followup is required.