multiple personality disorder

noun

variants or less commonly multiple personality

: a personality disorder that is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct and complex identities or personality states each of which becomes dominant and controls behavior from time to time to the exclusion of the others and results from disruption in the integrated functions of consciousness, memory, and identity : dissociative identity disorder

Note: The term dissociative identity disorder is now preferred over multiple personality disorder and multiple personality especially in medical contexts.

Examples of multiple personality disorder in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Tyler Perry suffered the kind of childhood that caused many children’s brains to create multiple personality disorders, but Tyler was spared disorder. —Dominique Fluker, Essence, 5 Dec. 2024

Another medical name that's been changed is dissociative identity disorder – a condition that affects only about 1.5% of people and was formerly called multiple personality disorder, or split personality disorder. —Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 4 Dec. 2024

Bitcoin’s correlation with global economic conditions suffers from multiple personality disorder, making moves in the price impossible to predict. —Dave Birnbaum, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024

Ian Hacking, the philosopher, argued that such a dynamic fuelled the epidemic of multiple personality disorder in the late twentieth century, and something similar seems to be playing out now with the growing portrayal of dissociative identity disorder, the current name for M.P.D., on social media. —Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 6 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

multiple personality disorder

noun

: a neurosis in which the personality becomes separated into two or more parts each of which controls behavior part of the time

Medical Definition

multiple personality disorder

noun

: a personality disorder that is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct and complex identities or personality states each of which becomes dominant and controls behavior from time to time to the exclusion of the others and results from disruption in the integrated functions of consciousness, memory, and identity : dissociative identity disorder

Note: The term dissociative identity disorder is now preferred over multiple personality disorder especially in medical contexts.

—abbreviation MPD