Kluft, Richard P., 1943-

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EDITORIALREMARKS:AN INTRODUCTIONTO TAKAHISHI'S"IS MPD REALLYRARE IN JAPAN?"Richard P. Kluft, M.D.Occasionally DISSOCIATION receives a paper that is in-deed important, yet requires additional commentary to placeit in an appropriate context. Yoshitomo Takahashi's paper "IsMultiple Personality Disorder Really Rare in Japan?" is anexcellent contribution to the currently small Japanese litera-ture on multiple personality disorder. As Dr. Takahashi ac-knowledges, his contribution, despite its findings, is more abeginning than a conclusion. Itmaywell representan early stepin the sensitization of our Japanese colleagues to the manycomplexities that surround the recognition of this condition.Its most basic value is that it serves notice that a Japaneseacademic departmentofneuropsychiatry hasbegun to exploreMPD, an event that is of signal importance. However, it leavesthe sophisticated reader with more questions than answers.Those ofus who have observed the recent history of MPDare keenly aware of the problems attendant upon its recogni-tion and non-recognition in new areas. There are certainapparent invariables - the atmosphere of skepticism, theconservative tendency to diagnose (instead of MPD) a more"respectable" condition the symptoms of which have someoverlap with those ofMPD, the assumption that the diagnosis(of a condition the very signature of which is the covertnessrather than the overtness of its manifestations) can be madeeasilywithoutmaking more focused efforts to do so, despite thefact that standard examinations of mental functioning do notscreen adequately for dissociative phenomena, et cetera. All ofthese elements influence this contribution, but do not dimin-ish its importance.In order to place tl1is study in a cross-cultural and ascientific perspective, five authors who have made pioneeringcontlibutions to the study ofMPD in their respective countriesand have a useful and hard-won perspective on what may be instore for our intrepidJapanese colleagues at Yamanashi Med-ical College have been asked to offer commentaries on Dr.Takahashi's findings: Colin A. Ross, M.D. , ofCanada, AlfonsoMartinez-Taboas, MA., of Puerto Rico, and Bennet G. Braun,M.D.; Onno van der Hart, Ph.D., of the Netherlands andEdward Frischholz, Ph.D. of the United States.We wish the best to our colleagues inJapan, and trust thatover the years the pioneeringwork that emerges fromJapanesepsychiatry will become more available to western readers.Richard P. Kluft, M.D.We stock thefollowing books:Braun, Bennett, Treatment ofMPD, $21.50 pa.Courtois, Christine, Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Suroivors in Therapy, 1988, $34.95 hd.Donovan, Dennis & Deborah McIntyre, HealingtheHurt Child: ADevelopmental-ContextualApproach, 1990,$35.95 hd.E., Nancy, Once I Was a Child and There Was Much Pain: A Glimpse into the Soul ofan Incest Suroivor, 1988,$9.95 pa. A Book of Drawings.Freidrich, William, Psychotherapy ofSexually Abused Children and Their Families, 1990, $34.95 Hd.Kluft, Richard, Incest Related Syndromes: Adult Psychopathology, 1990, $35 hd. Available in October.Malchioldi, Cathy, Breaking the Silence: Art Therapy with Children from Violent Homes, 1990, $32 hd.Psychiatric Clinics of North America, Treatment ofVictims ofSexual Abuse, 1989, $32 hd.Putnam, Frank, Diagnosis & Treatment ofMPD, $37 hd.Ross, Colin, MPD: Diagnosis, Clinical Features & Treatment, 1989, $45 hd.Terr, Lenore, Too Scared to Cry: Trauma in Childhood, 1990, $21.95Wilson,John P., Trauma, Transformation and Healing: An Integrative Approach to Theory, Research and Post-Traumatic Therapy, $40 hd.Stern'sBook Service2004 W. Roscoe(2nd floor)Chicago, IL 60618(312) 883-5100To order, come in,phone or write. Stern'saccepts payment by allmajor credit cards,personal check andpurchase order num-ber. Shipping costs:$3.50 for the fIrst book,.50¢ per subsequentbook. We ship UPS (noP.O. Boxes please).56;.... ----J_L-------------------

An introduction to Takahishi's "Is MPD really rare in Japan?"

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