Life After MPD

Debra Lighthart Ph.D.
Publication Consultants (2000)
ISBN 1888125764
Reviewed by Beverly Pechin for Reader Views (/06)

I approached the concept of MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder) like most of America, leery and un-informed. I came out of this book having not only a better understanding but a true idea of what the people suffering from this disorder go through and how they can become better.

The book's author, Dr. Lighthart, is not only a doctor who treats and diagnoses MPD but also suffers from the disorder herself. This alone gives her an entirely different aspect of the problems involved and how to solve them. In this book, she covers her diagnosis and her road to recovery. She gives you an insight like no other to what not only the patient goes through but the patient's family, friends and doctors. Actual transcripts of her meetings with her doctor/psychiatrist and art work that she drew to explain her thoughts and feelings make it not only very real but bring you to realize that she is a regular human being that suffers from a not so 'regular' disorder. The mere and simple fact that as a sufferer of MPD she not only thrives well in the normal world but helps others with this disorder makes you realize that MPD is not a lost cause where we need to put these people away and cast them aside. Very treatable and often misunderstood, she brings a spark of reality to the disease that makes you understand and realize, if even only a small portion of, what's going on in their mind.

This book would be a wonderful gift to anyone in the psychology field or for anyone with a friend or loved one that suffers from the disease. I enjoyed it just to understand more about the people around us who might suffer from MPD and finally get a better understanding that isn't biased or untrue like “Sybil” and other stories we've heard or read about it. A realistic viewpoint that shares some of the most intense and private moments of a woman and her life with MPD.

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