The Switch Process in Multiple Personality Disorder and Other State - Change Disorders

This paper explores the properties of states of consciousness as they are revealed by the process of state-change or switching. Drawing on examples of state of consciousness transitions in infants, altered states of consciousness, and psychiatric disorders, a number of common principles are derived. These include the observation that states of consciousness are discrete self-organizing patterns of behavior differing along axes of affect, access to memory, attention and cognition, regulatory physiology, and sense of self. State transitions are marked by non-linear changes in these variables. A developmental model is outlined and the implications for treatment and further research are discussed.