Impact of childhood abuse on adult psychopathology: A case report

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), borderline personality disorder (BPD) and multiple personality disorder (MPD), although categorized separately in DSM-III-R under anxiety disorder, personality disorder, and dissociative disorder, respectively, have each been shown to be associated with early childhood abuse. Many authors have noted the importance of determining the relative impact of childhood trauma on the etiology of psychiatric illness, both from diagnostic and treatment perspectives. In this article, we will present the case of a multiply traumatized woman who satisfies criteria for all three disorders, providing support for the hypothesis that these three diagnoses may be viewed as separate phenotypic expressions of a common origin: childhood trauma. A hierarchical model of adaptation to childhood abuse is proposed to order the clinical data.