A review of the Index medicus from 1903 through 1978 showed a dramatic decline in the number of reports of multiple personality after the diagnosis of schizophrenia became popular, especially in the United States. The rise of the broad diagnostic category of dementia praecox has also been posited in the disappearance of "hysteria" (the usual diagnostic designation for cases of multiple personalities) by 1910. A number of factors helped create a large climate of skepticism and disbelief; paralleling the increased suspicion of DID was the decline of interest in dissociation as a laboratory and clinical phenomenon.Starting in about 1927, there was a large increase in the number of reported cases of schizophrenia, which was matched by an equally large decrease in the number of multiple personality reports. With the rise of a uniquely American reframing of dementia praecox/schizophrenia as a functional disorder or "reaction" to psychobiological stressors – a theory first put forth by Adolf Meyer in 1906—many trauma-induced conditions associated with dissociation, including "shell shock" or "war neuroses" during World War I, were subsumed under these diagnoses. It was argued in the 1980s that DID patients were often misdiagnosed with schizophrenia.The public, however, was exposed to psychological ideas which took their interest. Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, Robert Louis Stevensons Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and many short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, had a formidable impact.
Pityriasis amiantacea is an eczematous condition of the scalp in which thick tenaciously adherent scale infiltrates and surrounds the base of a group of scalp hairs. It does not result in scarring or alopecia. : 647 Pityriasis amiantacea was first described by Alibert in 1832. Pityriasis amiantacea affects the scalp as shiny asbestos-like (amiantaceus) thick scales attached in layers to the hair shaft. The scales surround and bind down tufts of hair. The condition can be localised or covering over the entire scalp. Temporary alopecia and scarring alopecia may occur due to repeated removal of hairs attached to the scale. It is a rare disease with a female predilection. Diagnosis
Pityriasis amiantacea can easily be misdiagnosed due to its close resemblance to other scalp diseases such as psoriasis, seborrhoeic dermatitis or lichen planus. However, in pityriasis amiantacea the scales are attached to both the hair shaft and the scalp. Pityriasis amiantacea may be present with other inflammatory conditions such as atopic dermatitis or seborrhoeic dermatitis and sebaceous scales and alopecia can occur. According to Bolognias textbook "Dermatology," this rare condition is most often combined with psoriasis, but it may also develop as secondarily infected atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, and/or tinea capitis. Treatment
The bacteria staphylococci are present in the majority of cases. Treatment with systemic antibiotics and coal tar shampoo can completely clear the condition when Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are found. Fungal infections such as tinea capitis are known to mimic the symptoms of the condition  and can be cleared with antifungal treatment.