Dr. Gold Replies

TO THE EDITOR: In reply to Dr. Merskey's letter regarding my review of his book, I have little further comment. While, as noted in the review, a number of areas are well covered in the book, the topics of conversion, dissociation, memory, and trauma are discussed more thoroughly in the special supplement to this journal that was published in July 1996.

I did my best to review the book in a totally impartial manner. I do not know why Dr. Paris asserts that I am “passionately committed to these very ideas,” as I have no knowledge of this passion myself. I believe that there are a lot of questions to be answered in the field of dissociation and a need for much more reasoned discussion on the issue surrounding memories of trauma. I had looked forward to reading Dr. Merskey's book in the hope that some of this would be elucidated and tried therefore to review it in a very objective manner.