Hello! Recently, I've wanted to write a character with DID (not associated with Moon Knight, I've kinda been scrolling for a bit), and although I have friends who are/have systems (is that the correct term?), I don't know how to exactly ask for help because I don't want to come off as rude or prying.
The character in question is quite stressed out in life with no one to turn to for support, and he witnessed a close friend being shot to death. I checked out some of the posts on this blog, and noticed a few times it was mentioned that people usually have DID due to similar traumas. (Please correct me if I'm wrong, I want to learn!)
So, I want to ask a few questions;
1) Is it possible for an alter to forget someone that the host knows? So that when that alter is fronting, they won't recognize the other person?
2) Do alters have to know about the host's significant other? Can the alter dislike that significant other?
3)Is it possible for an alter to front at the same time as the host, if the system is confused for example? (for example, in my story, the system not agreeing on if they should shoot someone or not because the host cares for that person, but the alter doesn't?)
If you ever do read this, thank you, and I do apologize for not being the most knowledgeable about these things. :(
Hi there! Uninformed questions are totally okay here, that’s what the blog is for :)
DID is caused by trauma, yes, but the key point is that it forms in childhood before a child’s personality is fully integrated (we don’t know exactly when that is, but it’s speculated to be around ages 6-9). You could probably change the timeline of when the major trauma occurred, or establish gun violence as the cause of their trauma, then have the aftermath of their friend’s death as when they face their DID head-on. These are just some suggestions, but identity separation generally doesn’t occur past childhood, and is a bit different than DID as we currently understand it
“1) Is it possible for an alter to forget someone that the host knows? So that when that alter is fronting, they won't recognize the other person?”
Yep, and this is because of the way switching amnesia and dissociative barriers can work in DID.
Switching amnesia is amnesia between alters based on whether they were fronting/near front when something was happening. It might not be total, blackout style amnesia, but with switching amnesia there’s usually some “fuzziness” that accompanies trying to remember what another alter did. This can definitely extend to whole relationships.
Dissociative barriers are what separate memories, identity factors, skills, opinions, emotions, etc between alters. They can be lowered as part of healing, but are the base “building blocks” of what makes alters alters.
“2) Do alters have to know about the host's significant other? Can the alter dislike that significant other?”
Not at all, and absolutely. Like I said about dissociative barriers, different alters may have different memories and opinions, and that can extend to people the system knows. As an example, our social protector sees the body’s parents as his peers, whereas our host sees them as their parents.
“3) Is it possible for an alter to front at the same time as the host, if the system is confused for example? (for example, in my story, the system not agreeing on if they should shoot someone or not because the host cares for that person, but the alter doesn't?)”
This is called co-fronting, which is when two or more alters are fronting at the same time. This is similar to co-consciousness, which is when another alter is aware of what’s happening on the outside, but isn’t in control of the body. Co-consciousness is a little like having someone in the passenger seat of a car to give driving instructions, whereas with co-fronting, both people have their hands on the wheel.
Also as a side note, the host of a system is an alter too, they just happen to “run things” :)
I hope this was a good reply! Good luck with your writing!
