I feel the need to say this since DID is becoming pretty big on TikTok:
Dissociative identity disorder is not fun.
Sure, there can be funny moments like depicted in the videos. Sometimes an alter can say something funny in the headspace, or put something in a weird place that you find funny the next time you front. But for the most part? It's absolutely not fun.
There's a reason why it's called a disorder. I feel like it's been said a million times, but I'll say it a million more if I have to:
Dissociative identity disorder is a form of extreme PTSD. You need to go through an amount and intensity of trauma which your brain cannot begin to process to have this disorder.
I can't speak for everyone's experiences, but let me speak for my own while living with this disorder:
Alters aren't the primary symptom. It's mostly PTSD symptoms that affect our everyday lives. I will have flashbacks of things that I don't remember due to my DID, so I don't even know how to recover or help myself since I can't remember what happened. Imagine having a wound that hurts and bleeds uncontrollably, but you're unable to tell the doctor what it is or where it's located. That's what it feels like.
My amnesia isn't as bad as others who have this disorder, but that doesn't mean I still don't have it. Sometimes I'll switch and an alter will take medication without me remembering, or make appointments/dates that I can't keep because I don't remember. Also, amnesia isn't always both ways. While I may be able to remember things, my alters will sometimes switch out and not be able to recall a thing. This makes communication difficult since I find myself watching through a one-way mirror that my alters can't always cross. This can also go the other way around.
We have no control over who becomes an alter. Let me repeat this: we have no control over who becomes an alter. I have fictive alters that I did not choose. My brain chose them to protect me. Splitting into someone who does not understand or recognize the real world is terrifying.
Switching is uncomfortable, painful, and disorienting at best. The dissociation that follows can take me out of an exam and cost precious time that I need to get back into focus. One of my alter only switches late at night, which causes nausea, which triggers his emetophobiaāhe'll stay up for hours watching videos to calm himself down while we wake up in the morning being exhausted because of the lack of sleep. We have no control over when we switch, or even who we switch into. Sometime we'll have what I call "blank switches" where it feels like a switch but nothing happens. I'm still in the front but I'm dissociated as hell and unable to focus.
I will have child alters that will be triggered out by height differences. This makes my relationship with my current boyfriend, who is over a foot taller than me, incredibly difficult.
I want to reiterate that alters are not the main symptom of DID. There's a reason why people with DID get misdiagnosed with BPD or bipolar ā they can feel incredibly similar, especially when you take into account how everyone deals with trauma differently. Someone might spend a lot after a PTSD-induced panic attack, others might lock themselves away in their room for days. Not one person's PTSD is the exactly the same because not one person's trauma is exactly the same. Trauma responses can also change in life. Two years ago, I showed similar symptoms to BPD. Now that I'm in a healthier mental state, my trauma responses are different. This is normal, and dare I say healthy.
Above all, whatever you are dealing with ā be it DID, BPD, bipolar, CPTSD, PTSD, anything ā you are loved. You are loved if your symptoms are textbook or completely unique. You are loved if you can live peacefully with your disorder or dread waking up every day. I can't say this enough ā you are loved. And if you don't believe in a God who loves you, please believe this: I love you. You are all in my thoughts and prayers, and I don't want you to live a day where you think nobody wants you. You are loved.