Assigned Hater at Birth

Hater (any pronouns)

[fakedisordercringe-debunked]

Do not harass Fake Disorder Cringe, this is just a place to point out when they're wrong about things, not a place to organise attacks. Will add details to this post if needed.... Thanks.

[fakedisordercringe-debunked]

DO NOT COMMENT ON THE POSTS SCREENSHOT OR SEEK OUT THE CREATORS OF THE POSTS.. THIS IS HARASSMENT REGARDLESS OF INTENT!!

In this post I want to illustrate an issue of users assuming what they know of the world to be true even though they're one search away from information that would challenge their preconceived beliefs. I was curious about the claim that "a huge majority of "systems" are fakers" so I went to my search engine looking for answers.

First off, I want to state that if you read over results, you will repeatedly come across statements that true rates of factitious or malingering disorders cannot be determined because it is obviously incredibly difficult to tell the difference between: people who lie, people who believe they're telling the truth, people who are telling the truth but are subject to unconventional circumstances, and the people who are telling the truth and fit conventional circumstances. Someone who does enough research can fake the disorder to such as extent they will test more "accurately" to the disorder than someone who actually has the disorder, and it needs be remarked that people are misdiagnosed or ignored by professionals all the time even in cases of physical sickness that you would think have more "objective" proof to distinguish between them. I for one once went to the doctor for a sickness that tested negative and was thus dismissed by the doctor, even though the people around me later caught and tested positive for the sickness, displaying the same symptoms as myself. I'm sure most people would agree this sickness was completely unnecessary to endure - there were ways to treat my sickness while remaining wary of my test result - but because I did not "test correctly" I was left out.

Next off, the answer is NO, malingering and factitious disorders are consistently in the minority. It takes a single search to check this- the first answer with varying search queries always shows a percentage in the MINORITY. Maybe you could say that it's going to be more frequent in certain populations (the population here would be "users claiming to be systems who use PluralKit Bot"), but that would require a professional study which is unlikely to occur when there's already limited studies into this regarding populations in clinical environments. So. There.

Funnily enough, reading over the screenshots, there is a better evaluation of statistics there than "a huge majority of "systems" are fakers".. Honestly, the entire screenshots are worth reading because they're so well put, much more well put than whatever the OP presumably wrote.

So first, it is not "faker-focused", and any claims to that effect very much do undermine and dismiss real cases. We acknowledge it's likely that many folks are misdiagnosed, but at the same time, at least some of the increased frequency in claims is also the result of increased information and decreased stigma allowing people to identify and be open about their experiences, like many disorders. For example, autism was not long ago considered "very rare" despite being a relatively new diagnosis and poorly understood by the public, and even today it's only gotten a little better. Regardless of the actual rarity, doubting every claim will absolutely dismiss real cases too. Furthermore, a very common cause of people mistakenly (but genuinely) believing they have alters is maladaptive daydreaming, which is still a coping mechanism, not just people "faking" for attention or fun. There are also likely cases that include some genuine experiences leading people to misidentify and exaggerate other, non-alter experiences, especially when comorbidities come into play. In the end, while there is a chance for downsides, there are also guaranteed benefits. Encouraging people to treat systems with respect helps normalize the idea. It isn't our place to scrutinize every claim, and it would be incredibly cruel to force genuine cases to "prove" themselves, as well as risk pushing them to doubt their own perception and struggle more. We don't want to do that! Ultimately, we would rather risk that people who don't necessarily need tools might also use them than guarantee denying people who do need them.

Now with the next point I do admit I partly agree, but not to the same ends of the commenters.

These users are right, PluralKit is not a necessity, but that doesn't mean it isn't helpful and convenient. Let's consider what benefits PluralKit has for a system.

The larger the system is, the more information there is to share with others. In smaller systems, making individual intros (intro channels are common across Discord servers) are easier to keep condensed.. But when you're pushing up into the realm of 10 alters or more, giving personalised details as basic as what your name, pronouns and likes are starts to clog up channels. PluralKit is good for organising information in a way people appreciate.

Switching between separate accounts is more feasible now, but before would have required much more effort. Note, there ARE systems who opt to separate their accounts entirely for a sense of privacy - it's worth mentioning those systems do indeed exist - but there is a lot of hassle to having 12 different sets of accounts when many systems are fine sharing one in the first place.

Some systems are far more distinct in the above way in that they act as entirely separate individuals who do not overlap frequently, but others will experience far less distinct lines between each other and often find themselves talking to others simultaneously. In this situation, having separate accounts when you yourself are unable to tell if you are one individual or multiple at once makes separate accounts impractical.

There are other ways for systems to distinguish between their members as they type, such as using sign-offs or integrating typing quirks into the way they type, but these can end up less accessible and be confused when translated to the format of Discord messages.

Discord, unlike other messaging apps, groups together messages sent in a short span of time together. Systems will switch at varying speeds, so systems who have fast switches may send walls of text that are comprised of different members' input but look to be unified upon a glance. This will look visually incoherent.

Also, when using Discord you become used to looking at the top left to recognise what user is sending a message, so sign-offs are inherently unintuitive being placed in the bottom right of any given message.

So no, nobody NEEDS PluralKit. Systems have existed before PluralKit was a thing and they would find ways to manage if PluralKit one day disappeared never to be seen again.. But you shouldn't argue that just because something is unnecessary that people aren't allowed to use it or ask that a helpful tool be integrated into a server. And I'll conclude this post here.

DO NOT COMMENT ON THE POSTS SCREENSHOT OR SEEK OUT THE CREATORS OF THE POSTS.. THIS IS HARASSMENT REGARDLESS OF INTENT!!

[fakedisordercringe-debunked]

DO NOT COMMENT ON THE POSTS SCREENSHOT OR SEEK OUT THE CREATORS OF THE POSTS.. THIS IS HARASSMENT REGARDLESS OF INTENT!!

In the video shared, the TikTok user accurately makes the comment, "what sucks about being a system is you have no control over shit that happens to your body". I do not know if there is any additional context on the user that warrants fakeclaiming them (I doubt it), but as many systems experience amnesia, dissociation, and lack clear communication, situations like this are not unlikely to occur. Ideally, system members communicate with one another and agree not to make brash decisions - like changing the body's appearance without discussion first - but it's not as if members of a system are unable to act without permission or intervention.

The TikTok is clearly a way to make light of the circumstances and to joke about how the haircut looks.. "You can hide it but the fact I look like a cocker spaniel when I'm just sitting here.. I look like a fucking lord. Look like a goddamn coconut and I hate it so much. Who did this to me? Who cursed us to this fate?" Note the hyperbole of comparing the bad haircut to a "cursed fate".

This comment is accurate in that discovering in the aftermath things that have been done with your body without permission can be frightening, but a bad haircut is not permanent and far from the worst thing that could happen. If the user finds the scenario funny, he is allowed to joke about it and invite others to laugh about it too. I have no doubt some people would find this distressing, but not everyone has the same reactions to these kinds of situations.. Especially, again, not to something as unimpressive as temporarily having a bad haircut.

Needless to say, comments like the above are mere speculation about something that is a very real possibility. Many users on the subreddit make mistakes like this constantly, where they trip themselves over the most basic of information about any given disorder. They are so quick to run their subreddit they do not think for a moment about whether what they're seeing is accurate to the experience of disordered people.

The subreddit claims to be a place where people want to spread accurate information, but the truth is majority of posts are made based on the cringe factor of a user and a vibe check.. And "cringe" is the basis of other harmful rhetoric like transphobia and fatphobia. This behaviour is unacceptable and users should feel ashamed about participating in these posts.

DO NOT COMMENT ON THE POSTS SCREENSHOT OR SEEK OUT THE CREATORS OF THE POSTS.. THIS IS HARASSMENT REGARDLESS OF INTENT!!

[fakedisordercringe-debunked]

DO NOT COMMENT ON THE POSTS SCREENSHOT OR SEEK OUT THE CREATORS OF THE POSTS.. THIS IS HARASSMENT REGARDLESS OF INTENT!!

Alters of real people are a form of introject, where a system splits an alter based off of an external figure. Splitting itself is (majority of the time) not voluntary, and there is no way for an introject to choose their source just like there is no way for any other alter to choose who they are. Personal discomfort with an introject is to be expected depending on the source, but expressing these opinions in a way that invites people to call introjects "creepy", "weird" or to suggest they are "immoral" is directing suspicion and harassment towards a group that had no say over their formation. Of course alters should keep in mind the boundaries of others around them, like anyone should, but holding someone accountable for their behaviour is not the same as demanding alters be forced out sight and to surrender their entire identity just to be treated with respect.

Although factives (alters based on real figures) and fictives (alters based on fictional figures) are referred to differently, both are a form of introject and neither is more "real" or "likely" than the other to occur. There is no essential soul that a system has access to to form an alter, it is based on the perceptions of the system. This is to say, an alter could split an introject based on a motherly figure who is literally their mother OR a motherly character they are attached to, and neither are all too different from each other in this way.

Splitting an introject is not something that can be undone, but systems who are aware of what conditions they split under can take measures to avoid it. Some systems split introjects in great numbers and very abruptly, and other neurodivergencies can influence how frequently this occurs e.g an autistic person becoming so much more attached to their special interest than the average person that they start splitting introjects from that source. It might seem like an open and closed case that systems should avoid splitting at all costs, but systems that aim to curb splitting introjects may have to withdraw from those close to them or stop engaging in media they like to do so. It is not fair to expect systems to deprive themselves of intimacy and happiness in order to be a "normal" system with a "reasonable" amount of "unproblematic" alters.

To reiterate, it is normal to feel uncomfortable with the concept of introjects - it opens the doors to many complicated situations singlets don't typically have to think about - but your gut reactions should not affect how you treat an entire group.. and yes, treatment DOES involve how you talk about them. This post has created a space for people to air their distaste of introjects where they are otherwise aware that speaking about introjects in this way would have them told off and ostracized.. For people who are "nice" but are just waiting for the right people to gossip with about their "crazy" ex-friend.

Not to say these people had or have any ill intent (DO NOT HARASS THEM), but that is how they muddle into this space.

This is blatantly misinformation, and introjects do not "pretend" to be their source. Depending on the introject, they may believe wholeheartedly they are their source, or they may have any number of complicated feelings about their source, but no introject is "pretending". As uncomfortable as introjects might make others, we need to consider their feelings too because to assume introjects are always fine with the predicament they find themselves in is incredibly self-centered and lacking nuance. A kind of introject that can be split may be based on the system's abuser, which can be an utterly distressing scenario to find oneself in, or to otherwise be an introject of someone who is cruel and immoral. In fiction, we would classify this as a psychological horror story and be made to feel sympathetic for the victimized character, but it seems that when it comes to alters who actually live through these experiences people do not care.

I will conclude this post here as there are other things that could be discussed, but I'm sure future posts will cover those points in more detail. Thank you for reading.

DO NOT COMMENT ON THE POSTS SCREENSHOT OR SEEK OUT THE CREATORS OF THE POSTS.. THIS IS HARASSMENT REGARDLESS OF INTENT!!