...DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER
One of the most common (and easiest to spot) themes in Salad Fingers is the very ovbious presence of Dissociate Identity Disorder within Salad Fingers himself. He swaps between alters so often that it can often make the storyline difficult to follow; but trust me, it's much more confusing for him.
Dissociative identity disorder (DID), previously known as multiple personality disorder (MPD), is a mental disorder characterized by at least two distinct and relatively enduring identities or dissociated personality states. These states alternately show in a person's behavior, accompanied by memory impairment for important information not explained by ordinary forgetfulness. These symptoms are not accounted for by substance abuse, seizures, or other medical conditions, nor by imaginative play in children. Dissociative symptoms range from common lapses in attention, becoming distracted by something else, and daydreaming, to pathological dissociative disorders. Symptoms vary over time.
DID symptoms include "the presence of two or more distinct personality states" accompanied by the inability to recall personal information, beyond what is expected through normal forgetfulness. Other DSM-5 symptoms include a loss of identity as related to individual distinct personality states, and loss referring to time, sense of self and consciousness. The symptoms of dissociative amnesia are subsumed under the DID diagnosis but can be diagnosed separately. Individuals with DID may experience distress from both the symptoms of DID (intrusive thoughts or emotions) and the consequences of the accompanying symptoms (dissociation rendering them unable to remember specific information). Identities may be unaware of each other and compartmentalize knowledge and memories, resulting in chaotic personal lives. DID patients may also frequently and intensely experience time disturbances.
The primary identity, which often has the patient's given name, tends to be "passive, dependent, guilty and depressed" with other personalities being more active, aggressive or hostile, and often containing a current time line that lacks childhood memory. Most identities are of ordinary people, though fictional, mythical, celebrity and animal parts have been reported.
Salad Fingers explains some of his alters (because he does often converse with them, because most of them are identities taken from the family that abandoned him/have died) by placing their identities into finger puppets when he is not within the identities himself. These alters include Hubert Cumberdale (himself; and sometimes he refers to his original identity as Barbara Logan-Price because he is gender fluid), Marjory Stewart-Baxter (his wife, whom he killed), and Jeremy Fisher (his father). On top of his puppets, he also slips into the alters Aunty Bainbridge (his own aunt), Penny Pigtails, and his brother Kenneth, though those are less frequent and generally shorter.
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