The theory of structural dissociation
Here’s a post where I explain the theory of structural dissociation. All information is taken from The Haunted Self: Structural Dissociation and the Treatment of Chronic Traumatization by Van der Hart, Nijenhuis and Steele (2006).
I am not a professional and am only repeating things I’ve read. The reason I’m making this post is because I (and others) refer to the theory of structural dissociation regularly, so having a clear post about it seemed like a good idea!
Before explaining the different ‘levels’ of structural dissociation, I’ll shortly explain the terms ANP and EP. ANP stands for Apparently Normal [Part of the] Personality, whereas EP stands for Emotional [Part of the] Personality.
Very broadly stated, ANP parts are focused on functioning in the daily life and distanced from anything trauma-related; in DID ANP’s can be completely unaware of any trauma. EP’s are more trauma-related; often ‘containing’ very intense, trauma-related emotions, memories, actions, beliefs et cetera.
However, it’s important to mention that the ANP/EP distinction is not black/white. Some EP’s can help out in daily life, ANP’s can still have emotions, stuff like that. Especially once there are multiple parts and more elaborated parts, the ANP/EP distinction becomes blurry. For instance, I wouldn’t be able to define for all of us whether they’re ANP or EP.
Okay. Back to the theory of structural dissociation. Two more important terms: elaboration and autonomy of parts. Please check out this infographic by @clever-and-unique-name on the elaboration of parts! Simply put, elaboration is about the degree to which a part has its own traits (e.g. name, internal appearance, skills, beliefs, …) and autonomy is about the degree to which a part feels they are their own self and the degree to which they can take executive control (aka ‘switch out’).
The theory of structural dissociation distinguishes between three ‘levels’ of structural dissociation:
Primary structural dissociation. This is the most ‘simple and basic’ trauma-related division of the personality: a single ANP and a single EP. In this case, the EP is unelaborated and not very autonomous in daily life. Primary structural dissociation often occurs after a single traumatizing event.
Secondary structural dissociation. When traumatizing events keep happening and keep being overwhelming, further division of the EP can happen while the ANP remains intact: in this situation someone will have one ANP and multiple EP’s. The EP’s can be more elaborated and autonomous than in primary structural dissociation, but are typically less elaborated and autonomous than in tertiary structural dissociation.
Tertiary structural dissociation. The difference between this level and secondary structural dissociation is that in tertiary structural dissociation, the person has more than one ANP and multiple EP’s. This can happen when inescapable aspects of daily life have become associated with past trauma, or when the functioning of the existing ANP(’s) is so poor that normal life becomes too overwhelming - causing a new ANP to develop. In this level, it’s common for several ANP’s and EP’s to be more elaborated and autonomous than in secondary structural dissociation.
In severe cases of secondary and in all cases or tertiary dissociation, more than a single part may have a strong degree of elaboration (e.g. names, ages, genders, preferences) and emancipation (perceived separation and autonomy). This is not usually observed in primary structural dissociation, and neither in most cases of secondary structural dissociation.
According to the authors of The Haunted Self, the levels of structural dissociation and various diagnostic labels relate as follows (they categorize more diagnoses in the book, I’m only naming the ‘relevant’ ones right now):
PTSD = primary structural dissociation
Trauma-related BPD, CPTSD, OSDD = secondary structural dissociation
DID = tertiary structural dissociation
Please keep in mind this is a proposed relationship between structural dissociation levels and DSM diagnostic labels. Many survivors experience structural dissociation without the elaboration and emancipation of some dissociative parts found in DID.
Based on this description of the theory it may seem easy to figure out ‘where you are at’, but personally I believe it’s not. That’s why I, for myself, hold onto the idea that dissociation is a spectrum. These categories help a lot, but there are no hard walls in between. Maybe someone with PTSD from a single traumatic event can have two EP’s. Maybe someone with CPTSD can have black-out amnesia but no elaborated parts. Maybe someone with OSDD can have more elaborated parts (that’s me).
A last important note is that, once you’re in a ‘higher’ level, you can also have the parts associated with lower levels. Simple example: someone with DID can also have very simple, one-dimensional, unelaborated EP’s.
I think that’s plenty information for now. Let me know if I made a mistake, missed something big, or if you have any questions.