It's been eleven years (wow) since the original 30 Days of DID ask meme was created, and there Still isn't one that is not largely parts-focused. So I made my own.
Some questions still pertain to parts but they are much more few and far between than the original ask meme. Answer what you want to, skip over what you don't like. This is all in the name of getting to know yourself better and sharing only what you feel comfortable sharing.
To be clear because unfortunately I have to be, this ask meme is for those with a complex dissociative disorder (so not just DID!) whose experiences with parts are inherently disordered.
When and how did you find out you have DID?
How do you experience DID? Do you find your symptoms manifest more physically, emotionally, mentally, etc?
What does healing look like for you?
Do you have a specific type of therapy that is your favourite and that works best for you? What types of therapy haven't worked in the past?
Have you shared your diagnosis with anyone outside of your care team? If so, who and why?
Are you, as a whole, in a relationship? How does romantic partnership work for you?
How long have you been in treatment for DID?
When did you first learn/hear about DID, if it was prior to your diagnosis?
What misinformation about DID irks you the most?
What are some ways that depersonalization and derealization appear in your day to day life?
Do you have a favourite model of dissociation (eg. BASK, ToSD, 4D model)? Why?
How do you keep track of your symptoms and experiences?
What was your last therapy session like?
What is your favourite sense to ground yourself with? Olfactory, tactile, auditory, etc?
What are some ways that memory gaps appear in your day to day life?
Prior to your DID diagnosis, had you been misdiagnosed with other conditions?
Do you have a favourite movie, TV show, book, or video game that has a character with DID, or one that you believe has DID?
How do you experience emotions in relation to your DID? For you, how are emotions affected by dissociation?
How much internal communication do you have with parts? How do you, as a whole, prefer to communicate?
What are some ways that identity confusion appears in your day to day life?
What songs or specific lyrics do you relate to your experience with DID?
Are you diagnosed with other conditions? How do those conditions affect your DID, and vice versa?
Where is the safest place you can imagine for yourself as a whole?
How do you experience passive influence? How are you able to identify passive influence now, vs. when you first discovered your DID?
Have you read books on DID? If so, what are some of your favourites? What are some books you would like to read in the future?
How do you experience denial in relation to your DID? How do you deal with it?
Do you experience variation in skill correlating to levels of dissociation? If so, what skills stand out as most affected by dissociation?
In your experience, what are the hardest things about having DID in your day to day life?
Do you have a common trait amongst parts, such as a trauma response (or if you want to be less personal, hobbies or interests, etc)?
What is something you feel should be written about that was not asked here?
Healing changed everything. It saved my life and gave me my mind back.
Before, we were in and out of hospitals and homelessness, and now we are gainfully employed with secure, stable housing. Our last hospitalization was sixteen years ago, we are med-free, and no longer dysfunctional, disordered, or disabled.
I have a healthy marriage and a solid community surrounding me in real life. I have a job I love, hobbies I enjoy, and lifelong dreams I am finally beginning to actualize.
We are laying to rest the pains of our past so they no longer control us. We are accepting our history, accepting our experiences, and moving beyond them together. We are rescuing the hurt and the abandoned, and we are bringing the lost pieces of ourselves home.
I am happy, I am at peace, and I am unchained. By embracing all our separate parts and the disparate lives we’d led, and building a shared, unified future, we are becoming unstoppable.
#3.5 - Day Three: What are your thoughts on integration? Do you wish to integrate? (2015):
There is no healing without integration.
I am keenly aware of the fear surrounding integration and fusion. I remember hearing it fifteen-plus years ago (and getting caught up in it), and I still see it circulated today, almost verbatim. And I completely understand that fear (and wrote a whole post about it.)
In healing, integration is inevitable.
System communication is integration. Functional multiplicity requires integration. Integration removes the walls and gives us the ability to cooperate, gives us co-consciousness, gives us the ability to share space and skills.
I am an integrated multiple. We have been multiple for as far back as we can remember, and our goal was always functional multiplicity. We used to think final fusion was completely off the table for us, an impossible idea. Now… we’re not so sure.
Question | Who knows about your system? Who do you want to know? What do you feel like it’s like coming out as multiple?
Not many people know about our system. The main people we chose to trust with it was Host's grandmother, our outer world therapist, and a few trusted friends of Host. At first, after we started working on a diagnosis, we felt very open and excited to tell people about it. We wanted as many people to know because we wanted to share our experience, represent for others like us, and get to know the people we have been around for so long. I especially was excited to get to know everyone and have new friends after feeling so alone and limited to who I talked to. Long story short, it didn't go very well and we were quickly labelled "Crazy". People didn't care about us as people and treated us as Host "but meaner", Host "but with an accent", or Host "but acting like a kid" It wasn't hat we had hoped. Eventually, we calmed down and learned to choose carefully who we trusted and what we said. But I would say that the action of letting people know who we were was wonderful. It was like a weight off our chest. We felt like we could be ourselves. I hope for it to be like that one day. ~ Perseus
Day Sixteen: Where, as a system, is the safest place for you? Why?
Our friend’s places I suppose. Or alone. Away from our family in a lot of ways, but with our medical issues stress is kind of everywhere.
Day Seventeen: Who’s an alter you’re interested in knowing more about or befriending? Which alter do you know best?
Nan, Maddy, The Doctor and Mel i would like to get to know more about them! Nan i would like to help as she seems to be sturggling a lot. I know Derky best!
