“I would know if you had DID” “People with real DID should be in a mental hospital” “People with DID would obviously be so crippled that they couldnt do XYZ”
I just wanted to say like, I’m professionally diagnosed with DID. I actually have a pretty “cliche” diagnosis of going into it with really bad anxiety, OCD, and depression that later turned into C-PTSD - but dissociation has apparently always been huge and what was actually alters and similar, I was distressed because “I can’t trust or rely on anything I say to be true because I keep doing opposite of what I believe in and keep doing things I don’t want to or like and I don’t know what's real anymore” and severe dissociation
I’ve struggled with the idea of faking and really coming to terms that I really do have DID, but I am really not faking this and I am in active treatment for it. I’m saying this out the gate because if anyone comes across it that might think otherwise might want to argue my validity as being diagnosed or whatever and if you wanna do that, go right ahead but like
I’m open about my diagnosis for the most part. I’m VERY open to starting up mental health conversations with people I am around because I know too many are silent and I’ve noticed people tend to jump at the opportunity to talk to someone who isn’t scared of the topic and I just love to have it be an open free discussion point. Just as much as I am willing to tell someone I struggle with anxiety or depression, I mention my PTSD, OCD, and DID diagnosis as well.
As a result, I have told a lot of my co-workers and classmates “Hey yeah I have DID” after knowing them for a bit. Its not a big deal for me - the other alters in the system might not announce themselves, but I let it be generally known a lot of the time.
I have probably told like, 20 or so people who regularly see me for one reason or the next after they’ve been put in the friendly acquaintance, and I don’t think a single one has been like “Oh I totally expected that” - most either go “Oh hey that’s interesting”, don’t really bother about it, or go “wait you have it??? I would have never guessed!!!” because it *really* isn’t something that is obvious
And yes it makes my life a lot more difficult and there are a lot of things I have to do in my personal life to navigate it better, but to someone that doesn’t see me living at home and sees me for short snap shots, the likliness that it’ll be obvious enough that it won’t be written off as a “rough day” or a “mood swing” or “just being tired / particularly energized” - its very very very rare.
It’s a typically covert disorder for a reason.
Of course we are a covert system and some systems are overt and some alters would likely be a lot more obvious than others so it isn’t to say that if people do notice before you tell them that you are faking, but just like, a lot of people assume DID is this HORRIBLE DRAMATIC disorder that has all these theatrics and stuff cause of media but really its like... not really
Like most of the time there is some sense of curiosity, awe or questions about it and thats all cool, I don’t mind bringing the concept to the front doors of people - particularly those that plan to go into the field - but one of the things I always say to people that haven’t encountered DID in their life before is “It really isn’t half as dramatic as you think it is”
Just like anyone else, people with DID can still have jobs, successful careers, handle school, drive, make friends, have relationships, anything that any “normal” people could have in their life people with DID can have to. Might you have to go through more loops and make more plans and work around things? Yeah sure. We study / learn different. We have to manage our driving different. Our relationships are inherently different and a lot of life decisions are make as a collective, but people with DID are still people. It’s possible to live a “normal” life that most people would agree is normal, it just might take more loops to work through than others.
But I dunno, that is just kind of a ramble I had after thinking about how I was talking about it with a co-worker a few days ago.
It really isn’t half as dramatic as people who aren’t dealing with it regularly would assume it to be.
