Every time I find a new part it’s the same exact process. First I suspect but ignore/purposefully don’t follow up for a very long time, months or even years. Then I start to feel like I do have a fragment I previously hadn’t acknowledged, but it’s not a big deal, just a fragment who barely fronts and won’t make much of a difference in our life. And then as soon as I acknowledge that it’s like the floodgates open.
Always when I first acknowledge a new alter there’s a period where they’re very present. They usually say they’ve been waiting for a long time to be heard, and they’re pretty desperate at first to tell their stories and express themselves and their needs. Often after that initial period, which tends to last between a week and a month, they then fade more into the background. I’m praying that’s all that’s happening, because all of a sudden this part is a way bigger/more elaborated and emancipated part than I thought and she’s constantly influencing me and it’s chaos and it’s horrible. Hopefully when we all get used to each other things will settle down, but right now it’s awful. And it kind of seems like not just one part, but like a part with connected smaller parts/fragments, I don’t know, I’m trying not to label things too soon. This just sucks.
Some parts are easier to adjust to than others. The most recent part besides this one was Thimble, who was a really easy adjustment. But this part is not. She brings up a lot of trauma and really freaks me out. She is a nonhuman alter and the form she’s taken represents a lot of our trauma in a way that makes me really upset. I’m just so tired. I don’t want any more alters. I hate this.