#multipicity

[sophieinwonderland]

heyo i just found out somethin and wanted to share it with u sorry to bother u

so i was lookin at the DSM 5 for research n

"The full disorder may first manifest at almost any age", I DIDNT KNOW THAT? so that means that "you have to have symptoms before 9 years to have did" isnt true???? and well to support this we have the diagnostic criteria that states that nowhere so,...

but yeah just wanted to share this with someone..

also uh the DSM 5 literally says "Dissociative identity disorder is *associated* with overwhelming experiences," so its just associated, not needed.. hmmm

Thanks for sharing the info!

I actually hadn't heard that one very often. Usually what I hear is that DID can manifest at any point, but that the trauma has to be caused during childhood. It actually seems, based on research, that dissociative symptoms get worse with age.

Personally, I suspect that the denial ends up being a major contributing factor to this. If you're denying your systemhood and shutting out your headmates, especially if you're convinced they're just your imagination or hallucinations, any communication that previously existed is going to break down and result in instability.

This is one reason that I'm really supportive of minors discovering their plurality early. The sooner you realize you're plural, the easier it is to achieve or maintain health multiplicity.

Another thing you might be interested in seeing in the DSM is the differential diagnosis section for PTSD, which clearly states that DID may not be preceded by trauma:

[kaizendid]

I used to consider the system I'm a part of endogenic because I believed our trauma "wasn't enough" and we had "different" symptoms. Ableist misinformation from endos easily rope in minors who want comfort. In my experience, I would say endos usually fall into a few camps: actual systems in trauma denial, genuine mistaking of something else's symptoms, the ignorant kinda otherkin ones, and the malicious preying ones (ActingNT, Trisha Paytas) who tend to be the REAL problems and fuel the others.

I agree with you. 

What bothers me the most is how much misinformation they spread, that they keep invading spaces for trauma survivors & that they’re actively harmful for DID/OSDD systems. I don’t want to start a “does natural multiplicity even exist” fight because I don’t believe that that’s the main issue here.

I also don’t understand why so many DID/OSDD systems are so inclusive and always make sure to add things like “endogenic systems are welcome too”. At least on my blog - they’re not. I don’t care what they experience, my blog is about dissociative identity disorder. It’s about trauma & healing from trauma. I don’t know WHY in the world that should be inclusive for people who claim that they never experienced any trauma and/or didn’t form through trauma. Being “multiple” isn’t a quirky personality trait, it’s not like someones sexuality or someones gender identity. Having “multiple personalities” is not a trait. It’s a mental illness. 

I can only imagine how hard it must be for young people to find proper information on DID/OSDD. (You shouldn’t look for that on tumblr anyway but that’s another story for another day) Just go through tags like #actuallydid, #multiplicity, #alters, #actuallydissociative and you’ll find plenty of posts that are either from “natural systems”, or are inclusive for them. “We’re not sick, we didn’t experience trauma” is what they say. And I can totally see minors (or anyone for that matter) thinking “oh hey, maybe this is what I have, I’m endogenic” - and they enter an endogenic discord server and never seek the help they actually need.

Hell, I’m part of a diagnosed DID system and things like this still throw me into self hate and denial - because if what I experience is “normal”, then maybe my family is right? I’m making my trauma up? It wasn’t that bad, right? I don’t deserve/need therapy, right?

And don’t even get me started on people like Trisha Paytas - there’s so many people who will never reach out and seek help because they fear nobody is going to believe them.

- Sam

[ixie]

i’m praying we dont split or form another one of these lil ones because of this whole situation *looks at my alters*

[sophieinwonderland]

Me, playing Guild Wars 2: *Sees a gray haired NPC named "Elder" * > I Think to myself: "Is she really an old person? She may have gray hair, but she has no wrinkles or anything. Maybe "Elder" is her name, or maybe the in-game lore sees anyone older than in their 20s as "elder" or something? > *Said NPC proceeds to talk in the most grandma sounding voice I have ever heard in my entire LIFE*... Anyway, my ask to you is: What's something that technically shouldn't have surprised you, yet still did?

I guess wrinkles are hard to animate. You know how difficult it is to... um... draw lines? Hmm... 🤔

This was a hard one. There are lots of things that surprise me. The sky being filled with bright, pulsing flashes of light last night surprised me. (We were looking for the Northern Lights.) But that seems pretty justified.

I'm going to say Jake Lockley literally only showing up in an end credit scene. 😠

Also on Moon Knight is the blackout during the fight with Harrow... but I kind of appreciate that because having the audience miss one of the most important moments in the show due to a blackout, leaving the audience confused, disoriented and frustrated that this is happening, might be the best way to put them in the shoes of someone who actually had DID.

Like, there's something amazing about tricking a bunch of singlets into watching a show about a DID character and then leaving them with a sense of "I really want to know what happened in this very important moment but I don’t because an alter I don't know switched in right then, and now I'm unhappy about that."

As a viewer, it's disappointing, but also artistically brilliant in a way I don't think most people would appreciate.