I have seen some incorrect or harmful ideas about DID and i wanted to give literally the quickest rundown i possibly can.
HOW IS DID FORMED?
- Usually formed between the ages of 2-9 but some research suggests there is no true age that it stops forming.
- There has to be repeated trauma
- Some research also suggests that children with higher imagination and innate ability dissociate are more likely to develop DID as a trauma response
- Once you have DID new trauma/stress can result in new alters forming
‘TYPES’ OF ALTERS:
- Alters in systems (the alters that ‘make up’ one person aka, Marc’s system could be called the Moon Knight System) can have specific roles but also might not! :)
- Protectors: imagine a cool older sibling who is kinda over your shit but wants you to be ok and is there to help
MORE ABOUT PROTECTORS (NOT MY POST BUT EPIC)
- ANP (Apparently normal parts): seemingly normal or non-traumatised
- Emotional parts / Trauma holders: .... they tend to hold trauma.
- Littles: Younger alters (NOT DDLG! Can be age regression or an alter that changes age)
- Host: the one that most commonly fronts and USUALLY doesn’t know too much about the system or existance of DID at all. They don’t have to be the ‘original’ person
- Persecutors: alters, often very traumatised or hurt, that lash out towards the system and body. THEY ARE NOT EVIL! THEY ARE LOVED!
- Fragment: they hold a specific role or memory, they tend to have less definition in who they are and don’t appear as a ‘whole’ alter.
post I liked.
TERMINOLOGY:
- Switching: Different alters ‘taking control’ or coming to the front
- Fronting: when an alter is the one out or ‘in control’
- Inner world: a kind of visualised headspace where alters can interact, sometimes physically touch, and hang out. Not everybody has this and it can be hard to develop. No one innerworld is the same as the next, they are all unique.
- Co-consciousness: Two or more alters being in or around the ‘front’ at the same time, often both dictating what the body does or how they react. Think of it as a hallway and the closer you get to the front door the closer you are to being co-conscious or the front.
- Integration: lowering the amnesia barriers and increasing communication
- Fused: Alters combining to create a NEW alter! This can happen for so many different reasons. Thing of it as. A + B = V... aka, an entirely new part with the memories (all or some) of the previous alters. This can be more than two alters!
( Fused and integrated are used interchangeably but in more recent research and online conversation it has kinda started to change. So if you just say integrated to mean fused, people will know what you mean :)) <33 )
- OSDD 1A: a kind of diluted form of DID. Alters are less defined and individual. This can mean one person at different ages or in different emotional states.
- OSDD 1B: DID but without as much or any dissociative amnesia between alters. The memory gaps are less or non-existent BUT alters still have unique experiences and their own memories of trauma (sometimes it’s different).
MORE ON OSDD
- Amnesia: In DID/OSDD and trauma this can specifically refer to the memory gaps due to dissociation (dissociative amnesia) from that singular alter OR the memory gaps from different alters switching
WHAT WOULD DID ‘FEEL’ LIKE:
- I’ll be honest in that the memory gaps aren’t fun. You lose track of what day, time, month, year it is and can even find yourself in dangerous situations with no memory of why or how.
- Dissociation can feel like you are lagging behind your body or watching yourself from across the room.
- Switching can feel like falling asleep or being dragged through water but switches between systems and even alters can be different! It can take seconds to over half an hour.
/\ this depends on communication levels between alters and also willingness of the alter to actually switch, if they resist or attempt to stay in the body it can become harder.
- An alter coming to the front or into co-consciousness can feel like someone is standing over you or close by, sometimes accents will begin to chance and emotions will bleed through from one alter to another. Their voice may get louder and you can feel their opinions.
- You will/may hear the voices of the other alters while you are out.
- Seeing alters in mirrors and in the real world is not common, Moon Knight did this as a visual aid and it works amazing BUT I have only ever heard one other system (irl) say that they experience any sort of communication similar to this.
- DID does not feel like schizophrenia or just ‘hearing things’. AKA it rarely (if ever) involves straight up psychosis.
WHAT WE ARE NOT GOING TO DO!!!!!
- The goal of DID is not complete integration/fusion for everybody!
AND /\
If this was the case, the resulting person would be a DIFFERENT person to the Alter/s that integrated/fused! They would no longer be the same!
It is 10000% ok and sometimes better to continue through life with alters!
- WE ARE NOT GOING TO IGNORE THAT THIS DISORDER IS A TRAUMA DISORDER! People with DID have been through horrible things and often continue experiencing the abuse far into their adult years (not always), so
- DO NOT force someone to disclose trauma.
- DO NOT insinuate they are dangerous because in reality they are the victims!
- DO NOT call alters ‘evil alters’ (THAT DOESN’T EXIST)
- DO NOT say alters are created by or chosen by someone else! This just isn’t true,,, read the how the alters form part of this post lmao
- DO NOT force every alter into some sort of weird sexual romantic relationship! Alters can date in both their own system and across systems BUT THEY DON’T ALL DATE IT ISN’T SOME WEIRD FYCKED UP POLY ROLEPLAY! thx :)
RESOURCES AND OTHER INFORMATION:
DissociaDID (there has been controversy so take information from them with a small grain of salt, but most of their content is accurate)
MultiplicityAndMe (They have stopped uploading but have amazing information)
F o r u m s! Just google DID forums! here
Ask! Just ask! Most systems are going to be willing to answer questions or fix up misunderstandings as long as you are not rude! Don't act like you know more!
DID / OSDD discords will have chats to ask questions!
Instagram has a massive DID community!
EVEN TUMBLR! TEXT ME! I WILL TRY AND IF NOT I WILL GOOGLE WITH YOU TO FIND OUT!
GOOGLE :) just look it up and read a few things before you believe it because there is so much misinformation even in medical definitions.
It was called multiple personality disorder (MPD) AGES ago but it has been changed for decades now and calling it MPD is just kinda a dick move... so, don't??
IF I AM WRONG TEST ME PLS /G.. I WANT TO KNOW ALSO I DON'T WANT TO MAKE IT WORSE FOR SYSTEMS OMG! <<3 mwah ;)
I am not qualified or at all well educated in this topic BUT i did dedicate 3 years of my life to learning as much as i could in whatever spare time i had. SO :) love you.
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• DEADLY CLASS •
Marcus Lopez Arguello:
marcus tending to your wounds 💕
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