Hi! I have a few questions:
“Intense emotions” can be stressful though so… I’m not sure of what the difference is? It sounds stressful to me at least. ^^; I’m also told that the system will split if it feels necessary… granted, stress is pretty much a massive trigger for us but is it possible to split without stress (or maybe just a little bit of stress) and just a need for some reason?
Also, I was reading about your information about polyfragmented systems and really great info, but I’m still lost on the trauma aspect of it. I’m told that the severity trauma depends on the person or child in this instance. You mention prolonged, extreme levels of traumatic experiences. What are your examples of this? Also is it possible that a child would take their trauma as severe and prolonged despite it say… not being extreme in comparison of other traumas?
I speak as, who we believe to be, polyfrag system and I’m constantly in doubt if whether or not my trauma (whatever memory I have of it) was enough to cause this. But having more information is great because that could possibly lead me closer to the right answers. If you answer this ask, is it okay if I forward your info to my therapist?
i’m mostly referring to the people that say you can split from positive intense emotions. intense emotions as an umbrella for all emotions you experience that might be intense, rather than just stress/trauma and emotions related to stress/trauma. if experiencing intensely positive emotions is stressful to you, that’s still stress. if it causes a split, that’s still caused by stress, and then, it wouldn’t even be “positive emotions” you’re experiencing, but rather just stressful ones.
traumas commonly associated with polyfragmentation include things like child trafficking and child pornography, as well as things like ritual abuse and trauma-based mind control, though those aren’t the only kinds of trauma that are associated with it. you’re somewhat correct that the severity of trauma depends on the child, but what specifically can set a child up for polyfragmentation is how early the trauma starts.
often times it starts very early, as early as infancy or >4. this doesn’t mean someone is necessarily abusing a baby, (though that can be the case), but rather that they are exposed to many stressful events, such as domestic abuse and assault, neglect, or medical trauma from a very early age, that can be incredibly stressful and terrifying to a baby, which causes the child to rely on dissociation as a coping mechanism from a very early age. this is what sets a child up for polyfragmentation, where you use dissociation as a default coping mechanism first and foremost before you even have the ability to form other ones, including unhealthy ones.
from there, the trauma continues from infancy to childhood in various forms and is often complex, including things like incest, parentification, neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, removal of autonomy, bullying and peer-abuse, religious/spiritual abuse, in the case of many neurodivergent and disabled children, trauma from ableism, in the case of systems of color, trauma from racism, etc.
Also is it possible that a child would take their trauma as severe and prolonged despite it say… not being extreme in comparison of other traumas?
i mean it’s probable, i’m not one to say what is and isn’t traumatic for a child. it just has to start very early and continue on for a very, very long period of time.
and yeah, there are plenty of polyfragmented systems that are so from trauma that is objectively not as bad as others. victims of very long-term abuse from very controlling parents might not have gone through something as extreme as being a victim of child pornography.
I speak as, who we believe to be, polyfrag system and I’m constantly in doubt if whether or not my trauma (whatever memory I have of it) was enough to cause this.
think less about if your trauma was “enough” and more about traits consistent with polyfragmented systems and take a look at how that compares to traits within your own system. traits of polyfragmented systems often include things like the following:
complex internal organizations of alters, (subsystems, layers, large inner worlds)
complex splitting patterns, (splitting multiple alters at once, iterative alters (where an alter splits off a fragment, that fragment becomes elaborated over time, and then splits off a fragment, and so on)
complex alters, (having “copies” of the same alter, alters with alters/parts, fragments that may group together and function as one, etc)
fractal splitting, where an alter splits into two (or more), etc)
extremely high levels of dissociation
100+ alters is often the number given for how many you “have” to have to be polyfragmented, but you don't have to have that many; you can be polyfragmented and have >100, or you can not be polyfragmented and have over 100. i know systems like both of these
one of the biggest things in polyfragmented systems is having a smaller number of fully elaborated, named parts than the number of unelaborated fragments. you may have 150 alters, but only 50 alters are known by name and are known to be fully elaborated, while the other 100 or so are not fully identified fragments.
i hope this can provide some more information about pf-DID. i think i’m going to start a tag where i talk about pf-DID and it’s traits to point others to when they want to know more.
