An Incomplete Dictionary Of System Terminology
work in progress, limited in length. check notes for more and feel free to request terms!
Abuser Introject
- A member of a system who is inspired by or a copy of a past abuser. They may or may not continue the abuse, even after a system has escaped.
Alter
- A primarily medical term to refer to system members. Short for “alternative state of conciousness” or “alternative state of identity”.
Big
- A member of a system who is an adult.
Blurring/Blending
- When two or more system members mix temporarily, making it difficult to tell who is who. With higher dissociation, it is typically referred to as blurring, but it may also occur with less dissociation, which is more likely to be referred to as blending. This may or may not be distressing for the system members involved, and often occurs in the context of co-fronting.
Co-consciousness
- Often abbreviated to ‘co-con’; when one or more system members are in front and able to communicate and observe. They may or may not be able to take control of front if they desire.
Co-fronting
- When two or more system members share control of the body in some way.
DID
- Dissociative Identity Disorder; a disorder characterized by severe dissociation and two or more separate identity states. The most common diagnosis associated with plurality, though not all plurals have DID, and not all those with DID identify as plural. In both the DSM-5 and the ICD-11; both are similar except that the DSM requires amnesia and the ICD simply states that amnesia is common.
Dissociation
- A disconnect between an individual and the world (derealization) and/or the self (depersonalization); in severe forms it is typically a result of severe trauma/an extension of the ‘freeze’ response. Not all systems experience this, and you can experience this without being a system. Nonetheless, it is a common experience within systems.
Endogenic
- A system that was not caused by trauma; less commonly, individual members of a system who were not caused by trauma. May or may not be associated with a dissociative disorder. Endogenic systems may have trauma, and it may affect the structure of their system.
Extranth
- A nonhuman system member.
Facet
- A member of a median system.
Factive
- A member of a system who is based off a real person, whether external or internal. Referred to in medical contexts as a
“factual introject”
.
Fictive
- A member of a system who is or is based off a fictional character. In medical situations referred to as
“fictional introjects”.
Front(ing/er)
- The person(s) in charge of the body at any given time, or the act of being in control of the body (depending on tense). May also be referred to like a physical space (ie “in front”). This may be in reference to a “
fronting room
” within the system’s innerworld, may simply be a metaphor, or may be a referring to the location of “in the body”.
Fusion
- When two or more system members join together permanently to create a new system member with aspects and typically memories of both, though the new member typically also has traits of their own.
Gatekeeper
- A member of a system who controls the other member’s access to the innerworld, memories, and/or other system members.
Headmate/Sysmate
- A member of a system, typically used in relation to other system members (for example, A is B’s headmate, and B is A’s headmate).
Headspace
- The location of being “not in the body”.
Host
- The system member who fronts the most often and is responsible for day-to-day life. A system may have multiple hosts, or none, and it is common for hosts to change over time.
Innerworld
- A location within the mind where system members go while not fronting. Often a physical representation of the collective subconcious. Some systems do not have an innerworld, or may have multiple, or may not be able to remember it, and it is common for some members to be unable to access the innerworld (especially
hosts
).
Integration
- Traditionally, a term for fusion, especially final (complete) fusion, and still sometimes used in that sense. May also be used to describe a lowering of dissociative barriers in systems that experience those.
Little
- A member of a system who is a child, typically defined as 0-12, though variance exists.
Lonelet
- Used to refer to a member of a system who is unaware they are a member of a system, typically in retrospect and in an affectionate/casual context.
Median
- A system that is less individualized; somewhere along the spectrum between singlet and fully multiple.
Middle
- A member of a system who is a teenager.
Monoconciousness
- When a system all shares one consciousness, as opposed to the (more common) experience where all or most members all exist at the same time.
Multiple - A system that is fully distinct and individual. May also be used to refer to all plurals, or to all disordered plurals.
Non-disordered
- A system that does not have any disorder related to their systemhood. They may or may not have other disorders.
OSDD
- Other Specified Dissociative Disorder; A DSM diagnosis where a person meets some criteria of a dissociative disorder but not all, or where a person clearly has a dissociative disorder but there isn’t time/resources to make an exact diagnosis (ie in emergency settings). Sometimes divided in order to specify which dissociative disorder it is referring to and in what ways the criteria are and are not met. OSDD-1 refers to DID, with OSDD-1A being DID without distinctive identities (ie a median system) and OSDD-1B being DID without amnesia.
P-DID (partial DID)
- An ICD diagnosis in which a person experiences the symptoms of DID without complete switches.
Plural
- The fact or experience of being more-than-one; a person(s) who is more-than-one.
Plurality/Multiplicity
- The experience of being more-than-one.
Plural Rings
- Also plural venn diagram; a symbol for plurality consisting of four overlapping circles, sometimes with a color assigned to each ring that combine to white in the middle.
Pluran
- An individual member of a system.
Protector
- A system member that protects the rest of the system or individual members in some way.
Role - A system member’s ‘job’ within the system. Not every pluran or system has roles, or labels them, and it is possible to have multiple and for roles to change over time. There are often multiple system members with any given role.
Sidesystem
- Multiple systems within a system that are in themselves independant systems. For example, A, B, and C are a sidesystem, and they are completely seperated from 1, 2, and 3. The two groups may or may not be aware of each other, and may or may not be able to communicate.
Singlet
- Someone who is not a system; the only person in a body. Less common synonym is
singleton
.
Subsystem
- A system within a system. May be used as an umbrella for all systems within the larger system within the body, or as a specific term for when a system member is themselves a system, similar to nesting dolls.
Switching
- A change between who is in control of the body. May take anywhere from moments to hours, even days to weeks.
Switchy
- A feeling associated with switching. Often involves heavy dissociation; may occur without a switch or may not occur when a switch does occur, especially in the case of faster switches.
System
- A collective of individuals within a body. Can also refer to groups of individuals within the system.
Traumagenic
- A system caused by trauma; less commonly, individual members of a system who were caused by trauma. May or may not be associated with a dissociative disorder.
Treblesand
- A symbol for plurality that is a combination of the ampersand (&) and the treble clef.