Structural Dissociation theory, and Basil and Sunny
The Structural Dissociation theory proposes that rather than parts forming from chronic trauma, the chronic trauma keeps them from forming You.
The theory works on the assumption that people are not born with an integrated personality. Instead, infants have separate parts that handle their needs — attachment to a caregiver, survival and basic needs, exploration of the world around them, and expressing their needs. As the needs of the infant are met, they eventually coalesce and integrate into a single, yet flexible Self.
An infant cannot form a single Self when caregivers are inconsistent with their needs. When the needs of the infant are chronically unmet, the integration of parts fails due to their conflicting needs. A single, yet flexible Self cannot be formed, and the parts become ‘separate’ due to a failure to integrate.
This disruption of the integration process of the Self is possible not only in children, however, the extreme disruption of the Self found in Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) can and will only happen before the Self has ever developed. Trauma that happens after integration may not cause full disruption of the self, but can cause traumatic materials (memories, perceptions, learned reactions), to blur and fail to integrate to the forming Self. There are three ‘levels’ of Structural Dissociation. (1) Primary Structural Dissociation (2) Secondary Structural Dissociation (3) Tertiary Structural Dissociation.
Based on the game itself, and in the OMOCAT interview, it is plausible that Sunny experiences Primary Structural Dissociation, and Basil experiences Secondary Structural Dissociation.
PRIMARY STRUCTURAL DISSOCIATION AND SUNNY ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ──
Primary Structural Dissociation refers to the presence of one Apparently Normal Part (ANP) and one Emotional Part (EP). The ANP is the part responsible for everyday life, social engagement, and basic needs and functions. The EP is the part responsible for holding emotions associated with trauma; the memories associated with the trauma; and the flight, freeze, and submit responses. The EP is dissociated from the ANP because it holds memories and emotions that impedes the ANP from functioning in daily life.
This allows the ANP to remain numb and avoidant towards the traumatizing event for the most part, except for when the traumatizing event and the emotions associated with it is brought to the forefront of the mind by the EP through dissociative flashbacks, nightmares, emotional outbursts, etc.
Primary Structural Dissociation develops as a result of a single traumatizing event happening to the person with a stable life beforehand. We know, from OMOCAT’S words, that Sunny has a very idealized childhood.
While it does not mean that his childhood was perfect, we can assume that his parents were at least consistent with providing for his needs as an infant, and for his needs later on. Any of the hurtful behaviors his parents have are displayed after Mari’s death, and most were when they were still fresh from the grieving process. Like the friend group, they were also deceived into thinking that Mari hung herself, and that they failed as parents.
It has been confirmed that some of the characters in headspace predate the headspace, which can be attributed to Sunny’s tendency to daydream. His tendency to daydream makes it easier for him to create characters in his daydreams that align with what he feels and what he represses, without necessarily being a separate part from himself. The entirety of his headspace primarily exists to hold Sunny’s desires, as well as his memories. Rather than the characters in his headspace being literal people within Sunny’s head, each are a mixture of representations of certain aspects of him (mainly, his perceptions on them and what he wants them to be and/or do), and characters that add to the imagined ‘lore’ of his headspace.
Black Space is the part of headspace that holds the repressed memories from the traumatic event, as well as other memories unrelated to the event, but have been repressed to form Headspace. It is not separate and distinct enough from headspace to count as another EP — it is only a ‘level’ of the headspace, underneath. Multiple headspace characters have also commented on it intruding on Headspace, confirming its existence as something tied to Headspace rather than separated from it.
Omori is more of an idea in the story, than he is a character. The headspace is more an extension of Omori as the EP than he is separate from it and it, separate from him. It holds what Sunny does not want to feel at the moment. Rather than different parts holding different feelings, they count as one because headspace is ultimately part of Omori. At multiple times, the headspace has conformed to what seems to be Omori’s goal — which is, keeping the truth from Sunny. The first moment headspace Basil discovers something tied to the truth, he disappears without any trace of where he could have gone. Before headspace Basil is able to say anything related to the truth, he is killed time and time again, which aligns with the goal of repressing that emotion.
Secondary Structural Dissociation refers to the presence of one Apparently Normal Part (ANP) and multiple Emotional Parts (EP). Same with Primary Structural Dissociation, ANP is the part responsible for everyday life, social engagement, and basic needs and functions. Instead of one EP holding the emotions associated with trauma; the memories associated with the trauma; and the flight, freeze, and submit responses, different clusters of traumatic materials, personal characteristics, etc. are held by different EPs, and each EP may be more formed than that of those who have Primary Structural Dissociation.
Similar to Primary Structural Dissociation, the ANP remains numb and avoidant towards the traumatic event for the most part, except for when that event and the emotions associated with it is brought to the forefront of the mind by the EP through dissociative flashbacks, nightmares, emotional outbursts, etc. However, the ANP in Secondary Structural Dissociation typically presents with self-destructive and/or maladaptive coping mechanisms.
SECONDARY STRUCTURAL DISSOCIATION AND BASIL ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ──
Secondary Structural Dissociation develops as a result of repeated and/or longer-lasting trauma experienced at a young age, and is usually perpetrated by a family member, and guardian. It is likely that Basil’s needs were not met as a child given the presentation of these EPs, and what Polly said about his parents. Living and growing up with a elderly person (grandmother, grandfather, etc.) as a parental figure is a different experience from living and growing up with an adult (mother, father, aunt, etc.). There are certain things that elderly people can and cannot do.
His grandmother will not have the enough energy to facilitate play, which is an essential need of an infant. His grandmother will not have enough energy to watch over him at all times, which leads to accidental neglect that will still be traumatizing for him as a toddler. He might have also realized earlier on, that he might lose his grandmother early — that she might die before he grows up, like his grandfather presumably did, given the flavor text of this vase, that implies that there are ashes in this vase.
Basil has also shown to be lonely prior to the game. Headspace, while unreliable in characterization, is somewhat reliable with backstories of the characters. Basil has vented to Sunny multiple times, and has been shown to have issues even before the main plot, most notably in his actions in the incident. The knot that Basil did could not have been anything other than a hangman’s knot — if it were a square knot, like what is used to hang flowerpots, it would have broken easily because they are not stable enough, nor are they made to hold the weight of a person’s body.
There is an abrupt shift in behavior and thought displayed in Basil's monologue before, and his words in fight — the cause of that, in the lens of the Structural Dissociation theory, is that his different EPs are interacting. The conflicting needs between each EP causes a disarray inside his head, and shows in his speech.
The EP that holds the Fight response is initially destructive, both to the individual, and to others. It is the part of the Self that is angry with the individual’s situation, and judgemental and mistrustful about the people around the individual. Basil displays this during his breakdown, where he expresses feelings of anger and betrayal over how Sunny abandoned him for years, only to leave when he finally came back. He also expresses similar frustration and anger when Sunny kept fighting back.
The EP that holds the Flight response is avoidant. It is the part that makes the individual distance themselves from others, and the part that makes the individual pull away from others. This is seen through his avoidance of the party. On Day 2, he isn’t at his house, but doesn’t try to interact with them, despite seeming desperate for Sunny not to leave the day prior.
This is also seen through his avoidance of a closer relationship with Polly despite having known her for a while. Polly, herself, is a stressor in Basil’s life, even if she does not intend to be. She is someone foreign to him, whom he does not know intimately but has to live with regardless.
The EP that holds the Freeze Response is fearful. It is the part that shuts down and becomes numb, and does not respond to stimuli. It is the part that locks down as a result of exhaustion. This is seen through Basil becoming unresponsive at the end of the game, after his grandmother dies. He does not even respond to his friends coming back for him, nor does he respond to Aubrey’s apology.
The EP that holds the Submit response is filled with self-hatred, and often makes the individual take on the role of caretaker and protector in order to stop feeling like something shameful. Basil has, on multiple occasions, taken on a caretaking role for Sunny, and has sacrificed his well-being just so that Sunny doesn't take any of the blame for what he did.
(note the way Basil says that Sunny wouldn’t do that. It seems more like he’s convincing himself rather than he is convincing Sunny)
Whenever he isn’t in this role, he feels ashamed, worrying over if he’s selfish for what he’s doing (it also points to there being some selfish intent with what he’s doing, if the feelings of betray expressed by him prior to the fight doesn’t make it obvious)
The EP that holds the attach response is desperate. It wants to be loved, and wants to be able to rely on anyone that isn’t themselves. Basil expresses this through how he calls for Sunny to stay, both in the bathroom after Basil learns that Sunny is moving, and in his monologue before the fight itself.
TERTIARY STRUCTURAL DISSOCIATION ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ──
Tertiary Structural Dissociation is what is described here. It presents with multiple Apparently Normal Parts (ANP), and multiple Emotional Parts (EP). Tertiary Structural Dissociation is experienced by those with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
An infant cannot form a single Self when caregivers are inconsistent with their needs. When the needs of the infant are chronically unmet, the integration of parts fails due to their conflicting needs. A single, yet flexible Self cannot be formed, and the parts become ‘separate’ due to a failure to integrate.
RELATED LITERATURE ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ──
Fisher Janina’s model that I used as reference for analyzing Basil’s EPs
and a link to the book where this comes from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z243BjIPuWcgzeC_rpkudpUYHikVXh3z/view
For further reading: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1u1xobTNUw58x3MiftURLsz1ZlfwBO7O3
Other sources:
When people are not supported in processing trauma, they may struggle to integrate the trauma into their narrative and acknowledge its effec
The goal of the present study is to empirically explore the potential benefits in using a conceptualization lens that contemplates a Structu