#unidentity

[unidentity-dpdr]

What's an unidentity?

"Unidentity" is a term I've coined for a certain symptom of my DPDR that I haven't seen described elsewhere. It's a bit hard to explain, so please bear with me.

It's what I described in a previous post like this:

often when i'm depersonalizing, it's not just a vague 'away' from myself, but also 'towards' a fictional character. this is kind of hard to explain. i'll feel like i was, should be, or should have been, someone/something else, even knowing for certain it's just me.

Another way of describing it is that, sometimes, while depersonalizing, I'll feel as though I'm not a certain character in the same way I feel as though I'm not myself. Such a character can be referred to as an unidentity or unID.

Unidentity is not the same as kinning, delusional attachments, or having or being a fictive. That's not to say anyone who does/has/is any of the above can't use this term if it does apply, only that unidentity describes a different phenomenon.

For me, there will be "bouts" of a certain unidentity (which can be fairly short, or multiple months or longer) wherein it will be present whenever I depersonalize. Eventually, my current unidentity will fade or change. I don't always have an unidentity- in fact, there's almost always time in between different unidentities in which I continue to experience DPDR without that specific aspect.

All of this information is from my own experiences; other people with DPDR may or may not experience unidentity in the same way or at all. I have no idea how rare or common it is among people with DPDR. Mostly, I just want an easier way to talk about this, and for anyone else who may experience this to know they're not alone.

[tiel-draws-stuff]

feel free to ask me to tag something here, I'm not the best at trigger tags ^^"

drew this for pride month a couple of weeks ago and originally I wanted to animate it but that ended up not panning out so I don't wanna push myself to do it, maybe next year lmao

OC's name is Lily and this specifically is her "mutant" form that I. don't think I have a proper reference image for bjhdrhbgnsrj. either way, she napp :)

flags used: quoigender (taken from here) and @parakeet's unidentity flag

[unidentity-dpdr]

I would like to say- although unidentity isn't intended to be a "diagnosis of exclusion," for lack of a better term, I do recommend looking into other possibilities as well if you relate to the concept of unID but feel as though it doesn't quite match. Honestly I still recommend it even if you feel unID does completely match for 3 reasons:

It's just good to learn, especially about the stigmatized conditions like psychosis and DID/OSDD that can include symptoms that may seem similar. (For the same reason, though, do be careful researching! Avoid sources that characterize psychotic people and/or systems as inherently dangerous or lying about their own experiences, and prioritize accounts from those who actually experience whatever you're researching.)

Tying into reason 1, unidentity concepts will not always apply to other phenomena, even if unID seems similar to them. Learning about these along with DPDR & unidentity will help you determine the differences so you aren't accidentally say or do something ableist or insensitive by trying to apply things about unidentity to other experiences.

You may very well find something else fits better, or applies to you in addition to DPDR/unID.

[unidentity-dpdr]

Made a minor edit to the unidentity explanation post, just to clarify that people who kin, have delusional attachments, have fictives in their system or are themselves fictives can still absolutely use the term unidentity if they do experience it, just that it's not the same experience. My experience is limited but theoretically unID can probably co-occur with many or all of the above.

[peachciders]

@unidentity​ : “  i thought you left.  ” / prompt.

the sound of quin’s voice has phoenix almost jumping where they stand, even when he’d been actively listening for the other’s footsteps. “ jesus, you’re so sneaky. is that some cat thing ? ” half joking, half simply trying to distract from their almost aimless wandering while they waited for him to wake up. he can’t help the lingering around, likes the way he can get a better feel quin even if he’s not quite around, and he’ll hardly pass up an opportunity to see him for at least a bit longer. “ do you think I’m the type to leave without saying anything ? ” a hand flies up to his chest, mock hurt dripping from every syllable. “ you wound me, darling. ”