A Simple Intro & Quick Guide
Hello! Let me introduce myself:
I am a college student (and current art major) in my mid 20s. I learned I had DID when i was about 15, but wasn’t “officially” diagnosed for a few more years, and now have been diagnosed for over 7 years. I do not always have full amnesic walls, and therefore technically have OSDD-1b.
I also have Autism, ADHD, C-PTSD, Anxiety, and Fibromyalgia. So these things interact with my dissociative disorder, and inform some aspects of what I talk about.
I’m also trans/nonbinary, and mostly use they/them, or he/him pronouns, but some alters use different ones. I have at least 12 alters that I’m aware of.
I intend to post useful or important information about DID and OSDD 1b on this blog, as well as letting my alters post, posting about my alters and personal experiences with the disorder, and memes. I do NOT partake in discourse. This is a safe blog for browsing.
I also intend to share coping skills and suggestions, as well as things i’ve learned from my therapists, and my excellent psychology & psychiatry professor who also had DID.
Now, A Quick Guide:
What is DID? DID stands for Dissociative Identity Disorder. it is a disorder which develops in early childhood, typically by the age of 9 caused by trauma, of periods of prolonged intense stress. The non-nuanced definition is a disorder that manifests with a person presenting multiple different personalities, who often have amnesia between them. There is no maximum, but at least 2 distinct ‘alters’ must be present. Of course, like any disorder it is a spectrum. But this is just a quick and basic explanation. There are also a few variations knows as OSDDs (Other Specified Dissociative Disorder) the ones most closely related to DID being types 1A and 1b.
Does DID only come from abuse? No. DID develops from prolonged or multiple traumas in childhood. This can include things which caused intense stress for a young child over a period of time, not exclusively abuse. It can include medical trauma, multiple moves, major interfamily conflict such as divorce, or death of a loved one, severe bullying, emotional neglect, repeated exposure to distressing or stressful situations, you get the idea. It doesn’t have to be a specific type of trauma, but it comes from trauma. However, due to the nature of the disorder it is common that individuals with DID will not remember their trauma. But this means DID is inherently a traumagenic disorder.
What Are Alters? Alters is the term used to refer to the alternate personalities, or ‘other people’ that make up a system- all the members of a system so to speak. Individuals will DID/OSDD are called systems, or plural, referring to the fact that while physically one person, they can have any number of additional people within them. Alters aren’t just personalities for many, they have their own names, ages, appearances, etc, but they appear outwardly as a different personality. Since we can’t shapeshift.
How does OSDD-1A and OSDD-1b differ from DID? These two particular subtypes are most close to DID. With 1A a person may not experience their alters as distinctly separate people, but rather as just other versions of themselves, while with 1B, a person experiences distinct alters, but doesn’t have complete amnesic walls between alters, only having partial or emotional amnesia.
What are amnesic walls? What is emotional amnesia? Amnesic walls refers to amnesia, or memory loss between alters. Meaning that when one personality is present, they do not remember, or fully remember what another personality did while present. Emotional amnesia means that a newly present personality may remember, but feel no attachment to the memory, as if despite the body experiencing it, it is not theirs.
What are Fronting and Switching? Fronting refers for being the one who is present, interacting with the real world, in “the front” of the body. When an alter is fronting they are controlling the body. When two or more alters are present it’s called co-fronting. Or being co-conscious. “Switching” refers to when one alter/personality leaves or comes to the front, taking the place of another.
What is splitting? Splitting refers to the “creation” of new alters. It is not intentional, or controllable. And typically is caused when confronting stressful situations. If the system is under too much stress, or faces a problem and the brain feels the need for someone who can solve it, a new alter will “split off” of the system. not necessarily fully developed.
Can you have DID/OSDD without early trauma? No. But you can have it without remembering any of the trauma or stress, either because you were too young, or since that’s part of the “job” of the disorder, to protect you from the stress/trauma. And you can also have it without necessarily realizing that you experienced trauma.
How common is DID/OSDD? Currently it is believed to exist within roughly 1.2-1.5% of the population l, which is considered rare, but is only slightly less common than bipolar, or red hair. to give perspective.
~and lastly~
What is DID Not? DID is NOT “having a different personality at work with coworkers than with friends.” or “acting differently with your friends than around your family.” it is common and normal for people to present different sides of themselves based on what is appropriate behavior for a setting. This is called code-switching. it’s very common for people to act differently with their coworkers, close friends, classmates, or family members, because you know these people in different contexts. DID is also NOT your personality being different based on your mood. People do act differently when they are sad vs angry vs happy, or calm vs stressed. And lastly, DID is NOT hallucinating your alters. Alters/other personalities are not hallucinations, regardless of a person’s tendency towards delusions or hallucinations. the alters exist within a person, and may or may not be actively present in their mind, giving input, etc. they present sometimes covertly, meaning they will ‘act like’ the person you know, to keep safe, or they will act blatantly different from how that person ‘usually’ acts. (But I’ll probably make a whole post about this.)
Thank you for reading! My askbox is open for questions and clarifications!
