Hi, we're in the middle of syscovery. We think we're a median system with a "host" that is basically a superset of all of us, we just sometimes split into pieces and then mostly co-front until we stick ourselves back together. Sorry if the language here is vague/incorrect, we're still learning.
Anyway, we wanted to ask about is whether it is possible to experience dissociative amnesia not between different aspects, but as a group? We mostly share our memories, so when we experienced a traumatic flashback and things got all fuzzy, based on what we heard from other systems, we started looking for whether there might be someone who holds that memory - but no such luck. If anything, it seemed like a new, before unseen aspect showed up to suppress our collective memory. Is this a thing? We can, albeit in less detail, recall these memories when we are "together/one". I can't comment on whether we would regularly be able to collectively recall because someone in the back (the new guy) is vehemently shouting "not right now" at me as I type this, lol.
(or, I guess he's been around, just not since syscovery. "not right now, keep it together" guy does sound familiar...)
As a rule: if you are experiencing it, then it's probably possible.
Global memory loss is actually pretty common in systems affected by memory barriers or trauma to our knowledge, especially if you have PTSD- amnesia can be part of that on its own. Actually, one of the books we read recently on treating dissociation in children noted that sometimes, global forgetfulness can become the best strategy to cope with the child's life if state-based amnesia isn't enough to mentally cope with their environment.
Dissociative amnesia is also its own diagnosis (DID overrules it, but worth mentioning), and it can happen in non-systems. Memory issues can happen for a ton of other reasons that can interact with plurality as well (e.g. depression can impair memory, one system member may be significantly more affected by memory issues from depression even without trauma being involved), so the whole thing is one big mess.
And all of this assumes you even want to use a Western clinical framework! DID is not a universal concept. Dissociative amnesia is not a universal concept. These things vary more than you'd think depending on where you live, who you know, what your background is, etc.
All that said, you're early in discovery, and pushing to find someone holding a traumatic memory before they're ready to come out on their own is usually not the best idea. Digging for trauma is a recipe for retraumatization more often than not, and trying to find someone who wants to hide teaches them that they can't trust you to respect their boundaries. It's possible that someone does have the memory, but feels unsafe being seen because they don't feel safe sharing that memory yet- and saying hello would be more risk than they're comfortable with. They might even see keeping that memory suppressed or hidden to be survival-critical.
It's usually better to take a step back, invite anyone who wants to share, and trust that you will find out when the time is right.
I'll chuck a poll here, though. I'm curious.
Does your ability to remember one or more memories...
Depend on what system members are around
Does not change depending on what system members are around
Some of both
Secret third thing (elaborate in replies)
No amnesia / vanilla extract
Voting ended onMay 16
Things likely to bias results:
Amnesia often hides itself; you forget that you forgot, essentially.
Memory loss can come from other disorders and conditions (heck, even depression impairs memory on its own), and determining whether it's dissociative, neurological, etc. is messy.
"Dissociative amnesia" is very clinical language. Some people experience memory problems but do not use a clinical framework for their experiences. They may answer that they have no amnesia if they feel the word is wrong for them.
People are often reluctant to label themselves as having dissociative amnesia without a psychiatrist saying so, and access to clinicians is neither universally available nor desired.
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