When all the alters communicate with each other and work together. Most people have āaspectsā of their personality that they only show sometimes, and we call it ācode switchingā. It also happens when speaking different languages, peopleās personalities change, but we think thatās normal. In therapy, for most people itās called āparts workā where you recognize that a part of you feels a certain way, but not all of you, and itās OK to hold both of those feelings at the same time.
DID is usually caused by trauma that causes rifts between those aspects/personalities/alters and doesnāt let them communicate with each other. Thatās when you start dealing with lost time, and waking up in strange places, so the real problem comes with the lack of intercommunication, aka dissociating.
Itās like a road trip with friends. If youāre all communicating and you say āHey, Iām getting tired, can someone else drive?ā thatās fine. You might wake up somewhere new, but you can immediately ask āWhere are weā and get caught up. But if you donāt know that there are other people in the car, and think youāre doing the road trip by yourself, lose days of time and suddenly wake up somewhere that may or may not be the destination you were expecting, thatās a problem.
We all have parts. People with DID had their parts forcibly separated.
Thatās true. I was hoping to convey that the disorder comes from the dissociation aspect of it. We arenāt born with our personalities already intact, they develop and unify around the age of 5-6, and DID is a response to trauma from before that age. So, we all have āmultiple personalitiesā, but donāt consider them to be āseparateā because we can still communicate with them. Instead, we just consider them āaspectsā of a single personality, but itās a gray area.
We arenāt born with our personalities already intact, they develop and unify around the age of 5-6, and DID is a response to trauma from before that age.
Thatās the current prominent theory, but testing it empirically would be disastrously unethical.
Just because someoneās brain is weird in this certain way doesnāt mean theyāre disordered. Disorder implies thereās something wrong that should be fixed, but many people with conditions will disagree that there is anything in need of āfixingā.
I have a friend with DID, but Iām not an expert. The media also portrays DID inaccurately most of the time, so itās hard to explain when thereās disinformation from multiple angles. Iād recommend doing some independent research or talking to your therapist about parts works as a way to understand more.
I think you are right. I seem to have too restricted a definition in my mind and ended up talking at cross angles to others. This is a topic I need to do some reading about.
That seems quite harsh. Youāre basically telling systems that theyāre either faking it or itās a problem, but why are you the arbiter of that? It feels similar to transphobes or homophobes saying being trans/gay is either fake or something you should āfixā. Youāre getting very close to using the medical system to enforce social standards on people who donāt conform to them under the guise of ādisorderā where the patient is actually fine.
Sorry, there is an unspoken āin my optionā in what I said. I am not a medical professional, so no one should think that is the case. In fact probably no one in this discussion is qualified to express an opinion by that measure.
What do you mean by ātelling systemsā?
When all the alters communicate with each other and work together. Most people have āaspectsā of their personality that they only show sometimes, and we call it ācode switchingā. It also happens when speaking different languages, peopleās personalities change, but we think thatās normal. In therapy, for most people itās called āparts workā where you recognize that a part of you feels a certain way, but not all of you, and itās OK to hold both of those feelings at the same time.
DID is usually caused by trauma that causes rifts between those aspects/personalities/alters and doesnāt let them communicate with each other. Thatās when you start dealing with lost time, and waking up in strange places, so the real problem comes with the lack of intercommunication, aka dissociating.
Itās like a road trip with friends. If youāre all communicating and you say āHey, Iām getting tired, can someone else drive?ā thatās fine. You might wake up somewhere new, but you can immediately ask āWhere are weā and get caught up. But if you donāt know that there are other people in the car, and think youāre doing the road trip by yourself, lose days of time and suddenly wake up somewhere that may or may not be the destination you were expecting, thatās a problem.
We all have parts. People with DID had their parts forcibly separated.
I mean, when someone is able to manage a condition, it doesnāt mean that donāt have the condition.
Thatās true. I was hoping to convey that the disorder comes from the dissociation aspect of it. We arenāt born with our personalities already intact, they develop and unify around the age of 5-6, and DID is a response to trauma from before that age. So, we all have āmultiple personalitiesā, but donāt consider them to be āseparateā because we can still communicate with them. Instead, we just consider them āaspectsā of a single personality, but itās a gray area.
Thatās the current prominent theory, but testing it empirically would be disastrously unethical.
condition ā disorder
Just because someoneās brain is weird in this certain way doesnāt mean theyāre disordered. Disorder implies thereās something wrong that should be fixed, but many people with conditions will disagree that there is anything in need of āfixingā.
This tracks with what I have read about it as well, especially the languages part for someone bilingual.
For most people you donāt realize you have different aspects because they work together and transition so smoothly.
I have to disagree with all this. What you describe either IS a disorder or not multiple personalities.
I have a friend with DID, but Iām not an expert. The media also portrays DID inaccurately most of the time, so itās hard to explain when thereās disinformation from multiple angles. Iād recommend doing some independent research or talking to your therapist about parts works as a way to understand more.
I think a big problem with this thread is the framing, ābeing multiple people.ā There is a lot of nuance here.
I think you are right. I seem to have too restricted a definition in my mind and ended up talking at cross angles to others. This is a topic I need to do some reading about.
Weāre plural. Our lived experience runs contrary to your opinion.
That seems quite harsh. Youāre basically telling systems that theyāre either faking it or itās a problem, but why are you the arbiter of that? It feels similar to transphobes or homophobes saying being trans/gay is either fake or something you should āfixā. Youāre getting very close to using the medical system to enforce social standards on people who donāt conform to them under the guise of ādisorderā where the patient is actually fine.
Sorry, there is an unspoken āin my optionā in what I said. I am not a medical professional, so no one should think that is the case. In fact probably no one in this discussion is qualified to express an opinion by that measure.
What do you mean by ātelling systemsā?
āsystemsā is just the term for a group on one body.
And by āin my opinionā I think you mean āif I had itā? An opinion can still be harmful as outspoken bigots prove.