What is DID?

Dissociative Identity Disorder, also known as DID, is a dissossive disorder that is typically caused by constant trauma. In DID, there is more than one individual in the body along with amnesia barriers blocking alters from remembering what another alter did. However, there are multiple types of amnesia associated with DID.

DID is caused typically due to constant childhood trauma. At a young age, all children have separate self-states. Over time, they collide together which forms an individual's personality. However, in DID, the brain sets up amnesia barriers between self-states to allow an individual to function fine during childhood.

There are multiple types and forms of dissociative amnesia. Retrograde is where dissociative amnesia affects finding old memories. Anterograde amnesia is where dissociative amnesia prevents the formation or storage of new memories.

The five forms of dissociative amnesia are localized, selective, generalized, continuous, and systematized. Localized amnesia is memory loss that affects everything within a short and specific time frame. Selective amnesia is memory loss that affects an event or all events of a certain type within a certain time period.

Generalized amnesia is memory loss regarding everything in a long period of time (typically months or years). Continuous amnesia is the type of anterograde amnesia. Systematized amnesia is memory loss affecting everything under a certain topic or category. Localized, selective, and generalized amnesia are all typically associated with DID.

The amnesia types that DID presents are called grayout amnesia and blackout amnesia. Grayout amnesia is referred to as remembering some details, but not all and may feel like you're watching someone else control your body when looking back at the memories. This is typically also referred to as selective amnesia. Blackout amnesia presents in either generalized amnesia or localized amnesia. It is when an individual cannot remember anything within a certain timeframe.

Some symptoms of DID are the presence of more than one alter, amnesia, memory gaps, dissociation, derealization, depersonalization, identity confusion, behavior changes, and multiple internal voices.

The DSM-5 TR for DID is the following:

A. Disruption of identity characterized by two or more distinct personality states, which may be described in some cultures as an experience of possession. The disruption in identity involves marked discontinuity in sense of self and sense of agency, accompanied by related alterations in affect, behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and/or sensory-motor functioning. These signs and symptoms may be observed by others or reported by the individual.

B. Recurrent gaps in the recall of everyday events, important personal information, and/or traumatic events that are inconsistent with ordinary forgetting.

C. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

D. The disturbance is not a normal part of a broadly accepted cultural or religious practice. Note: In children, the symptoms are not better explained by imaginary playmates or other fantasy play.

Terminology

While many individuals create their own terms, these are the most common

Plural — anyone who is more than one in any way. This can be by having multiple separate identities, personalities, entities, etc in one body or otherwise.

System — a system is someone who identifies as plural and calls themselves a system as well.

Alter — a specific entity in a plural. Normally, alters have their own personality, name, pronouns, genders, and more. They also normally have autonomy and their own conscience. They are sometimes referred to as something else. This can also be having a different ‘state’ rather than consciousness or such.

Fragment — an alter who either doesn't have a full identity or doesn't have a full consciousness. This can also be both. It describes any alter not fully formed.

Sissasystem — the overall term for groups, subsystems, nestedsystems, sidesystems, etc.

Group — a group of alters who often hang out and/or are around each other.

Subsystem — a subsystem is either a system in a system, alters who have split from one and are considered a subsystem, or a group that's inheritently functions alike a system. There is more definitions which depend on the individual.

Sidesystem — a sidesystem is a system that is separate from another system.

Headcount — the collective amount of how many alters there are.

How to Form Alters

How Dissociative Identity Disorder creates alters is creating dissociative states which form conscious (or states) individuals to function normally due to trauma.

However, there are dissociative barriers between alters (such as a cisendogenic who is also cisdid may have formed due to other causes and trauma created the barriers) which is typically grey amnesia (not remembering it but being able to recall typically) and black amnesia (not remembering it at all)

When you're creating the alters, you have to remember what you're aiming for. In DID, you want to create dissociative barriers between you and the other alters. Furthermore, you might also aim for polyconsciousness and being multiple. However, that depends on the plural.

Traumagenic alters often have a reason why they're there. For example, to protect the plural, care for the plural, etc. They may have roles and it is recommended to try to form alters with roles if you are aiming for traumagenic alters.

Firstly, you need to create the alter. I recommend going in depth with their description. You can create an sp or pk, or even use a notes app to create their layout to build off of.

Think about their name, pronouns, genders, (x)ids, age, species, boundaries, preferences, personality, typing quirks, etc. All of this is important, especially in DID, since alters are typically different from one another.

You're creating another person, so also think about likes, dislikes, hobbies, stances, etc too. This will help them and you to your transition to DID.

Secondly, you have to start actually forming them. You can do this in many ways. The most common way is to talk to them throughout your day as if they are already formed.

Typically in this tactic, you form them by causing them to become a separate consciousness and sentience. You typically want to talk to them for about two or more hours a day. It adds up easily if you're interacting them all day.

However, you can also ingrave them into your thinking and sense of self until they become separate. To do this, you can match your thought process to them. What would they say? What would they do? What would they eat? What would they think? What would their personality be like?

You continue that tactic until they form. If they aren't separate, you can go over to #4 and #6 to help out.

Another tactic is using a headspace. For this tactic, head over to #8 to create a headspace beforehand. If you can see images, imagine you and the other alter in any place in the headspace. What are they doing? What about their expression and how they're standing. Take in every single detail before talking to them. You can introduce yourself too and introduce who they are.

Talk to them for I'd recommend about an hour every day. You don't have to parrot, although you can if that helps. I'd recommend asking questions and giving them the opportunity to respond.

There's many more tactics and if you'd like, create one yourself. These are the tactics I know are quite popular. The whole goal is to create an alter which can be done in many other ways. I'm also able to create new methods if you'd like to send an ask in our inbox, we're welcome to do such.

How to Become Polyconscious

Before we get into how, let's discuss what polyconscious is firstly. Polyconscious is where every alter has their own consciousness. A conscious is being aware of your existence and being aware of your surroundings.

So, how to become polyconscious? One tactic is to pretend. Go throughout your day acting like you and the other alter(s) are polyconscious. This method is going into tricking yourself into believing you're polyconscious.

However, there are many other methods. Another one is manifestation. While you have to look into manifestation, here's my personal favorite method for manifestation from what we've seen.

Take a deep breath. Tell yourself your the creator, you choose what happens. I'd recommend out loud but you can say it in your thoughts as well. Close your eyes, for a minute, focus on your breathing. Once you've done that, continue that while thinking about what you want. Think about how it will be once you get what you want. Then exhale. Tell yourself it will happen because you decided so.

I'd recommend to think about any doubts you have and overcome them. Why wouldn't manifestation be possible? Prove those doubts wrong then do this process. Be free to do this everyday but it's not required.

Another method, one of my personal favorites (yet most frustrating) is a game we call "behind the door". One alter leaves the room (one that's co-con, not front) and they enter the room once again with either a item or another alter and has to tell the fronter what they grabbed or who they grabbed.

The goal of this is to separate consciousness by the other alters now wavering because they know and you inherently don't.

How to Dissosicate

Dissociating is quite simple. There's multiple forms of dissossation. Depersonalization and derealization.

Depersonalization is feeling detached to oneself. Some symptoms are feeling like an observator to your thoughts, body, feelings, and/or actions, emotional or physical numbness, feeling alike a robot, not trusting your memories, and your reality may feel distorted or unreal.

Derealization is another form of dissossication. Some symptoms are feeling alike the surrounding world is unreal (may look/seem foggy/flat/colourless or anything else that makes it seem distorted), sensory distortations (such as certain things sounding louder or quieter than normal or something feeling softer/harder than typical), distorted sense of time (may feel like slow motion or fast forward and/or memories may seem like they happened a while back or only a moment ago), and emotional disattachment (emotional numbness or distance from one's surroundings).

I'm going to be real here, causing dissossication is one of the most easiest things ever. At least from my experiences.

For depersonalization, I recommend getting yourself out of the world first. Look around and recognize your surroundings before focusing on yourself. Fade the surroundings (or in other words, make it feel similarly to a faded background even if it doesn't look like it). Now, for a moment think and feel. Then let ago. Distance yourself from your body, thoughts, and emotions. They aren't yours currently, it's someone else's, the body's. It's quite similar to zoning out (as its a form of dissossication), however knocking it another notch. Then stay in that until you come back to the world.

For derealization, I'd recommend focusing only on your thoughts. The world isn't real, compare it to alike a simulation or game. It's just another fragmentation of what you know and what's going on. It's not real. Even if it doesn't inheritently look different yet, say it is and step into that feeling. Believe it. Your subconscious will eventually listen because it believes whatever you say.

How to Create Amnesia Barriers

There's multiple methods to do this. The most common is to trick your subconscious into believing it. To do this, you just pretend you already have amnesia barriers. Whenever a different alter fronts, act as if you don't remember anything. Don't let any thoughts through if they're trying to break that reality. Eventually, your subconscious will listen after it goes "well, since you say so and feel it, it must be true".

However, that doesn't work for everyone. What I recommend it dissosicate before switching with another alter. If you/they remember anything, remember that that's another alter's business, not yours and go on with your day. It must not be important to you because it's their memories.

Although, that's just another form of pretending. While it's not inherently, it might also not work out for some individuals. So, my last method for this is, once again, manifestation. Use the method that I stated for polyconscious or another method and simply manifest it.

However, these methods won't work for everyone, for that, be free to request a new method for this in my inbox if none of these work out.

Tools that May Help

Some tools I recommend that could help are pluralkit and simply plural for endo-safe (even if you're not endogenic) proxy and tracking tools. Lighthouse is a good website as well. It also has tools for DID information as well.

Subliminals might also help out, although, not always. To use subliminals, I'd recommend to lay down (or sit down) and listen to it. That's all you have to do. Say affirmations if they don't have any in the audio, or if they do, just let it happen. Please be careful as there are subliminals that have bad intentions and will put harmful ideas into your subconscious while you don't know.

Another tool that could possibly help out is creating multiple blogs or creating a DID blog where you present as cisDID (out as radqueer or not) which can be helpful in transitioning. Creating a blog for separate alters can be helpful as well to form them.

How to Create a Headspace

There are two versions I'm writing here. For those who can see images and for those who cannot.

Firstly, I recommend creating a Pinterest board or any visualization outside if you can so you know what you're creating.

If you can see images, firstly, look around the headspace that you want. Feel as if you're already there. Look around and grab all the details. Then feel. What's the floor feel like? When you're ready, go over to a door and open it, feel everything. Look inside and enter. Explore and get used to the feeling then allow other alters to come into the headspace.

If you cannot see images, focus on only the feelings. What does the floor feel like? The walls? The door handle? The rug? The couch? Then continue walking around, explore them allow other alters to come into headspace.

Or, our personal method for creating a headspace, just feel your bed and imagine how your room looks like (or limited) and figure out the rest later.