The Foundry

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other helpful links! ☆ What does it mean to be polyfragmented? ☆ Common terms in the system community ☆ About the theory of structural dissociation

Dissociative identity disorder (abbreviated as DID) is a traumagenic mental disorder characterized by the presence of two or more fragmented identity states (widely known as "alters" or "parts") that function individually. As well as identity fragmentation, individuals with DID experience significant memory gaps, symptoms associated with PTSD, and other dissociative symptoms.

DID is understood to be a "chronic complex post-traumatic developmental disorder" caused by abuse and/or neglect starting in very early childhood and in which the affected child had no other escape besides dissociation [1]. Individuals with DID report a wide variety of traumatic and abusive experiences in their childhoods, including neglect, physical/sexual/emotional abuse, dysfunctional familial dynamics, and torture.

Alongside the experience of alters, those with DID will often experience the following symptoms:

Depersonalization - feeling detached from one's own body or mind. Common experiences of depersonalization include feeling like an outside observer or like one is observing themself from a distance [2].

Derealization - feeling detached from the external world. Common experiences of derealization include feeling like the world is muted or duller in color than normal, that it's "unreal, distant, distorted, or in other ways falsified", and feeling that one is watching the world through some sort of screen or barrier (such as glass, VR glasses, water, and fog) [3].

Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms - since DID is so closely linked with PTSD, those who have DID will typically experience PTSD symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, and more.

SOURCES:

[1] - Revisiting the etiological aspects of dissociative identity disorder: a biopsychosocial perspective. This whole article is very interesting, although it does have more of a focus on alters :)

[2] - Wikipedia page for depersonalization. Before anyone kills me for using Wikipedia as a source, it's lowkey more credible than most online sources nowadays

[3] - Wikipedia page for derealization.

< back to our pinned post!

other helpful links! ☆ What is dissociative identity disorder? ☆ Common terms in the system community ☆ About the theory of structural dissociation

For this post I will be taking most of my information from this post [LINK] by @/too_many_mes (not tagging them because I'm unsure if they want to be tagged!). While some people might say that being polyfragmented is as simple as having more than 100 alters, it's actually a lot more complicated than that. Polyfragmentation is more about the complex organization and makeup of a system rather than the alter count.

Common features of polyfragmented DID include (but are not limited to!) the following:

Having a long history of trauma/abuse that started very early in life and may have lasted many years, whether consecutive or otherwise. Many polyfragmented systems may also have a history of extreme and/or sadistic abuse (often abbreviated as OEA or RAMCOA).

Having a large amount of alters that have overlapping traits, split easily, and are harder to differentiate. They also may have alters that seem like different versions of the same alter (e.g., *alter* a bit to the left).

Polyfragmented systems may have multiple alters in front at once as a baseline, and switches may be frequent and near-instantaneous. [For us, we often can't tell that we've switched until someone around us notes that we're behaving differently than before.]

Having an expansive, detailed inner world. Alters interact with one another, re-enact trauma memories and situations, process emotions/memories/thoughts, and much more within the inner world. Especially in systems who experienced programming (TBMC), the inner world may contain spaces created by abusers in order to reinforce programming and prevent recovery.

Complex splitting patterns such as splitting multiple new alters at once, splitting in groups or clusters, or splitting fragments that don't take on a solid identity until much later after the stressor is gone.

System resets, also known as "epochal divisions". When this happens, new alters are created and "replace" the old ones, essentially resetting the system. The alters that are "replaced" may remain active or may become dormant depending on the needs of the system.

A high number of introjects (yes, this is actually documented!!). This is especially common in systems who had no other escape besides indulging in creative media.

i wanted to try traditional animation for a while and heres a cute little guy inspod by sonnyelim ; 3 and here are the seperate frames as well

2cool4skool

The finished in the nick of time to print in a compilation I'll be selling at Anthrocon 2026! (Say hi if you're around Saturday or Sunday!)

-ancient roman posca: water, red or white wine vinegar, honey, salt, herbs (coriander, mint, thyme)

-switchel: water, ginger, vinegar, sweetener, lemon, salt

-ayran: yogurt, water, salt, mint

-sees the reports of the heatwave in Europe-