Real Dissociative

Hey anon, this sounds like a pretty serious issue. I think it would be a good idea to tell the system that you’re dating that you need to take a break from having this little interact with you. Explain what’s going on as best you can, and this will give you the distance to try to sort this out. If you can find another outlet for your intense feelings (like art, or writing, or working out, or masturbation, whatever you think would be a good fit to get some of this intensity out). If you need to talk about it more you can send an ask off anon and I’ll message you from my main. 

Sometimes very similar alters develop, that’s pretty normal. My guess is the first/possession alter formed first but solidified their identity alongside the second/fictional introject alter. Or that the first alter just happened to be very similar to this character from the source of the fictional introject. Idk, how do you feel about it? I’d go with your gut feeling, that’s probably correct. 

Subsystems are like “a system within a system.” They’re common in large or polyfragmented systems and will typically be separated from the rest of the system by communication, the trauma that formed them, fronting amnesia, etc. For example, one might have a subsystem of similar alters that formed from the same trauma and communicate with each other more than the rest of the system. They might share memories within the subsystem and not outside of it. I hope that makes sense. It’s not as clear cut as one would think. 

You’re fine!

Emotional abuse can absolutely cause DID. Many people with DID have histories of sexual or physical abuse but there are also many with emotional abuse as the primary or only form of trauma. Abuse isn’t the only trauma that can cause a system to form. 

Hosts don’t have to be aware of alters all the time or have communication to have DID. Most people aren’t constantly aware of their alters and communication issues are very common. 

It really depends on the person as to when they become aware of having alters. It’s different for everyone. I had a lot of “weird symptoms” that I’ve always been aware of, but only realized were part of DID in early adulthood. That’s common but some people have always been aware of alters or are never made aware/discover late in life. 

You can definitely have autism and DID/OSDD-1. I have both. It’s pretty common actually.

It’s definitely best to get an opinion from your therapist if that’s possible, but I can tell you that in general-

-Not everyone experiences auditory or visual hallucinations of their alters. I think it was about 1/3rd of people with DID that do. 

-You don’t need to hear voices to be diagnosed with DID. A lot of people have switching but no direct communication. They might not even know about their alters until someone else notices. 

“Valid” and “invalid” isn’t really fair to judge. As far as symptomatic systems- there are people with DID/OSDD, people who have enough symptoms of DID or OSDD to believe they have it (though they’d be better helped to recover through another diagnosis or non-DID specific help), and people who are faking for attention (also disordered behavior and could benefit from help!). If you’re not consciously faking for attention, you fall into one of the previous two categories and it’s worth exploring what resources will help you. 

Bipolar is a mood disorder, so true fullblow bipolar would affect the whole system (because it is caused by neurochemical imbalance). If you have a neurochemical mood disorder, then every alter will have it (though everyone copes differently and symptoms may not present in the same ways). 

Depression and mania are symptoms though- bipolar is one disorder that includes both, but you may have these symptoms without having bipolar. Or you may have bipolar and your other alters just handle or express depression and mania differently. 

If it’s just your psychologist saying that I’d be super hesitant to label this fragment as an introject. Fragments tend to be much easier to intergrate... perhaps you could work with an alter (E?) to help calm H? 

Hey, I’m sorry you’re going through this! You’re definitely not alone. Going through your particular history and experiences with a therapist will be most helpful. Recovery might be entirely possible without needing to nail down a diagnosis! 

I personally believe that DID functions more like a spectrum disorder, with DID at one end, then OSDD-1 a/b, then cPTSD, then people without any dissociative fragments. Full blown DID will have amnesia and dissociation, as well as defined alters. 

Identity disturbance is a symptom and can occur without BPD. It’ll look like a fluidity of identity- different “masks” for different situations, feeling as though you want to direct your identity or how you come across, that kind of thing. It’s more common with DID to see a shifting of several defined identities. My alters are pretty consistent- if I had only identity disturbance, I wouldn’t see that consistency. Alters are different identities whereas identity disturbance is a restless kind of disconnect from a solid identity. I hope that makes sense. 

Hmm, I don’t have much good advice, but I feel like books for soon-to-be older siblings might help you? They do a good job of explaining what it’s like to expect a baby and you might be able to adapt the information to explain to your young alter.