i’m sorry you’re both demonized and glorified. i’m sorry that neurotypical people joke about how quirky they are because they hear voices yet give us the sideways glare if we show symptoms. i’m sorry that you’re used as an insult or used to describe horrible, disgusting people. i’m sorry that people stare at you when you twitch or tic. i’m sorry.

the Acceptable, normal psychotic that deserves empathy and support: only ones that never show symptoms, are completely coherent, agree with being treated like garbage, and do everything in their power to never appear as though theyre experiencing psychosis

trauma dumps constantly

gets angry or upset if you dont notice them switching

expects you to remember everything they share about their system

shows no interest or support when you share about your life or disorder

gets distant or hostile if you have a hard time and need support

obsesses with proving other systems are fake

constantly fixates on discourse

admits that they dont or wont talk about the stuff they dump on you with their therapist, leaving you with the responsibility of handling it alone

doesnt want you to talk to other systems, will start fights with those systems to make them look bad to you

tells you bad things about other systems you’ve known for some time

tries to one-up your trauma and symptoms

reminds you that while your issues are bad, theirs are somehow worse

doesn’t doubt themselves, but does doubt you

accuses you of copying their info and emotions, even if they triggered you to remember or feel those things

tries to control what you say in therapy

tells you other people’s trauma or system details

has a trigger list so extensive that you cant talk about anything without them blowing up at you or controlling the conversation

does not seek IRL help

blames all these behaviors on a disorder

You can’t put people with DID/OSDD (thus trauma based) together with people who experience ‘multiplicity’ for whichever other reason. Doesn’t matter whether the last group is spirituality based or fucking roleplay based, it just doesn’t work.

People with DID/OSDD aren’t just ‘multiple’. People with DID/OSDD don’t just experience having alters - there’s a shit ton of trauma symptoms tied into it, and often some co-occurring mental illnesses too, like eating disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, and/or substance abuse. 

Yeah, we try to make the best out of it. We try to work together as a team, to appreciate all alters. But it’s extremely hard work and that still does not make it even remotely similar to ANY other ‘multiplicity experience’.

Inclusive multiplicity is bullshit. Whatever people without DID/OSDD are experiencing, I don’t know. I just know that their experiences are absolutely completely totally different from the experiences of people with DID/OSDD. For folks with DID/OSDD, it’s important to remember that eventually, you are one whole. Alters are part of one whole.

People with whichever “other multiplicity” often encourage the distance between “personas” or whatever they call them. However, for people with DID/OSDD it’s important to work towards the bringing together of alters (which is not necessarily the same as full integration). 

Because of these differences (regardless of whether or not I personally believe in ‘other multiplicity’), it makes no sense to create shared places for people with DID/OSDD and ‘other multiplicity’ people. There are no shared experiences or goals. It’s completely different and a lot of people with DID/OSDD have been harmed by being in these ‘inclusive multiplicity’ places. 

Mental health is not and should never be a horror trope

The people who deal with mental illnesses have it hard enough without you turning us into villains.

People with schizophrenia and psychosis are not "crazy" or "unstable."

People with DID are not "scary" or "psycho."

People with BPD are not "cruel" or "sociopaths."

Welcome to Understanding Dissociated Parts: All About Introjects! This is a general overview of introjects–the specifics are going to be a bit different for each person!

Some additional information:

Introjects do not have control over how they form and what beliefs they hold, but in the case of negative or harmful beliefs, they can be worked through in therapy

Introjects can take the form of real people and fictional characters, but they are not those people or characters (no matter how good of a copy they may be)

Introjects may experience “pseudo-memories,” or a transference of memories from their source. For example, they may long to return to a place you have never been (or that doesn’t exist), or mourn the absence of the friends/family of their source. These are real feelings put into the context of constructed memories, and should be handled sensitively (Don’t just tell them “It wasn’t real, get over it.”)

As always, the most important thing is to foster communication and compassion between parts!

[Missed part 1 of the series? Check it out here!]

Since most of the viewers of DID Youtube channels are people without DID themselves, I think this fascination mostly comes from a lack of understanding of what it is actually like to live with DID. 

The impression that most singlets get from consuming media depictions of DID (including social media) is that DID always involves having these extremely distinct alters who have names, backstories, elaborate inner appearances, hobbies, etc. And while that is what some people with DID experience, that is not what everyone with DID experiences. 

Not everyone with DID has parts with names. Not everyone with DID knows what their parts looks like. Not everyone with DID has an inner world. 

There is also a lot of variation within each system. It is normal for DID systems to have some parts that are very elaborated (having names, appearances etc) and other parts that are less elaborated. 

It can be really uncomfortable if you’re someone with DID who doesn’t experience your parts that way and someone asks you things like “What do your alters look like?” and “What are their hobbies” because not all systems experience elaboration in this way. I personally have lots of interests but no idea what I look like internally. Other parts have a visual appearance but no hobbies or interests at all. For years I thought we didn’t have an internal world, but apparently some of our parts do experience one. That question still makes me a little uneasy because it’s not something that I as a part have much experience with. 

Hey, you know what, if you send asks to popular DID bloggers asking if other systems are fake, fuck you. 

Seriously, this behavior is absolutely not okay. Not only is it an unacceptable attack on the person you are fake-claiming, but it puts the blogger you’ve asked in a horrible position. Beyond that, it creates an atmosphere of terror for literally everyone in the community. “If that person got called out for seemingly no reason, am I next? Do people think I’m fake too?”