What You're All Getting Wrong About DID
a 'masterlist'
This post will be impossibly long. Seriously.
------------------------------------------------
"I don't think I could have DID/OSDD because none of my alters are distinctly different people! I never feel like a separate person!" and a basic explanation of what DID actually is
"As far as she remembers, she did not hear voices as a child or overtly switch identity states (to her knowledge or to the observation of others). Even though she did derive substantial benefit from several decades of psychotherapy, she still did not know that she had dissociated identities. All she knew was that she had struggled for many years to overcome an extraordinarily difficult childhood [. . .] This is the case with many who are dealing with dissociative identity disorder (DID). They have lived confusing, often crisis-ridden, terrifying, and quite routinely painful—even if sometimes outwardly successful—lives. Frequently, they had no idea of what was really the matter with them until some revelatory crisis took place." -- Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Relational Approach (p. 16)
Let me get this out of the way first: DID does not involve a totally distinct person taking over someone else's mind and body. It can feel and look this way for some people, but that is not what is actually happening.
The whole person is made up of alters that switch between each other. There is no singular person who is simply being "taken over" by their alters. Rather, the person is a different alter at different times.
"The part of the self who is in executive control most of the time is generally called the host. I prefer not to use the term host because of the inference that the person is possessed and that exorcism is the cure and because of the association of host with parasites. In addition, the association of host at a dinner party or for houseguests suggests that this part of the person is hosting the other parts" -- Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Relational Approach (p. 81)
Take, for example, your friend with DID named Katie. However, Katie is not just "Katie", but instead, they are "Katie" and another alter named "Freddie." Or they might be many more different alters than that.
Even though you may have known this friend as Katie your whole life, the truth is that Katie is only one alter out of the possible MANY alters that can occur within a DID system. Freddie is not an "extension" of Katie and they are not an outside entity who comes to possess and take over Katie's consciousness. Rather, the whole individual person - as Katie AND as Freddie - switches between these two alters, or many more alters, if there exists more.
Before somebody realizes they have DID, all or many of the alters also will not know it (you can't know you have DID unless you know it, after all. Your alters cannot know things that your entire "self" have never known or experienced).
What this means is that once you find out you have DID, it becomes a process of those alters starting to find out who they are.
Alters may confuse themself for one another (Alter C thought they were alter B; Alter N thought they were Alter C; etc.). This is common and normal (especially common amongst polyfragmented systems, I've noticed), and it can often be the case at first.
You might notice that you feel like a wolf sometimes, and with now realizing you have DID, you can then give a name to that feeling and recognize that to be an alter. Of course simply feeling like a wolf sometimes is not indicative of DID, but I'm talking about specifically when you DO have DID.
This is often how switches and alters are experienced for people before they realize they have DID - "I felt really angry at my dad and felt like a wolf, I had the urge to growl and bark." Once that person realizes they have DID, they can then say "Oh! I switched to an angry wolf alter and they were angry at my dad!"
This is, personally, how I prefer to describe what DID is and what it's like.
People always assume that switches between alters means that the alters are self-aware of themselves, know they exist, have names for themselves, but really, it takes becoming aware that they exist at all in order for them to even give themself a name or something.
There's a lot of nuance and complexities to this, but I hope my point is getting across.
"The most important point about the ANP and the EP is that they are dissociated, as separate dissociative parts of the personality. Even though the ANP may often appear to have a larger scope and greater functionality, once there is an EP, the ANP can only be a part of the personality. It is not correct to say that the EP is dissociated from the ANP as if the ANP is whole and unaffected except for those intrusive troublemakers, the EPs" -- Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Relational Approach (pgs. 91-92)
This does not mean that alters are not, and cannot, be their own individual people.
Only 5-6% of people with DID have a "florid" presentation in which their alters are overtly distinct in a way in which others notice drastic, dramatic personality switches. For the vast majority of people with DID, switches are hidden and unobservable and it often takes a trained eye to notice any changes.
"Many clinicians and lay people believe that DID presents with dramatic, florid personality states with obvious state transitions (switching). These florid presentations are likely based on media stereotypes, but actually occur in only about 5% of DID patient. The vast majority of DID patients have subtle presentations characterized by a mixture of dissociative and PTSD symptoms embedded with other symptoms such as posttraumatic depression, substance abuse, somatoform symptoms, eating disorders, personality disorders, and self-destructive and impulsive behaviors." -- Chronic Complex Dissociative Disorders and Borderline Personality Disorder: Disorders of Emotion Dysregulation?
"Changes between identities cause confusion and disruption in awareness and ‘sense of self’. Sometimes others will observe changes. However, such symptoms can also be hidden from others. [. . .] These symptoms vary between individuals with DID (just like other mental health conditions have individual differences). For example, some people have obvious signs of identity change, but others have very few outward signs." -- Fact Sheet: What are the Dissociative Disorders?
Some people have a presentation of DID that is very "overt" where their alters all have vastly different personalities, names, voices, etc. Other people do not.
Systems can, in fact, have a presentation that is highly overt where they are highly aware of their alters. This is a real and valid experience that many people with DID have, and it does not indicate faking and it does not invalid your experience if you happen to be a part of that demographic of people who DO have a very overt presentation with alters who are highly aware of themselves and who present as their own separate people.
All systems are different, no two experiences will ever be the same, and it's okay if your experiences do not fall in line with the experiences that other systems have, whether your alters are quite distinct and different or not.
------------------------------------------------
"I don't think I could have DID because (I didn't have it that bad/I wasn't sexually/physically abused/etc.)"
"The traumatic experiences that may result in dissociative disorders do not always stem from sexual, physical, or emotional abuse. Disorganized attachment which often underlies the dissociative structure of dissociative disorders may result from overwhelming experiences in the infant’s interpersonal environment that are not caused by parental maltreatment. Parental illness, depression, or problematic attachment styles may be psychically overwhelming and lead to disorganized attachment. In addition, medical trauma may be dissociogenic." -- Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Relational Approach (pgs. 18-19)
"Milder presentations of DID are sometimes associated with traumatization that is covert, such as enduring severely dysfunctional communication and relationship styles in family members, including subtle forms of emotional neglect. In a study conducted on a large group of college students, Şar et al demonstrated that emotional neglect predicted a dissociative disorder (including DID) diagnosis. Krüger and Fletcher demonstrated that self-reported emotional neglect by biological parents or siblings in childhood was the strongest individual predictor of an adult diagnosis of a dissociative disorder (including DID) in psychiatric patients (out of all other combinations of abuse type and abuser-abused relational ties)." -- Revisiting the Etiological Aspects of Dissociative Identity Disorder: a Biopsychosocial Perspective
"Abuse, however painful and horrible, is not necessarily affectively or cognitively overwhelming of itself. [. . .] An individual can endure terrible circumstances, even life-threatening events, but they are not necessarily perceived or experienced as traumatic to that person. Many variables may be at stake, including past history of trauma, overall resilience, and the social context, to name a few. For example, if one has the opportunity and ability to communicate emotions about the event to another person who is responsive and caring, it may link the traumatic event with one’s ongoing life experience and with interpersonal connection, thus lessening the extent to which the experience is overwhelming and making it more tolerable. This does not mean that abuse is not bad. Abuse is terrible and unacceptable, but it does not always result in trauma. When it does, in my view the effect of that trauma is dissociation. [. . .] It is not only the “traumatic event” in isolation but also the context of the event that makes something traumatic. It can make all the difference if a traumatized child can tell a sympathetic caregiving figure what happened and receive support." -- Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Relational Approach (p. 107)
And, no, experiencing ""less bad"" trauma or something does not mean you have OSDD. People diagnosed with OSDD have experienced a lot of trauma! They do not deserve to be thrown under the bus and treated like their diagnosis means they experienced "less bad" trauma.
------------------------------------------------
"I don't think I could have DID/OSDD because (I don't have amnesia/my amnesia isn't that bad/etc.)!"
"I don't have amnesia/my amnesia is rare/my amnesia isn't that bad - does that mean I have OSDD instead?"
"Dissociative amnesia, a psychiatric disorder in which patients have an inability to retrieve specific (unpleasant) memories. . . It usually follows a traumatic or stressful autobiographical event and is not due to any direct physiological effects of a neurological or other general medical condition and is, therefore, presumed to be psychogenic in origin. Dissociative amnesia often occurs very soon after traumatic events (i.e., insoluble and intolerable problems) but sometimes arises in association with continuous internal conflict or an ongoing intolerable situation" -- Memory Repression: Brain Mechanisms underlying Dissociative Amnesia
"In addition to an inability to recall personal information, DA may also involve the loss and recovery of semantic and procedural memories. Semantic memory lacks the reflective aspect (i.e., one knows something to be a fact without linking a personal episode to this knowledge). Procedural memory, in contrast, concerns motor repertoires. The experimental literature reports that in DA, the forgotten information is still present and often influences the person’s behavior." -- Dissociative Amnesia in Dissociative Disorders and Borderline Personality Disorder: Self-Rating Assessment in a College Population
" Although the forgotten information may be inaccessible to consciousness, it sometimes continues to influence behavior (eg, a woman who was raped in an elevator refuses to ride in elevators even though she cannot recall the rape).
Most patients are partly or completely unaware that they have gaps in their memory. They become aware only when personal identity is lost or when circumstances make them aware, such as when others tell them or ask them about events they cannot remember
Some patients report flashbacks, as occur in PTSD; flashbacks may alternate with amnesia for the contents of the flashbacks. Some patients develop PTSD later, especially when they become aware of the traumatic or stressful events that triggered their amnesia.
Most patients recover their missing memories, and amnesia resolves. However, some are never able to reconstruct their missing past. "
-- Dissociative Amnesia
The DSM-5 states clearly that the criteria for "dissociative amnesia" includes things like amnesia for past traumatic events and what happened during the day, and not just dissociative fugue states or finding that you've done/said something with no memory of it. The ICD-11 also backs this up and states that in order to meet the criteria for dissociative amnesia for DID, amnesia must have been present at some point during your life with DID, again supporting that amnesia for the past is enough to meet the criteria. So, if your amnesia only presents as amnesia for your childhood, that is "enough" to meet the criteria for a diagnosis of DID.
Also, the idea of switching from one alter to another and having total, complete amnesia for every possible thing that the previous fronting alter did, said, felt, and thought isn't really what you might think it is, and is, again, not a requirement for having DID.
"Alternation between distinct personality states is not always associated with amnesia. That is, one personality state may have awareness and recollection of the activities of another personality state during a particular episode. However, substantial episodes of amnesia are typically present at some point during the course of the disorder." -- The ICD-11 about DID
"The dissociative amnesia of individuals with dissociative identity disorder manifests in three primary ways: as 1) gaps in remote memory of personal life events (e.g., periods of childhood or adolescence; some important life events, such as the death of a grandparent, getting married, giving birth); 2) lapses in dependable memory (e.g., of what happened today, of well-learned skills such as how to do their job, use a computer, read, drive); and 3) discovery of evidence of their everyday actions and tasks that they do not recollect doing (e.g., finding unexplained objects in their shopping bags or among their possessions; finding perplexing writings or drawings that they must have created; discovering injuries; “coming to” in the midst of doing something). Dissociative fugues, wherein the person discovers dissociated travel, are common. Thus, individuals with dissociative identity disorder may report that they have suddenly found themselves at the beach, at work, in a nightclub, or somewhere at home (e.g., in the closet, on a bed or sofa, in the corner) with no memory of how they came to be there. Amnesia in individuals with dissociative identity disorder is not limited to stressful or traumatic events; these individuals often cannot recall everyday events as well. Individuals with dissociative identity disorder vary in their awareness and attitude toward their amnesias. It is common for these individuals to minimize their amnestic symptoms. Some of their amnestic behaviors may be apparent to others—as when these persons do not recall something they were witnessed to have done or said, when they cannot remember their own name, or when they do not recognize their spouse, children, or close friends." -- DSM-5, page 293
Having minimal amnesia does not mean that you have OSDD.
People can often believe that they do not experience amnesia, when in reality they do, they are just forgetting it and are not aware of their amnesia. This is the case for many people.
The question becomes "do you really not have amnesia, or are you just not aware of that amnesia/are you forgetting/etc.?"
This is such a tricky question to answer, and many people will not realize or recognize or notice or be aware of ANY amnesia until they are further along in recovery.
In reality, a system can experience quite severe amnesia while telling people "I have no amnesia/I have minimal amnesia." This is a common case for many people with DID.
Many will also dismiss and minimize and excuse their amnesia - it becomes even harder when you have a condition that DOES cause memory problems outside of DID, such as ADHD.
Sometimes other people are not pointing out our memory lapses, and so we believe that we don't have amnesia because nobody is pointing it out. In reality, they might be noticing, but not be telling you or saying anything.
Amnesia can hide itself so well that you can sincerely, fully believe and say with your full chest that you have little to no memory problems, only to find out that that was never true.
------------------------------------------------
So what is OSDD?
When somebody is diagnosed with OSDD, it is because they do not meet the full criteria of any other dissociative disorder. The reasons for this may be documented by the clinician who has given the diagnosis. There may be many different reasons for somebody to be diagnosed with OSDD.
"This category applies to presentations in which symptoms characteristic of a dissociative disorder that cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning predominate but do not meet the full criteria for any of the disorders in the dissociative disorders diagnostic class. The other specified dissociative disorder category is used in situations in which the clinician chooses to communicate the specific reason that the presentation does not meet the criteria for any specific dissociative disorder. This is done by recording “other specified dissociative disorder’ followed by the specific reason (e.g., “dissociative trance”)." -- The DSM-5 about Other Specified Dissociative Disorder
OSDD-1a and OSDD-1b are community-made terms. You cannot be diagnosed with "OSDD-1a" or "OSDD-1b."
The question of "is this DID or OSDD?" is a pointless, useless question, because what IS OSDD in the first place? It is a diagnosis of exclusion. You do not get diagnosed with OSDD because you specifically meet the criteria for OSDD - you get diagnosed with OSDD because you DO NOT meet the criteria for ANY OTHER DISSOCIATIVE DISORDER (which is more than just DID, by the way).
Stop asking if something is "DID or OSDD" because you aren't asking a question that makes sense.
More often than not, whether or not you get diagnosed with DID or OSDD depends entirely on the clinician diagnosing you. What one clinician says is OSDD, another will say is DID.
------------------------------------------------
All About Alters:
"Among the most commonly encountered parts, or alters, are (a) the part who is in executive control most of the time (i.e., the host); (b) child parts; (c) abuser or persecutor parts, including parts modeled after the abusers; (d) differently gendered parts; (e) seductive parts; (f) protector, rescuer, or soother parts; and (g) a manager. There are also commonly adolescent parts; angry and terrified parts of different ages; homicidal and suicidal parts; parts named Satan, Lucifer, Devil, Demon, and such; parts named No One; mute parts; dead parts; extremely functional and efficient parts; parts who know a language or a skill that others do not know; gatekeeper parts who keep other traumatized parts from emerging; parts who have various other functions such as The One Who Watches and Remembers; and sometimes animal parts. There are also often parts who are really just fragments with one isolated function, such as The One Who Cooks, The One Who Cleans, and so on. Parts may change in the way they function and in their positions in the system over time." -- Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Relational Approach (p. 81)
There's almost no limit to how alters can feel, experience themselves, identify, look, think, remember...
Systems may or may not have a host; they may have multiple hosts, or 'co-hosts', or they may not have any singular alter who fronts most of the time. Some systems may "technically" "have a host" but may not want to use the word "host" to describe their alters for any number of reasons.
Systems may or may not have alters that relate to any of the common "roles" that many other systems may have - for example, a system may feel that their alters cannot be described using words like "persecutor" or "caretaker" or "self-soother". Instead, a system may come up with their own words to use for themself, or they may find different words to use, or they may not use any kind of terminology to describe an alter's "role" within the system.
It's important to note that terms like "caretaker", "persecutor", "protector", "gatekeeper" and more are not scientific medical terms, rather terms that many systems may relate to. This isn't always the case, and a system who does not like, relate to, or feel that such terms are fitting for them is not faking or lying somehow, nor is it proof that somebody doesn't have DID or OSDD.
Some systems may not even use terms like "alters" or "parts" for a multitude of reasons, and may opt for other terms instead. Some people with DID or OSDD may even prefer to be referred to as that - a person with DID or OSDD - or they may or may not like to refer to themself as a system. They may choose a different word instead. Personally, I like to refer to myself as a Multiple, which was what people with 'MPD' were referred to as.
Again, every system is different and people should be allowed to use their own individual, unique terminology for themself. There is no "right" or "wrong" terminology and it's important to adapt to a system's individual terminology.
Names
Sometimes alters might not have names, and they may or may not decide to choose a name for themself
Sometimes alters will all have their own separate names
Sometimes alters might all share one singular name, or a 'group' of alters might share a name together (for example, 3 alters sharing the same name, or 5 alters sharing the same name, etc.)
Sometimes alters won't know what their name is, or if they even have one
Alters may have multiple names for themself, and/or change their name
They may have letters/numbers for names, or colors or flowers, etc.
They may have descriptors instead of names, such as "The Cook" because that alter likes to cook, or a depressed alter being called "The Depressed One."
Alters can have ANY kind of name for themself, no matter how "weird" or "strange."
It's important to note that an alter's name may not be the most appropriate name to use, for example, if the name is taken by a closed culture and/or is taken from a culture that you (as a whole person) have not been a part of and/or have not been genuinely educated on and/or involved with. Try to be as respectful of other cultures as much as possible.
Gender, Sex, and Sexuality
"Many people with DID have differently gendered parts. These are often highly stereotyped, not only as gender tends to be but also in accordance with the fact that young children rely more heavily on stereotypes than do adults" -- Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Relational Approach (p. 86)
Alters may be any gender and use any gender labels for themself
Alters may identify with no gender
Alters may identify with neopronouns, xenogenders, or have any other kind of "weird" experience with gender
Alters may or may not experience dysphoria towards your body
Alters may be any sexuality and use any sexuality labels for themself
Alters may identify with "weird" sexuality labels, contradictory sexuality labels, etc.
Again, one should be careful when it comes to using certain terminology if they do not belong to a group of people who CAN use the term (for example: alters should not call themselves intersex if the entire person themself is not intersex, etc.)
Ages
Alters may be older, younger, or the same age as your body
Alters may be as young as infant age
Alters may be "stuck"/"frozen" at an age, due to trauma reasons, or due to non-direct traumatic circumstances
Alters may be an age that does NOT match the age of traumatization (i.e. an alter may identify with the age of 10, but they hold feelings from abuse they experienced at age 5)
Alters may experience themself as "having no age" or any other kind of "weird" age ("infinite age", "billions of years old", etc.)
Alters may age up along with your body
Alters may experience their age "symbolically", rather than actually feeling/being/identifying as/with that age
Alters may believe they are a different age than your body, and be surprised to learn that they are a completely different age than what they thought
Alters may feel as if they change ages/that their age is fluid (they may sometimes feel that they are 7-years-old, and other times feel as if they are 17, etc.)
Alters may not have a specific age, but have an age "range" (such as an alter who says they are anywhere from 5-8-years-old, or even a wider range, such as anywhere from 15-23)
Alters may or may not "act" the way that one might expect them to act due to their age (example: an alter who is 3-years-old may still behave like a "normal" adult, or an alter who is 14-years-old may behave as if they are much younger than that, etc.)
Most importantly: CHILD ALTERS ARE NOT THE SAME AS REAL, BIOLOGICAL CHILDREN!
Alters, no matter their age, may or may not be able to consent to adult activities, including doing drugs, having sex, drinking alcohol, driving, and more, including alters who may be constituted as 'child alters', AS LONG AS THE PERSON'S BODY MEETS THE REQUIRED AGE OF CONSENT TO DO THESE THINGS, AND IS DOING THEM IN A SAFE AND CONSENSUAL WAY THAT IS NOT HARMING ANYONE, AND IF AND WHEN AND ONLY IF AND WHEN THAT ALTER IS CAPABLE OF CONSENTING.
This is a very tricky topic that has a lot of nuance! As many topics do!
It is up to the individual person, the individual system, to decide whether or not an alter is capable of consenting to something like sex, drinking alcohol, etc. Some systems will have alters who can consent to having sex. Other systems will have alters who cannot consent to having sex. It's not about the age, but "how vulnerable is this alter? Are they capable of consenting to this, and if so, why/how?"
"Although it may seem odd to say this, one should keep in mind that child alters are not real children. Even while speaking in childlike ways, child alters often understand abstract concepts and long words. As Shusta-Hochberg (2004) noted: "It is important to remember that the patient is an adult, despite the childlike ego states. These parts are not actual children". This is in agreement with Ross’s (1997) statement that “child alters are not packets of childness retained in a surrounding sea of adult psyche. They are stylized packets of adult psyche” -- Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Relational Approach (pgs. 83-84)
Child alters are going to be different depending on the individual system. It's important to always remember that each and every single system is different.
Species
"Some people with DID have animal parts. While in animal identity states, they may exhibit animal-like behaviors, such as growling, scratching, or running on all fours. They may also hear animal calls inside the head or have visual flashbacks involving animal identities. Other clinical cues that may indicate the presence of animal identities include excessive fear of animals, excessive involvement with a pet, and cruelty to animals Children often identify with animals and experience them as peers and friends. Abused children may develop animal parts they experience as protectors, peers, or both in an environment where there was no protection. Or, the patient may have identified through loss with a beloved pet that was lost, innocently killed, or murdered to terrify the child, to demonstrate the abuser’s omnipotence, or to enforce silence. Sometimes, parts named after the cat family (leopard, cougar, tiger) may serve as protector states that are allowed to express the emotion the host cannot. [. . .] On the other hand, the presence of cat-family parts, or other animal parts, may be more serious and indicate the possibility of dangerous violence—something that should be assessed. Animal identities may also be self-representations that are consistent with the abuser’s treatment and labeling of the child. For example, the child may have been treated like an animal. Dog parts are not infrequent identifications. A part named Dog may represent how the patient was treated like a dog and forced to bark like a dog by her abusers. Or, the child may have been forced into sexual behaviors with animals, leading to a view of the self as an animal or as bestial and inhuman. [. . .] Animal parts may also express evaluations of one’s own experience metaphorically. My patient Anna experiences herself at times as a fish and as different kinds of snakes. This probably derives from the fact that she grew up in a coastal village where many people fished for a living. Sometimes, she awakens from sleep, feeling that she is wriggling like a fish, and is unable to use her arms and legs for a few minutes. Perhaps the brutal way she was treated, often with her arms and legs pinned down, made her feel like a “beast of prey,” and she understood this feeling in terms of something with which she was more familiar—as if she were one of the fish that were so much a part of her home environment." -- Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Relational Approach (pgs. 87-89)
Alters may experience themself as something other than human, or partially human. This can happen for many reasons. There is no "right" or "wrong" way for a nonhuman alter to Be and there is no right or wrong reason for a nonhuman alter to form.
Alters may be an animal (cat, dog, wolf, deer, elephant, etc.)
Alters may be an object (a tree, a flower, a toy, etc.)
Alters may be a mythical creature, an extinct animal, a ghost, a vampire, etc - anything
When a nonhuman alter fronts, they may or may not act the same/similar to the nonhuman 'entity' that they are/that they're based off of. For example, a cat alter fronts and the person acts like a cat by only walking on all fours, meowing, purring, etc. Sometimes a nonhuman alter will not act like the nonhuman 'entity' that they are/they they're based off of. Each system is different and no two nonhuman alters will be the same for everyone, even within a system.
Sometimes an alter won't consider themself "nonhuman", even if they identify as something that isn't human/etc.; they may reject the label of nonhuman for themself if they feel it isn't a label they resonate with.
Animal alters can form for ANY reason, and it is not always for reasons related to trauma. Maybe the person identifies with cats because they have always loved cats, grew up around cats, find comfort around cats, etc. Or maybe the person experienced trauma surrounding a certain animal. Again, they can form for ANY reason, and there are no right or wrong reasons.
Introjects
Introjection is "a process in which an individual unconsciously incorporates aspects of external reality into the self, particularly the attitudes, values, and qualities of another person or a part of another person’s personality" (The American Psychological Association's definition of "introjection.")
In DID and OSDD, an introject is an alter that is based off of a real or fictional person, character, animal, etc. It is taking the attitudes, values, and qualities of a person, animal, etc., real or fictional, and developing an alter based upon your perception of that person, animal, etc.
The animal, person, etc. that an alter is based off of is oftentimes referred to as a "source."
For example: somebody starts to watch a new show for the first time, and they strongly relate to one of the characters. This character may have attitudes, values, qualities, etc. that the person may introject, and an alter may form based around that character.
Introject alters may be based off of a fictional character, even if you yourself created that character, or a friend created the character, or it's someone else's character online that you saw, etc.
Introjects may be based off of a real person that you know or once knew
Introjects may be based off of a real person whom you have never met (such as introjects based off of a famous celebrity, etc.)
Introjects may or may not genuinely believe that they are the source that they are based off of.
Introjects may be extremely similar to the thing(s) they are based off of, or they may be completely different.
Introjects may use the name that their source uses, or have a different name.
Introjects may have the same gender or a completely different gender from the one from their source
Introjects may love, hate, or otherwise have mixed feelings about their source. Introjects may want nothing to do with their source.
Sometimes, an alter might not really be an introject, but may identify with the source for one reason or another, but not consider themself to be an introject of that source. For example, an alter might just really like a certain character from a show you like and might express themselves through or as that character, but consider themself different from that character.
It is a completely normal, and common, experience for an alter to "become" an introject and latch onto an outside source to form an identity around, especially if that alter struggled to know who or what they were in the first place. It's completely fine to consider these alters introjects if you want to. Some people say that this is not a "true" or "real" introject, but frankly, I don't really care, and it's a silly hill to die on.
Just like any other alter, introject alters may happen for any reason.
There is no "right" or "wrong" way for an alter to be an introject, and introject alters are not "bad", even if their source is something bad (such as an introject alter based off of a widely known serial killer, or an introject alter based off of a television series with highly questionable material in them, etc.).
It's important to remember that somebody having an introject of someone/something associated with racism, homophobia, etc. DOES NOT MEAN that that person themself is racist, homophobic, etc.
Please do not judge a person based off of an introject they have. You do not know why that introject exists and it is incredibly harmful to assume that that person is a bad person simply because of the introject(s) they have. Please be mindful and do not assume. Again, every system is different and unique.
The formation of an alter and the "reasons" for why they exist are going to be different for different systems, and there is no singular reason for a specific "type" of alter to form. In other words, the "reason" for an alter's existence is going to be different for everyone. Whatever the reason for an alter existing and being the way they are, that reason is valid and it is real, and does not mean you're faking or wrong about having DID.
Inner World
The inner world is commonly referred to as an internal space where alters can communicate and interact with one another.
Systems may have a vivid and clear inner world that might feel incredibly real
Systems may have NO inner world
Systems may started out without an inner world, but then develop one - or vice versa
Systems may experience trauma from things that happened in the inner world, but did not happen in their real life
Systems may experience things happening in the inner world as incredibly real and vivid
Systems may communicate with other alters in the inner world, or they may struggle to do so. They may communicate in the inner world through sharing thoughts, "speaking" internally, sending images, or any other way.
Systems may be able to hear the voices of their alters, or NOT hear any voices of their alters.
"These voices are usually, but by no means always, located ‘‘in the head.’’ A small minority of persons who have DID deny hearing voices; some of the latter actually do hear voices, but they have reframed or rationalized them (eg, ‘‘it’s me,’’ ‘‘it’s just my conscience’’). Nevertheless, some persons who have DID genuinely do not hear voices." -- A New Model of Dissociative Identity Disorder
To be honest, if I wrote everything that could possibly happen in an inner world, this post would be a dictionary book.
Whatever happens and/or has happened in your inner world, I want to validate it - you aren't weird or cringe and it's not stupid or silly.
Other
". . .many patients who have DID hear or see what some personalities say or do when they are ‘‘out.’’ Many clinicians have incorrectly assumed that a person who has DID can never be aware of the activities of another personality. This assumption, which is supported by the classic view of DID, is often cited as a reason for ruling out the diagnosis of DID (ie, if the patient remembers what an alter personality did or said, then the patient, supposedly, does not have DID). The Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule (DDIS) and the SCID-D-R inquire about the person’s subjective awareness of other personalities. The 4DELL DSM-IV does not mention that patients who have DID typically have subjective awareness of other personalities." -- A New Model of Dissociative Identity Disorder
Alters may have different voices - speak in different tones, speak in different accents, etc.
Alters may be completely unable to speak
Alters may speak different languages
Alters may have very different personalities, similar personalities, smaller differences in personalities...
Alters may have different likes and dislikes
Alters may have different hobbies/interests
Alters may have different food preferences, clothing preferences, etc.
Alters may have different religions
Alters may have different relationships (platonic, romantic, sexual, familial, etc.), internally with other alters and/or externally with other people
Alters may have relationships between one another that, while completely healthy and fine in-system, would be incredibly abusive if played out in real life (because remember: an alter's age is no relevant. It is the age of your entire self, body that matters. So, yes, maybe a child alter is in a relationship with an adult alter. Maybe for trauma-related reasons! Or maybe for a different reason. It's not your business, don't assume, and oftentimes it's not like the system/those alters can change it.)
Alters may have neurobiological/physiological/psychobiological/etc. differences (different eyesight prescriptions, different reactions to medication, different blood pressure readings, etc.)
Systems may have many alters of a specific kind of alter (such as many child alters, many animal alters, many introjects of the same characters, etc.)
Systems may choose to achieve final fusion
Systems may choose to stay separate and only work on general integration and symptom management
Systems might be incredibly large, not very large, or incredibly small.
About Switching
Systems may switch frequently
Systems may rarely switch/only switch under specific circumstances
Systems may switch very easily and smoothly
Systems may switch without realizing or knowing/noticing they've switched
Systems may experience painful/disorienting/difficult switches
Systems may have switches that take a long time
Systems may switch INSTANTANEOUSLY withing SECONDS
Systems may be very aware, or unaware, of their switches
Systems may or may not know which alter they have switched to
Systems may essentially never know which alter is fronting
Systems may always/almost always or frequently know which alter is fronting and have high amounts of self-awareness to be able to know when they switch and who they've switched to
". . .a switch may become apparent within minutes to hours." ". . .alter personality switches typically occur within five minutes" "If one studies videotapes of alter personality switches in MPD patients using facial changes as end-point markers, some switches appear to occur within a few seconds." -- The Switch Process in Multiple Personality Disorder and Other State-Change Disorders
"Switching between alternate identities has been reported to take anywhere from a few seconds, to 30 sec, to brief times less than 2–5 min. . .the switches that occurred during this study were rapid and appeared instantaneous. Some switches were readily apparent, while others were not. . ." -- Measuring Fragmentation in Dissociative Identity Disorder: the Integration Measure and Relationship to Switching and Time in Therapy
------------------------------------------------
My favorite resource to send to people as an absolute starter for learning about DID is BeautyAfterBruises - DID Myths and Misconceptions (2017). I enjoy the other posts on this website as well.
Carolyn Spring is also a great place to learn about CDDs, similar to BeautyAfterBruises and other similar blogs/websites! I recommend "DID or OSDD: Does it Matter?", "What are the signs and symptoms of dissociative identity disorder?", and other posts they have about CDDs!
DiscussingDissociation and TraumaDissociation
An Infinite Mind
Sheppard Pratt - Dissociative Identity Disorder - This one is also a favorite of mine, but I don't really see anyone share it around, it's a lesser known one out of the other stuff on this list.
Dissociation FAQs, What are the Dissociative Disorders?, Trauma and Trauma FAQs by the ISST-D
Guidelines for Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder in Adults, Third Revision by the ISST-D
What Are Dissociative Disorders? and the definition of dissociative identity disorder on the APA website
The DSM-5 and The ICD-11
The Merck Manual website
Dissociation: Progress on the Dissociative Disorders. "The official journal of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), published between 1988 and 1997."
This entire thing has all sorts of stuff to read. I am only sharing a very small portion of the stuff in this that I really liked, but definitely check out the others! I read a bunch of these, I just wanted to share these main ones.
*Keep in mind the time period! There may be words/terminology used that may be offensive and/or inaccurate in present times.
Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 004-023 -- (1988) Bennett G. Braun; The BASK Model of Dissociation
Vol. No. 2, p. 016-023 -- (1988) Bennett G. Braun; The BASK Model of Dissociation: Part II- Treatment
Beauty After Bruises also has a post going over the BASK model that I recommend
Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 027-033 -- (1988) Jean Franklin; Diagnosis Of Covert And Subtle Forms Of Multiple Personality Disorder Through Dissociative Signs (I absolutely love this and have always wanted to do a deep dive on stuff like this, since my DID is so hidden. If you relate to my experiences, if your DID experiences happen to be incredibly subtle, this might validate you)
Vol. 1, No. 4, p. 047-058 -- (1988) Richard P. Kluft; The Phenomenology and Treatment of Extremely Complex Multiple Personality Disorder One of the only few research papers on polyfragmented DID specifically (also known as complex DID, or MPD as it used to be called).
(1991) Richard P. Kluft; Clinical Presentations of Multiple Personality DIsorder and a webpage that goes along with this
(2006) A New Model of Dissociative Identity Disorder
(2014) Chronic Complex Dissociative Disorders and Borderline Personality Disorder: Disorders of Emotion Dysregulation?
(2014) Dissociative Identity Disorder: An Empirical Overview
(2016) Separating Fact from Fiction: An Empirical Examination of Six Myths About Dissociative Identity Disorder
(2017) Revisiting the Etiological Aspects of Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Biopsychosocial Perspective
(2018) Dissociation Debates: Everything You Know is Wrong
Sc-Hub allows you to access research papers that you might otherwise be unable to access. Of course it won't work for every single research paper ever, but it's extremely reliable.
12ft and Unpaywall (Firefox extension) for bypassing paywalls. Unpaywall in particular is extremely reliable for me, and if you aren't using Firefox, then there's probably a similar extension for whatever browser you use if you just search up "remove paywall" or something in your browser extension search.
RefSeek - Academic search engine.
Listen, I could list research papers all day. Instead, I will link these:
You can check the Wikipedia page for a list of academic databases and search engines. Here are some that are frequently used, and ones I use most often, but you should definitely check out the Wikipedia page for more:
PubMed/National Library of Medicine
ResearchGate
Google Scholar
Semantic Scholar
ScienceDirect
BASE Search
PLOSone
Frontiersin
You can also ask the author(s) for the paper, and most of the time, they'll give it to you for free! Just email them! If you need some sort of script to follow of what to say, literally just anything like "Hello! I was wondering if I could have access to (research paper/link/etc.)? Thank you very much!" that's probably fine.
Also, check the cited sources to easily and quickly find more research papers to read! It's a very easy and quick way to find more research papers, and I do mean it when I say that it is the main way I find research papers to begin with. You read one research paper and then go to the citations and then you find yourself reading 15 more research papers.
I hope this post has educated you all and informed you. Definitely feel free to share further resources, I encourage it!
There is so much more I could have added to this post, but I think this is enough.
