[Lio] If there’s one thing that I want other systems of all ages to know, it’s this:
The older your body gets, the more headmates/alters/members you will have.
This is normal and does not mean you’re faking or that you’re somehow regressing in your mental health, or recovery, or internal stability, or anything.
People grow and change and that includes your system. It’s normal to grow in system size. Regardless of how your system came to be it’s normal for it to grow.
If it doesn’t, don’t worry - it’s not required to grow in size, and that’s fine. But if it does grow, don’t be ashamed or upset - that’s normal.
It took me by surprise and caused me to act unkindly towards some of my sysmates at first because I didn’t understand that we were growing. Our life changes, our situation changes, and even when those changes are gradual they can increase the count of system members! It took me a long time to recognize that, but it makes a lot of sense now to me. And it’s improved my relationship with those I was terse to when I was just angry that we were growing in size because I didn’t understand that it was natural.
Of course being a system is such a varied experience that what’s true for us will likely not be for everyone - but unless there are other issues going on, don’t worry about system growth being something uncommon or dangerous.