#maladaptive

Endogenic & Non-Traumagenic Plurality Studies/Resources Guardians System, a diagnosed traumagenic DID system with PTSD and CPTSD

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Non-Traumagenic & Endogenic System Information General medical/clinical studies and research

It's just a body: A community-based participatory exploration of the experiences and health care needs for transgender plural people Susan C Turell, Christopher Wolf-Gould, Sang Flynn, Silver Mickie, Matthew A Adans, and The Redwoods - types of plurality - “Plural identity is a self-reported identity, not a specific clinical diagnosis. Some, but not all, plural people dissociate, or have a psychiatric diagnosis of dissociation.” - “Plurality is a newer, more inclusive term that our study uses to describe the broad range of experiences of having more than one person or entity sharing one body. It has been used in the scientific literature as well as the self-advocacy community, and is an addition to the related terminology of dissociation and multiplicity.” - “There is a recent call to abandon [the theory of structural dissociation] and replace it with a multifactorial model with less emphasis on trauma history.”

Transgender Mental Health - American Psychiatric Association - Chapter 11 Dr. Eric Yarbrough - differences between plurality and a dissociative disorder - “Plurality and dissociative identity disorder are not exactly the same. Being plural, or having two or more people existing in one body or space, is just one part of the diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder. Many people who are plural do not experience distress from the existence of others within themselves although dissociative identity disorder and plurality are frequently associated with trauma, there are those who are plural and report no history of trauma. The case presentation in this chapter describes someone with severe trauma, but this is not a definitive or universal reason for the existence of plurality.” - ”Plurality makes up just one part of the larger diagnosis [DID] and does not necessarily cause distress. Although many people who are plural have a history of trauma, there are just as many who do not.” - “Plurality refers to what many mental health professionals know as dissociative identities. Plurality is not the same as dissociative identity disorder but makes up one part of it. Plurality is not necessarily caused by trauma, although trauma can be part of the overall picture.”

Exploring the Experiences of Young People with Multiplicity Zarah Eve and Sarah Perry - multiplicity without trauma and without a disorder - "Some people have a different experience of identity construction, experiencing themselves as multiple – having more than one self in the mind and body. Ribáry et al. suggests the experience of multiplicity is best understood on a continuum ⁷between ‘identity disturbance’ and ‘dissociative identity disorder." - "The current system surrounding DID/Other Specified Dissociative Disorder being the focus within mental health support is not adequate or appropriate for those who do not feel they fit within the diagnostic criteria used. These diagnostic terms are also synonymous with the experience of ‘disorder’ or ‘distress’, which was not always seen as relevant for the respondents." - "Not all multiplicity is based in trauma."

Dissociation in Trauma: A New Definition and Comparison with Previous Formulations - Page 27 Ellert R S Nijenhuis and Onno van der Hart - recognising “division of personality” outside of trauma - “"Dissociation in Hypnosis and Mediumship: Our definition of dissociation pertains to a division of the personality in the context of trauma. We are aware that this division may also occur in hypnosis and mediumship, that several other definitions of dissociation also address these other contexts, and that there are some indications that dissociation in these other contexts is also best understood as a division of personality."

"I've Learned to Treat my Characters like People": Varieties of Agency and Interaction of Writers' Experiences of their Characters' Voices John Foxwell, Ben Alderson-Day, Charles Fernvhough, and, Angela Woods - authors experiencing multiple identities accidentally - "A large number of writers report vivid experiences of ‘hearing’ their characters talking to them, talking back to them, and exhibiting an atypical degree of independence and autonomy" - "Almost two thirds of writers in our sample reported hearing their characters’ voices. In the majority of cases, this was clearly related to the sense of the character’s voice or appearance having distinctive characteristics. 'I hear them in my mind. They have distinct voice patterns and tones, and I can make them carry on conversations with each other in which I can always tell who is ‘talking’.' " - "One important caveat, however, is that some writers who had ever had a hallucinatory experience in their lifetime stated that these experiences were noticeably different from their experiences of their characters’ voices."

MODES OF EXISTENCE: TOWARDS A PHENOMENOLOGICAL POLYPSYCHISM Mick Cooper - polypsychism theory of plurality being a natural state - "Can best be described as a theory that all individuals have 'multiple personalities', though not to the dissociative extremes of sufferers of avowed multiple personality disorder.” - "In cases of M. P. D., the dissociative barriers between these different 'parts' are thought to be such that all integrative identity, memory and consciousness processes may become interrupted. In less extreme cases of polypsychism, on the other hand, dissociative barriers may be semi-permeable, such that subpersonalities may have an awareness of each other's existence, but no empathetic understanding of the other's needs or values." - "Polypsychism is not relevant to all individuals. Self-multiplicity would seem to be a 'person variable' - a dimension along which all individuals lie. Some people do seem to experience a number of discrete self-identities, yet there are undoubtedly many who tend towards a more singular, fluid self-construct."

A plurality of selves? An illustration of polypsychism in a recovered addict Peter T.F. Raggatt - polypsychism theory of multiplicity without distress - "In this approach, there is no singular, monologic account of a life, no completely integrated narrative identity; rather, there is a plurality of frequently conflicting subjectivities, alternative stories about our lives. Our mental life, I suggest, is characterised by a multiplicity of subjectivities or dominant voices." - "The self, in this new framework, has no unidimensional core or centre of 'ego-integration' in the Eriksonian sense. Instead, competing versions of 'the self ' are theorised to emerge as voices in narrative form. Moreover, recognition of dialogue and/or conflict among these 'voices' is just as important for understanding normal development, as it is for understanding emotional disturbance." - "The voice is that of a narrator telling a particular version of events, a particular plot line, which encompasses significant stretches of the life course. A voice is a thematic complex that tells a particular version of events about a life in time. It organises and makes sense out of experience, but it can also guide action. However, in a plural self there are other narrative voices telling other stories, and these voices compete to make sense of the world and to direct action."

A multiple self theory of personality David Lester - theory of multiple subselves - "When one subself has executive power, some of the other subselves may be monitoring what is being processed by the executive subself, but others may not. Empirical investigation of the individual is necessary to determine which subselves are monitoring and which are not. The extreme of this situation is in multiple personality where the different subselves may have amnesia for what transpires when other subselves have executive power. On the other hand, in descriptions of the “hidden observer” in hypnosis, the belief is that one subself monitors what is going on when other subselves have executive power. It is, therefore, possible that some suspended subselves may monitor what transpires in the executive subself while other subselves may not." - "It might be that the process of integration nvolves breaking down the boundaries between the subselves and integrating them into a single unified self. Alternatively, it might be that the different subselves are fully developed and coexist in harmony with one another." - "The concept of dissociated subselves can explain such phenomena as multiple personality, possession, mediumship, reincarnation, and auditory hallucinations."

Conceptualising multiplicity spectrum experiences: a systematic review and thematic synthesis Zarah Eve, Kim Heyes, and Sarah Parry - multiplicity outside of a dissociative disorder - "Multiplicity can encompass various presentations as described in this review. Continuum within this context can be defined as a range of experiences that involve similar characteristics from ‘subclinical’ expressions to clinically significant symptoms, which are typically observed in individuals diagnosed with disorders such as DID. The experiences of those who identify as multiple vary widely from distressing and life threatening when identities lack communication and engage in harmful behaviours, to life saving or enhancing through internal support and positive relationships." - "Many individuals do not meet clinical criteria as a result of a lack of negative impairment; however, they do align with other descriptors of dissociative experiences. Thus, there is a need to understand the wide spectrum of experiences multiplicity encompasses to consider how an awareness of multiplicity can exist outside of an illness model." - "The findings of this review support the notion that multiplicity experiences are complex and varied, existing across a continuum inclusive of multiplicity, DID and derealization–depersonalization."

Exploring the Utility and Personal Relevance of Co-Produced Multiplicity Resources with Young People Sarah Parry, Zarah Eve, Gemma Myers - variations of multiplicity in medical literature - "In terms of differentiating between the terms DID and multiplicity, DID is associated with high levels of distress and reduced functioning within most diagnostic conceptualisations. However, many people with multiplicity function well in terms of consciousness, memory, identity and perception of the environment, and appreciate the value of their multiple selves as a coping response to adversity and relational traumas. The absence of distress experienced by systems identifying as multiple may suggest that DID and multiplicity vary in experience, and the dominance of DID in research highlights a fundamental limitation in the understanding of multiplicity. On the other hand, an assumption of a lack of distress and impairment in functioning could point to a further lack of understanding in the experience of multiplicity, particularly in relation to distress associated with stigma." - "Young people identifying as multiple are largely absent from the trauma and dissociation literature, in part due to delays in diagnosis, treatment and limited opportunities to take part in research." - "This point of contention is further discussed by Luca who reflected, “I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to lump natural multiplicity together with DID/OSDD” and Solar System said, “There is a dire need to study multiplicity outside of DID in general”. Here, a strong need is shown for more research and resources solely on multiplicity, separate from DID."

“Here’s Dissociative Identity Disorder, and we’re not that”: a constructivist grounded theory exploration of multiplicity experiences Z. Eve, K. Heyes, and S. Parry - multiplicity is distinct from clinical understanding - “People who identify as “multiple” are people who share a singular body with other individual selves. Whilst there are similarities to clinically defined criteria of dissociative and psychosis diagnoses, people with multiplicity lack an impairment in functioning due to being a multiple self, and often lack amnesia.” - “The knowledge base surrounding multiplicity (the non-clinical experience of having more than one self sharing one body) is currently lacking, as demonstrated by a recent systematic review. The understanding is currently linked to clinical forms of dissociation-psychosis spectrum disorders, with minimal recognition of non-clinical experiences. The DSM-5-TR defines dissociation (and by extension the spectrum of experiences) as an interruption or break in the typical integration of “consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behaviour”. Dissociation has been argued to be along a continuum, with many experiencing everyday absorption, like daydreaming or zoning out during repetitive tasks (referred to as normative dissociative experiences). Creative individuals, including actors and novelists, exhibit such experiences, characterized by absorption, imagination, and identity diffusion. Thomson examined whether these experiences align with pathological constructs, finding that while creative individuals scored high in fantasy proneness, they did not reach pathological levels on the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II, supporting the continuum of severity and potential utility of normative dissociation.” - “Findings were consistent with preliminary research exploring the experience of emerging multiplicity as its own distinct experience, outside the lens of clinical criteria. This included the understanding that those who identify as multiple can, and often do, live well as a member of a system comprising of multiple selves. Participants discussed having awareness of other system members internally, the importance of developing positive communication between selves, and the utility of sharing the body with members who wish to front. “

Comparison of Brazilian spiritist mediumship and dissociative identity disorder Alexander Moreira-Almeida, Francisco Lotufo Neto, and Etzel Cardena - DID patients and Brazilian Mediums having similar identity discontinuities - "Because the manifestation of different identities is common to both mediumship and DID, it is surprising that there are so few actual empirical studies evaluating this issue with validated clinical questionnaires." - "Mediums and DID patients, although exhibiting some of the same dissociative experiences, would differ in the pathologic expression of dissociation, with DID patients exhibiting greater dysfunctionality and psychopathology.” - "Our data suggest that Brazilian mediumship differs in important ways from DID, besides the fact that they share sharp identity discontinuities."

The mind possessed: well-being, personality, and cognitive characteristics of individuals regularly experiencing religious possession Roma Delmonte, Miguel Farias, Marco Aurélio V Bastos Júnior, Leandro Madeira, Beatriz Sonego - understanding of religious possession experiences - “To be possessed means to be out of control or, within some religions, to have an entity of a malignant nature taking control of one's body and actions. For the modern mind, possession is frightening because it is associated with a discontinuity in identity/personality, and alterations in consciousness and behavior. Nevertheless, possession experiences are widely reported across cultures, and those possessed are often regarded as a positive channel for various spiritual agents, such as deceased humans (in Spiritism and Spiritualism), nature deities or godlike beings (in Afro-American religions), or the Holy Spirit (in Evangelical Pentecostal churches and the Charismatic renewal movement of Roman Catholicism).” - “Studies of Spiritist mediums showed that, despite a high prevalence of dissociative and psychotic-like experiences, these were along the healthy continuum of unusual experiences and not indicative of mental disorders. Another study, which compared Brazilian Spiritist mediums versus Canadian and U.S. patients with dissociative identity disorder, found that the mediums had better social adjustment and a lower prevalence of mental disorders than the clinical sample. Recent literature from other countries, such as Turkey and the Dominican Republic, show a more nuanced set of results, suggesting that individuals who experience possession are more likely to have a range of dissociative symptoms.” - “Possession is currently included under the category of dissociative identity disorder. For possession to be diagnosed as pathological, it must not be a normal or broadly accepted cultural or religious practice and must cause significant distress. This seems to imply that possession experiences happening within a religious context would be generally healthy, and those happening outside of a religious context would be unhealthy. However, reality is far more nuanced. We have recently criticized these criteria based on the case study of a religious leader from an Afro-Brazilian religion (Umbanda), who began having possession experiences early in life, but these were not accepted by her Catholic family and caused her considerable distress.19 Although she reports - at the individual level - a positive affect associated with these early experiences, family disapproval was stigmatizing and led her to actively repress all phenomena associated with possession until early adulthood.”

Can DSM-5 Differentiate between Non-Pathological Possession and Dissociative Identity Disorder? A Case Study from an Afro-Brazilian Religion - FULL ARTICLE UNAVAILABLE Romara Delmonte, Giancarlo Lucchetti, Alexander Moreira-Almeida, Miguel Farias - cultural possession and dissociation - “We use the case study of an individual who leads an Afro-Brazilian religious group (Umbanda), focusing on her personal development and possession experiences from early childhood to the present, spanning a period of more than 40 years, and examine these data following DSM–5 criteria for DID. Her experiences of possession can be broken into 2 distinct stages. In the 1st stage (childhood and early adulthood), she displayed intrusive thoughts and a lack of control over possession states, which were associated with a heightened state of anxiety, loneliness, amnesia, and family conflict (meeting all 5 criteria for DID). In the 2nd stage (late 20s up to the present), she regularly experienced possession states but felt in control of their onset and found them religiously meaningful. In this 2nd stage, she only fulfilled 3 criteria for DID. We question the accuracy of diagnosing this individual with DID in her earlier life and suggest that the DSM–5 criteria fail to address the ambiguity of affect surrounding possession experiences (positive at the individual level, negative at the interpersonal level) and lack a clearer acknowledgment of the prevalence of possession and other unusual experiences in general populations.”

Critiquing the Requirement of Oneness over Multiplicity: An Examination of  Dissociative Identity (Disorder) in Five Clinical Texts (Alternative Link) Kymbra Clayton - multiplicity without being disordered - "Those who embrace an alternate view of self offer the concept of an inherently plural, fluid, flexible, fragmented and decentered self, formed and constrained by social processes. From this perspective a plural self consists of a multiplicity of positions, voices, states of mind and functions." - "There may be in the general population a large number of people with [multiplicity] who are high-functioning, relatively free of overt psychopathology, and no more in need of treatment than most of their peers. They may not have abuse histories and may have evolved a creative and adaptive multiplicity." - "Functional individuals who live with multiplicity are most likely not documented because of the very fact that they are functional and do not seek therapy. At present, the only documented cases of functional multiplicity are self-documented, for example on internet pages. Although this is not persuasive evidence for the scientific community, such data cannot be summarily dismissed simply to hold to the dominant discourse."

Towards a theoretical framework of the etiology and structures of multiple personality Regan McClure - theoretical explanation of Dissociative Identity Disorder - “Ross studied the general population of Winnipeg searching for an indication of Dissociative Identity Disorder in the general population. He found 3.1% of respondents to an interview could fit the criteria of Dissociative Identity Disorder. However, of these 14 individuals (out of 454 participants), the majority (8) seemed to be radically different from Dissociative Identity Disorder patients in therapy. These individuals often did not report abuse history and often reported experiencing little psychopathology. In a test of the Dissociative Experiences Scale, all but one had scores of less than 20. The DES has a scale out of 100, with the mean score of a person with Dissociative Identity Disorder was 41.4 with a standard deviation of 20. The mean score in the general population is 10.1, meaning that the scores of this subgroup were above average for the general population, but well below average for clinical cases of Dissociative Identity Disorder.“ - “Ross describes a number of possibilities that explain these findings. He contemplates that the non-pathological group could be false positives, that the individuals could be amnesiac for abuse, that the Dissociative Identity Disorder could be in remission or that: "multiplicity exists in a non-pathological endogenous form in the general population. About 2% of people may be natural multiples who do not have dysfunctional posttraumatic MPD. They may simply have a highly dissociative psychic organization". I would add that this sub-population in this study are individuals who maintained this structure despite years of socialization. I would predict that the size of this subgroup would be much higher in other cultures. Ross went on to state that "simply having distinct personality states that feel subjectively like separate people may not in itself be a mental illness".” - “The common conception of multiple identities as a form of extreme pathology that takes on classical symptomology is false. In fact, the multiple identity response produces a variety of responses throughout its cycle, and takes a wide variety of forms.”

Scientific Tulpamancy Information Studies and research specifically on Tulpas, though can apply to other plurality

FMRI Tulpa Study AMA - STUDY TO BE RELEASED Dr. Michael Lifshitz and Dr. Tanya Luhrmann - AMA on Tulpamancy brain scans - "There is a formal resemblance between tulpamancy and being DID, but while trauma is often thought to lie at the heart of DID, trauma is not at the heart of many humans who become tulpamancers." - "That [differences between just "imagining" that someone is moving your body and a headmate (tulpa) actually possessing it] was our control condition, just imagining that a loved one or close friend (who isn't a tulpa) was guiding your hand. We found that tulpa possession was significantly different from that, which makes the findings more compelling in my opinion!" - "Our strongest finding, and the one we had predicted before we started, was that tulpa possession reduced activity in a brain area--the pre-supplementary motor area--that is very important to planning actions and having a feeling of agency over your actions. This shows that tulpa systems really are shifting the basic building blocks of the sense of agency in the brain, which is pretty cool. We also found another brain change during tulpa possession, in a specific cluster in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. This cluster is interesting too because other studies have shown that it's specifically involved in what's been called "self-other merging". So basically when tulpas are possessing the body, our results suggest that the brain is shifting the way it's processing who is in control--reducing the sense of the self's agency (presumably the host) and merging between the sense of self and the other (presumably the tulpa)."

Personality Characteristics of Tulpamancers and Their Tulpas Anna Martin, Bailey Thompson, and Steven Lancaster - Tulpamancy and Tulpa information and experiences - "While some hosts have reported that their tulpa appeared without their conscious effort, individuals who wish to create a tulpa typically do so through a multi-step creation process. During and after this creation process, hosts not only interact with their tulpa within the mind, but often also endeavor to allow their tulpa to have partial or full control of the body, a process is referred to as “fronting” or “possession”. Notably, the tulpa is considered an autonomous being with their own distinct personality and they are thus expected to be treated as such." - "While plurality is widely accepted within the Tulpamancy culture, it could be argued that the mental presence of a non-physical entity may be indicative of disorders such as Dissociative Identity Disorder, Schizophrenia, or Schizotypal Personality Disorder. While the experience of tulpamancers could fit diagnostic criteria such as the presence of multiple personalities, delusions, or auditory hallucinations, there are reported advantageous qualities of Tulpamancy which lead to questions as to whether their experience results in significant distress or impairment." - "While the experiences of having a tulpa and having an imaginary friend have some similarity, one key differentiating factor between the two is that children possess an understanding that that their imaginary friend is pretend, while hosts understand their tulpas to be autonomous, sentient beings. As the practice of tulpamancy has this core feature, it is distinct from the more socially acceptable construct of imaginary friendship. This distinction of “realness” is notable because the host’s perception is that their helper is extrinsic rather than intrinsic; the tulpa is seen as a real individual with an outside perspective rather than the host’s own self-talk or simply a figment of their imagination."

Sentient companions predicted and modeled into existence: explaining the Tulpa phenomenon Kaj Sotala - theory on created multiplicity - "Several related phenomena are known to exist. These include children’s imaginary friends, dissociative personality disorder, and the "illusion of independent agency" where fiction writers report experiencing their characters as real." - "Tulpas may arise from the combination of three factors. First, conscious thought acts as a "reality simulator", and imagining something is essentially the same process as perceiving it, with the sense data being generated from an internal model rather than from external input. Second, our brains have evolved to be capable of modeling other people and predicting their behavior, so as to facilitate social interaction. Third, according to the predictive coding model of the brain, action and perception/prediction are closely linked: doing something involves us predicting that we will do it, after which the brain carries out backwards inference to find the actions that are needed to fulfill the prediction." - "The practitioner starts with imagining the kind of person they wish to create, and how that person would behave in different situations. The mental images produced by this process are picked up by the people-modeling modules of the brain, which might not be able to distinguish between imagined and perceived sense data, and they begin creating a model of the tulpa that is being imagined. Practitioners report their tulpas sometimes doing new and surprising things, which could be explained by the brain doing backwards inference to find possible "deep causes" of the tulpa’s imagined behavior, whose other consequences are then simulated, causing the tulpa to act in ways unanticipated by the practitioner. Eventually, once the model and the practitioner’s ability to imagine the tulpa become strong enough, there will be a self sustaining feedback loop: the model of the tulpa creates new predictions of its behavior, which are experienced as happening, and these experiences are fed back into the model, giving rise to new predictions and behavior."

A Time for Tulpas Nick Stager - Tulpa experiences and interactions with created multiplicity - "It additionally demonstrates how tulpamancers themselves see fiction writing as an easy way to develop tulpas, sometimes even by accident. Writing, like using the internet or playing videogames, allows us to play with our identity, to begin to practice a new theory of mind in which we can be active participants in conversations inside our minds. Writing an in depth character requires forming a new personality, distinct from our own." - "Embedded in each of these sub-definitions is a concept that somehow tulpas are independent. However in the first, imaginary friend sub-definition, tulpas are given independent "thoughts and feelings, that you can interact with." This implies the tulpa is passive, that it is almost like a fictional character the host has developed, that the host can ask questions. It is only the second, adult sub-definition where the tulpa is assigned the power to act independently. Suddenly the tulpa is not sedentary; it is not only a complex fictional character with differing thoughts and opinions; but now it, itself, is conscious: it can be the one asking questions, and now the host can be acted upon." - "Switching as defined on the subreddit is, “Letting the tulpa take full control of the body while the host enters a tulpa like state." This sounds like what we might normally call possession, but tulpamancers instead use possession to refer to, “Letting the tulpa control one or more parts of the host's body.” Even though possession and possession-like trances are found in many different cultures and religious traditions, the word carries a negative connotation in the modern West due to films such as The Exorcist, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose."

Tracking the Tulpa - Exploring the "Tibetan" Origins of a Contemporary Paranormal Idea Natasha L. Mikles and Joseph P. Laycock - where Tulpamancy originated - "Since the 1970s, tulpas have been a feature of Western paranormal lore. In contemporary paranormal discourse, a tulpa is a being that begins in the imagination but acquires a tangible reality and sentience. Tulpas are created either through a deliberate act of individual will or unintentionally from the thoughts of numerous people. The tulpa was first described by Alexandra David-Neel in Magic and Mystery in Tibet and is still regarded as a Tibetan concept. However, the idea of the tulpa is more indebted to Theosophy than to Tibetan Buddhism. This article explores the murky origins of the tulpa to show how the concept emerged from a dialogue between East and West in which Theosophical metaphysics were combined with terms adapted from Tibetan Buddhism." - “The history of the tulpa could be read as a case of Theosophists appropriating a term from Tibetan Buddhism to give their own esoteric ideas some Orientalist "window dressing." This view, however, presents Tibet as a closed totality and ignores the agency of figures such as Kazi Dawa Samdup in translating complex ideas between cultures.” - “David-Neel introduced the notion that emanations can be created unintentionally or through collective belief, an idea that appears to be unprecedented in Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan makes a distinction between voluntary and involuntary verbs; "I broke the cup" and "the cup broke" employ different verbs to express this fundamental difference in intent and activity. A seminal Tibetan-language dictionary categorizes the verb sprul baas active, meaning that someone intentionally emanates or manifests something when they are "sprul-ing," so to speak.This signifier of intention contradicts the idea found in Western tulpa lore that collective thought can inadvertently bring supernatural beings into existence. This aspect has its origins in Theosophy, and John Keel helped make the idea of "accidental" tulpas more explicit in contemporary paranormal discourse. “

Tulpas and Mental Health: A Study of Non-Traumagenic Plural Experiences Jacob J. Isler - differences between plurality in Tulpamancy and DID - "There are similarities between these advanced tulpamancy techniques and the experiences of DID diagnosed folk, namely having multiple identities and dissociating from the body’s actions. However, the absence of amnesia, depersonalization, and other traumagenic symptoms in most tulpamancers make these techniques a reportedly positive and mutually enjoyable experience." - "Because non-traumagenic plural experiences rarely affect functioning, they have fallen very much under the radar of researchers, academics, and mental health professionals. The existing body of research on non-DID plurality is limited to online surveys and theory, and this must change. The lack of social, scientific, and medical awareness and understanding of plurality causes stigmatization, misdiagnoses, and mistreatment. Further research is a necessity to counter this." - "Plural experiences are not limited to tulpas and dissociative disorders. In fact, when the diversity of plural experience is considered, multiplicity may seem to be less of an extraordinary achievement and more of a fundamentally human experience. Many fiction writers, for example, report that the characters of their design seem to come to life in their heads, behaving autonomously and being perceived as full-fledged consciousnesses. Religious individuals of faiths where the God, Gods, or spirits they believe in can interact with them to a degree report similar phenomena, regardless of their specific religion or culture. There are also online communities tangential to tulpas where members report being plural as long as they can remember, but do not experience uncontrolled dissociation. And, of course, there is also tulpamancy. Tulpamancy is one way to willfully create new identities. It is a means to become plural."

Daring to Hear Voices Sameul Paul Veissiere - discusses Tulpamancy experiences - "At face value, however, they are no more or less difficult to study than the claims made by anyone about what goes on in their heads. While we have every reason to believe that people around us are conscious, have inner experiences, feel pleasure and pain, and have streams of narrative in their head, we have absolutely no way to study these experiences scientifically or to prove that any of this is going on. In philosophy, this is known as the Problem of Other Minds." - "Verbal reports elicited from individuals or personal introspection, as anecdotal as they seem, are still the best “evidence” we have for any kind of mental and bodily phenomena. When a large group of people reports similarly fine-grained experiences that are comparable (in that they differ from average experiences reported by other groups) this is pretty good “evidence” for their veracity." - "Anthropologists have long documented incidents of trance, dissociation, spirit possessions, and other anomalous experiences that occur in ritual, often spiritual contexts in the absence of trauma and pathology. In such cases, such as Candomblé spirit possession in Brazil or Madagascar, these experiences are understood as normal and desirable."

Varieties of Tulpa Experiences Samuel Pal Veissiere - philosophy behind Tulpamancy - “Tulpas are imagined, experienced, interacted with, and collectively validated as sentient persons with mental states, propositional attitudes, feelings, bodily sensations, biases, and preferences of their own.” - “Several Tulpamancers (from both psychological and metaphysical communities) report having had sentient imaginary friends for up to several years before finding out about Tulpamancy. For one informant, the practice had been established in her family for several generations. Many Tulpas from the psychological tradition, when interviewed separately from their hosts, also claim to have ‘been around’ in their hosts’ consciousness before their hosts became aware of them through Tulpamancy.” - “The ‘self’ in this case is initially narrated as ‘different’ kinds of multiple selves within single bodies, and subsequently operates automatically once the practice is successfully enskilled.”

Other Non-Specific Information Interesting links

Understanding Delusions Chandra Kiran, Suprakash Chaudhury - meaning of a delusion - “In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a delusion is defined as: A false belief based on incorrect inference about external reality that is firmly sustained despite what almost everybody else believes and despite what constitutes incontrovertible and obvious proof or evidence to the contrary. The belief is not one ordinarily accepted by other members of the person’s culture or subculture (e.g. it is not an article of religious faith).”

Hearing Voices in Different Cultures: A Social Kindling Hypothesis Tanya M. Luhrmann, R. Padmavati, Hema Tharoor, Akwasi Osei - hearing positive voices in other cultures - “We find that while there is much that is similar, there are notable differences in the kinds of voices that people seem to experience. In a California sample, people were more likely to describe their voices as intrusive unreal thoughts; in the South Indian sample, they were more likely to describe them as providing useful guidance; and in our West African sample, they were more likely to describe them as morally good and causally powerful.”

Diagnostic Screening Tools American Psychiatric Association - self-assessment tools (PC-PTSD, DES-2) - “The Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) measures dissociative experiences, the most recent version is the DES-II. It is useful in identifying whether someone is likely to have a dissociative disorder, particularly others refer to Dissociative Identity Disorder and similar forms of Other Specified Dissociative Disorder. DES questions refer to many types of dissociation, including amnesia, absorption, depersonalization and derealization, and there are a few questions referring to normal, everyday dissociation that does not lead to problems.”

Maladaptive Daydreaming among patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder Nirit Soffer-Dudek, Rémy Aquarone, Eli Somer - MD in multiplicity - “Maladaptive Daydreaming shares some characteristics with dissociation in general and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) in particular, such as detachment, discontinuities in experience, and a fragmented sense of self, and they may share etiological mechanisms.“

Sight and blindness in the same person: Gating in the visual system Hans Strasburger, Bruno Waldvogel - disability variation in DID - “We present the case of a patient having dissociative identity disorder (DID) who-after 15 years of misdiagnosed cortical blindness-step-by-step regained sight during psychotherapeutic treatment. At first only a few personality states regained vision whereas others remained blind.”

Deconstructing Structural Dissociation Jack Dawkins - deindividuation in the Theory of Structural Dissociation - “Throughout The Haunted Self, HNS repeat that trauma-based systems are composed of “parts of the personality,” not groups of people working together toward a common goal. System members’ names are placed in scare quotes. The focus is on The Individual, even when they themselves claim that their patients never developed a singular sense of self in the first place. HNS say that there is no original personality in structural dissociation. They routinely refer to DID as a set of deficits, rather than a neutral or potentially beneficial mechanism that systems use to offer each other mutual support after being severely traumatised. People traumatised severely enough to experience any flavour of dissociation are characterised as having “inadequate mental skills”. It’s a depressing, impoverished way to see systems, whether or not they originated through trauma.”

Journal of Trauma and Dissociation: Defining (Structural) Dissociation: A Debate Journal of Trauma and Dissociation - debates of the Theory of Structural Dissociation - A list of debates in the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation discussing different issues with the Theory of Structural Dissociation.

Why the Theory of Structural Dissociation is Ableist - A Strong Opinionated Article Stronghold System - dehumanisation in the Theory of Structural Dissociation - “Here is my problem with how the DID community treats this theory. From the community feedback it seems that many of you do not want integration, as explained in this theory. And you cannot cherry-pick the sweet parts, when it comes to theories like this. Especially not when integration is so interwoven with this theory. The theory of Structural dissociation is often presented as truth in our communities, even though this theory is not widely accepted, not acknowledged, not proven (or provable) and hence just a theory like any other  – there are many theories about DID.”

Loss of Onno Van Der Hart’s License (Additional Information) Dutch Government - Hart’s abuse of DID patients - "He trained a LOT of DID therapists in the Netherlands. In front of 500 of them he laughed at systems for expressing fears about integration. The implications of what he’s taught these therapists & written into his books and trainings is scary - especially with the next point:  He used the ToSD, which he wrote, as an excuse for abusing the women who came forward. He used it to justify stretching out and delaying her treatment over 21 years to an very intense, very personal, very scary degree."

Moral Status and the Treatment of DID Timothy J. Bane - problems with only recommending integration for treatment - “There is a significant tension between the psychological approach and a widely held model of Dissociative Identity Disorder. According to this model, the individual personalities or alters that belong to someone with DID possess those properties that proponents of the psychological approach claim surface for full moral status. If this account of DID is true, then the psychological approach to full moral status seems to entail that the two standard therapies for treating DID might, on occasion, be seriously immoral, for they may well involve the elimination of an entity with full moral status.”

DID, OSDD, and UDD Diagnostic Guide (NZ) Accident Compensation Corporation - guide to diagnosing a dissociative disorder - “This summary aims to assist you to diagnose adult Dissociative Identity Disorder in your mental health assessment of ACC clients. The summary sets out the difficulties in DID diagnosis, and outlines best practice diagnostic criteria. This summary is adapted from the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) Guidelines for Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder in Adults. It focuses on the DID diagnosis section only and reproduces key excerpts relevant to difficulties in diagnosing DID.”

ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics World Health Organisation - International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems - “ICD serves a broad range of uses globally and provides critical knowledge on the extent, causes and consequences of human disease and death worldwide via data that is reported and coded with the ICD. Clinical terms coded with ICD are the main basis for health recording and statistics on disease in primary, secondary and tertiary care, as well as on cause of death certificates. These data and statistics support payment systems, service planning, administration of quality and safety, and health services research. Diagnostic guidance linked to categories of ICD also standardizes data collection and enables large scale research.”

DSM-V-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition) American Psychiatric Association - Dissociative Disorders on page 491 of 1377 - “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common language and standard criteria. It is an internationally accepted manual on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, though it may be used in conjunction with other documents.”

DSM DID ALTERATIONS American Psychiatric Association - differences between every DID criteria - “The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.”

DSM Versions

Plural History

Explanations and references to different parts of plural history

Plural History - 1811 Lb Lee - both endogenic and traumagenic history - “More than one person to a body is not a new thing. “One body gets one person/soul/mind/personality forever,” isn’t a scientific idea; it’s a cultural one and not universal. Different cultures have their own definitions of personhood, selfhood, souls, spirits, and what the appropriate numbers are—in Judaism, people get an extra soul on the Shabbat; the Iroquois have the gannigonr-ha and the erienta (Mann, 2004); and then there’s the citations on the “soul dualism” article on Wikipedia. Trying to define which is plural and what isn’t would take a whole other essay to cover, but we want to break this idea that plurality was invented by (or belongs to) white medical personnel and the people they treat.”

It's Not Just a Tumblr Thing Jack Dawkins - pre-Tumblr healthy plurality - “People have been talking about multiplicity/plurality outside a medicalised paradigm and DID treatment that isn’t integration-focused for over twenty years. This contradicts the stereotype that nonpathological views of multiplicity originated on social media platforms popular among teens and young adults: LiveJournal in the mid-2000s, Tumblr in the 2010s, and now TikTok. Amorpha System and Thomas of Collective Solipsism have discussed this as well. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t systems that benefit from from the strict medical model, including integration, but that the discussion has happened for much longer than people think. There are systems who have been writing about their experiences longer than the teenagers on TikTok have been alive—including us.”

A Brief History of the Use of "System" in a Non-DID Space Lb Lee - the usage of “system” across all system spaces - “DID folks probably did not invent the term 'system.' It is more likely that it was created by the mental health powers that be; Freyasspirit kindly gave me this citation from Richard Kluft's "The Phenomenology And Treatment Of Extremely Complex Multiple Personality Disorder" in 1988 where he refers to "a system of alters," and that's the earliest I've been able to find.  I've also seen it used later in the therapeutic literature in 1995, in Stephen Braude's "First Person Plural: Multiple Personality and the Philosophy of Mind," Krakauer's "Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder: The Power of the Collective Heart" from 2001, and many, many others.”

A Quick'N'Dirty History of "System" as Plural Slang Lb Lee - different uses of “system” in a plural context - “"System" in the plural slang sense is used as a stand-alone noun (or, less often in my circles, in the specific phrasing, "a multiple system" or "plural system"). People will ask us, "are you a system?" or "have you heard about systems?" In this context, a "system" roughly describes the gestalt entity that is formed by the mix of a plural's vessel, internal populace, headspace, and other internal forces at work.”

A partial history of plural self-advocacy Alt-H - Notable Plural Advocacy from 1987 - “Plural self advocacy is exactly what it says on the tin: plurals taking control of our own lives and being in charge of how we’re represented. It’s what happens when we speak for ourselves instead of letting singlet academics do it for us. Plural self advocacy has a long history that stretches before the existence of the internet, and it has made a difference. Here are some notable milestones, and what they’ve done for us.”

Origin of the Endogenic and Traumagenic System Terminology Lunastus Collective - the coining of “endogenic” and “traumagenic” - “It was and still is horrible to see the misinterpretation of these terms, considering that we ourselves are survivors of abuse. “Endogenic” wasn’t created to mean “DID without the trauma”. It was created to mean systems that felt their plurality was due to a neurodivergence, from a psychological cause other than DID/OSDD, from some sort of spiritual cause, with a friendly outlook towards tulpamancy or soulbonding. Literally, it’s inclusive of any and all systems or plural folk that do not attribute their plurality to trauma. It has nothing to do with pretending to have a clinical disorder, or mocking anyone. It is simply a single word for many, many ways to be plural.“

There Isn't Evidence Systemhopping was a RAMCOA Term (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) Neloran - the “Systemhopping is a stolen term” issue - “It was me [first usage of system hopping in RAMCOA spaces] sharing personal inner experience on ritual abuse & something nobody in the RAMCOA world actually calls system hopping. People took my tweet and weaponized it. As far as I can tell, my tweet is cited as a source fact on system hopping. I have personally seen it passed around on Discord and have asked people to remove it. I now hear it’s spread all over tumblr. Everyone always has the same vague statement, about parts that can travel between subsystems. Well, that’s because the only “proof” people use stems back to my tweet. Add to it the telephone-game effect of losing context the further the message is passed along; here we are.”

Community Information

Non-scientific information and explanations

Tibetan Buddhist with a Tulpa Dharma Yokeyodasampa - a Tibetan Buddhist on Tulpamancy - "I have understood the western Tulpamancy culture for awhile, I’ve been on the old forums but I haven’t really interacted much with the community. I don’t view it negatively, as long as you live your life and treat all sentient beings with kindness, including your tulpa, I don’t see an issue. From what I understand, tulpa in the western sense is a different culture than that of Tibetan or other shared origin, I don’t see a specific claim to the word. I don’t mind it. It’s fascinating how such a concept has travelled and deviated from its original sources and grew into a practice distinct in culture and community. Buddhism is meant to be fluid, and adopted to different cultures. That’s the point, to help one achieve enlightenment and escape from the cycle. I view it as fair game, besides this practice (western tulpamancy) is so distinct from mine and similar practices that it isn’t the same thing. This culture has just as much claim to the word as we do.”

Dalai Lama - Buddhist Practices Dalai Lama - cultural appreciation - "He added: “Many Christians tell me they believe in Buddhist meditation, which can be learned by Christians. We teach right attitude. We teach meditation, which can be quite deep. These would be things that the West can take, and I think it is clear that Buddhists should practice certain Western methods, too.” "

Making Friends - Transcript of a Podcast on Tulpas - (Additional Information) CambrianCrew, Richard J. Loewenstein - editor of the DSM-V dissociative disorder section - “What you’re describing is much more somebody who is emitting symptoms consistent with Dissociative Identity Disorder and, you know, without interviewing her, I would wonder if that’s what’s occurring and this creates a kind of way that she can experience herself without distress. But again, if she is not distressed, by definition it’s not a disorder.”

What do Sysmeds say That is Transphobic/TERF Rhetoric? OliviaSet, Others - similarities between sysmeds and transmeds - “It’s the conflation of a normal state of existing (being trans and being plural) and disorders related to them (gender dysphoria and dissociative disorders respectively)."”

Debunking Sysmeds - Claims and Rebuttals Ozymandias& - evidence against anti-endo claims - “This is a carrd that has the sole purpose of debunking the claims that are very common in sysmed/anti-endo spaces.”

Masterpost - Academia on Endogenic and non-traumagenic plurality Inclusive Syscourse - explanations and quotes from sources - “The point of this post is not to say that there is academic consensus on the existence of endogenic systems - far from it. The point is to illustrate the fact that there is no consensus on the subject of plurality and dissociation among academics. But as research expands, so does the academic understanding of plurality. Both older and more recent research shows that psychiatry as a field is becoming more open to the existence of non-disordered and endogenic plurality.“

Claims There is No Research On Endogenics The Crisses - finding endogenic research - “The term "endogenic" is fairly new, and it's a community-based term. Like the difference between "multiple personality disorder" and/or "multiple" or "the dissociated system" and various ways the professionals refer to clients or study subjects, versus "plural" which is a community-driven term, we cannot look for studies on "endogenic systems" in the psychology literature.”

Origins of Plurality and Levels of Dissociation The Phoenixes - community study using the DES - “This study cannot with certainty prove or disprove the existence of plurality formed from sources other than trauma. This was an attempt to gain insight into the situation through looking at how DES scores compare between different origins. The DES is not a diagnostic tool, but it can aid in receiving a diagnosis. This survey is only to track any potential differences in scores between different self identified origins of plurality and what that may mean.”

The Tulpa Carrd (MULTIPLE LANGUAGES) Unknown - explanation of Tulpamancy - “This carrd is meant to explain the nature and origins of tulpamancy and address the rumors surrounding it.”

Likely Origins of "Tulpamancy is Cultural Appropriation" Dragonheart System - breakdown of the possible origin - “So what do I mean by, “Likely Origin of “Tulpamancy is Cultural Appropriation””? Well, I was discussing it with some other people in a Discord server, and a friend system of ours told us someone sent this carrd in response to the academic paper I list as my primary source as to why “tulpa” isn’t cultural appropriation. I’m going to break this entire thing down and explain why it is at minimum, incredibly suspicious, if not, outright false, filled with lies, and is written to intentionally spread a myth about Tulpamancy systems to justify discrimination of said systems.”

Resources General helpful resources

RAMCOA Academic books, papers, self-help, and other misc.

Healthy Multiplicity Plural Resource Index.

Plurality Playbook To help employees and managers understand dissociative disorders, as well as plurality as a whole.

Understanding Multiplicity The experience of having more than one person, self, or identity within the body.

Multiplicity Wik A wiki by plurals and multiples, for plurals and multiples (and anyone who is questioning a system and wants to learn more) about the state of sharing a body/mind with others.

The Plural Association A free resource website by The Plural Association Nonprofit - For Dissociative Identity Disorder & all other forms of Multiplicity under the Plural umbrella.

Pluralpedia The collaborative plurality dictionary.

Endogenic Hub This is a site dedicated to endogenic plurality, or the state of being more-than-one without necessarily having come from trauma. 

Plural Soapbox Welcome to Plural Soapbox, a collection of articles about plurality that try to explain and educate without leaning too heavily on a medical or spiritual perspective.

More Than One Short guide to plurality.

Partielles Multiplicity in French.

Alterhuman Archive Collection of posts, guides, explanations, and discussions.

The Dissociative Initiative The DI is a highly diverse community with people who have many different opinions, experiences, and frameworks to understand themselves and their lives; approaches they find helpful, and hopes for the future.

Tulpa Info The purpose of this site is to provide information about tulpas, to guide tulpa creation, and to host a community for discussion and research of the phenomenon.

Tulpamancy FAQ 60 page long document full of answers about Tulpamancy.

A Tulpamancy Resource Site A repository of information on the tulpamancy community, tulpamancy basics, and tulpa creation, with discussions and a blog by contributors on the various aspects of tulpamancy.

Soulbounding Links List of links to various information on Soulbounding.

Collection of Plural Resources Guides, information, services, and other resources.

Lists of Links Put together by community members! (Not thoroughly checked)

Plurality/Multiplicity + Syscourse Resources and Findings - ButterflyBlood

Cambrian's Thread of Experts - CambrianCrew

Studies into non-disordered and/or endogenic plurality - Oliviaset 

Collected Plurality Info - 8 pages of resources - The Fractal System

Scientific Papers on Endogenic Plurality - r/Plural

Multiplicity Links - Sarah K Reece

Scientific Articles on Non-disordered Systems - Unknown

Ex Uno Plures - Plures House

An Endogenic Proof Masterlist - Plural Anomaly

Plurality Studies - Multiplicity and Plurality Wikipedia