Itâs been a long time since Iâve brought up this topic, but the misinformation is still spreading and harming people -
People believing they have Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D) or Other Specified Dissociative disorders (O.S.D.D) due to the misinformation spread on tumblr is extremely dangerous. (âMultiple Perosonality Disorderâ is not what this disorder is called. That name is outdated and commonly used in horror genres that misrepresent this disorder.)
These disorders cause intense dissociative symptoms due to trauma. This can lead to a single individual believing they are a different person, or the they may cycle through many different identities. Their memories can change, their voice can change, their entire persona can change. In cases of D.I.D, the entire memory of your actions during this time is lost. This is all against the core identityâs will, or in some cases, the core identity may voluntarily let a different identity take over in order to cope with a trigger.
Itâs scary. I know because I have it.
I experience alters, and theyâre not under my control. The reason the brain dissociates so hard due to trauma is because the child in those situations can not handle the extreme stress. It follows the victim of abuse into adulthood. I never completed college because of my D.I.D. I stay awake at night because of my D.I.D. And the worst part is, doctors are so uneducated on the topic that I canât receive proper therapy for my symptoms.
Being told you have alters, or that you can magically have these trauma symptoms just because you want them, can be extremely stressful and detrimental on the victim of the misinformation.
Even in cases where the person may actually have these disorders, being labeled as ânot having truamaâ can cause them to not get help for the stressful symptoms.
If someone without the trauma disorder is forced to try and believe their âinner voicesâ are alters, it can be detrimental to their mental health. Iâve seen discord groups have âvalidationâ channels encouraging people blindly to âdesign their own alter in their headâ or âthink hard about their traumaâ just so the person can claim they have trauma, or make an alter out of their âimagination.â Most people are interested in the disorder because alters seem like âa cool fun edgy characterâ that takes over your body. Itâs not like that at all.
Itâs the constant anxiety of losing control of your memory and self at the worst moments. Itâs causing loved ones and friends to worry when youâre suddenly unresponsive and dissociating. Itâs dealing with the smallest of triggers and trying to convince yourself theyâre ânot a big dealâ at the cost of staying conscious. Itâs dealing with people asking you if âyour alters are evilâ and having to explain that theyâre just there to help you and keep you safe. Itâs losing memories and moments of your life to memory black outs. Itâs sharing your body with people you may or may not even know exist.
âyou can have alters without trauma! Itâs called being an endogenic system!â
This is not true. All people with alters have trauma. This is because dissociation is caused by extreme stress, which can lead to trauma. The repeated trauma causes the dissociation to become an unwanted coping mechanism. Repeated trauma in childhood causes the dissociative state to take on characteristics in order for the victim to cope. These traits reoccur in a pattern called âidentity alteration.â When people make new names like âendogenic system / quiogenic systemâ for people who want to make imaginary friends and call them alters, it can harm people with this disorder. Believing you have alters when you donât, can be extremely stressful. And if you do have alters, believing theres no trauma linked to it can cause you to never receive help, or bottle up the trauma that may resurface from identity alteration, or PTSD episodes. âMixed systemsâ arenât a thing either. If you have PTSD, all alters are related to it whether youâre aware of it or not.
If you hear voices, you have alters! You should talk to them because theyâre real people.
This is false. People with schizophrenia can hear voices and not experience identity alteration or memory loss. Some may not even have PTSD. Borderline Personality Disorder also causes someone to experience âfacets of identityâ due to rapid mood swings. These are not alters either, as they were not formed to cope with abuse, or handle a situation that the core identity can cope with.
Alters being seen as real people by the system is a valid coping mechanism, as systems (a body with many alters) have been experiencing these identity alterations since childhood. However, if someone who is a system does not see the alters as âreal peopleâ that is healthy as well. Because theyâre not âreal people.â Theyâre dissociated parts of a single identity formed by repeated trauma. Forcing a system with these beliefs to believe their alters are real people can make symptoms worse. I know, because I was a victim of that when I was with a therapist who actually helped me. A âSystem Discord Serverâ in mass would correct me, and claim my alters should be treated as real people, delaying my ability to cope with my symptoms.
I got my alters from my kin experiences.
Donât even go there. Spirituality or identifying with a character can not cause alters to split. âPast life traumaâ canât cause an alter to form either. Alters can claim they kin a character, but theyâll always be a dissociated part of the core identity.
Theyâre not a separate soul or magical spirit that somehow entered your head. Theyâre symptoms of PTSD, stop making them sound like theyâre a choice.
My friend with D.I.D / OSDD says they can choose when an alter fronts. I think theyâre faking.
If your friend has trauma, and the alters didnât just form out of no where, itâs safe to say theyâre not faking. Sometimes if a trigger happens, an alter will front. Sometimes you may not know what the trigger is, and neither will your friend. Alters may also be formed as a fictional character in order to help your friend cope. Donât be surprised if someone has an alter who has the name of a fictional character. This is common, as fiction is a comfort to people who are victims of abuse.
Alters arenât real people so why should I treat them like real people? Iâm going to ignore my friend until their alter goes away.
No!!!! No!!! Alters believe theyâre real people. Treat them with respect. If an alter is 5 years old, and has a different name and whole different interests, address the alter by their name. Your friend is not there at the moment, and they need to be treated as the age their alter is. The alter should be addressed by their name. No matter if the body is an adult, if an alter is a child then you need to treat them as such. Never tell an alter âyouâre not actually realâ, as they exist solely to believe theyâre real and take care of a potential abusive situation. Alters come in many types and with many different responsibilities in relation to trauma.
I think I might have D.I.D / O.S.D.D now that I know what he real symptoms are.
Itâs good to seek out a therapist and do your own research. If you think you may have alters, itâs important to find a therapist that takes these disorders seriously. Psychiatrists and therapists have belittled me and many others with these disorders for the symptoms we have no control over, and the symptoms we struggle with - Solely because they donât believe itâs a real thing. People who claim they have âaltersâ and fake these disorders with horror movie symptoms also give us a bad name.
Not every system with D.I.D / O.S.D.D is in pain, or struggling either. Some learned to cope with their dissociation and identity alteration. O.S.D.D even lacks dissociative amnesia in its diagnostic criteria, meaning alters may even appear as a foggy distant memory instead of a black out.
People with these disorders donât have a âblame the alterâ card either. If an alter does something wrong, the whole system should be held accountable.
TLDR; stop spreading misinformation about systems (D.I.D / O.S.D.D)
Welcoming âevery system typeâ into discords isnât as charming or helpful as you think it is.
Take these disorders, and the criteria for alters seriously.
blakekathryn
tangentwithtanner
