I only know one person who legitimately suffers from anything remotely like DID.
Everyone else is full of s**t. There are no personalities. There are no characters. It's not like some soap-opera in your head and you can 'switch' whenever you please (or 'don't' please). Although, due to the obnoxious tendency of some who feel the need to feed into bullshit in order to get their own bullshit fed in turn, we get to observe cases in which bullshit-feeding cycles reinforce false claims of DID and, indeed, false symptoms of DID.
DID is the fragmentation of one self. Not a collection of separate people or personalities in one mind. There is no Bob/Fred/Lindsay/Unicorn/Gorilla/two-year-old boy living in your head. You are who you are. DID is the name for what happens when who you are has been fragmented, compartmentalized to an excessive degree in response to excessive circumstances.
It's disgusting to see how many people pretend to have DID when all they've really done is turn themselves into roleplay caricatures of different 'alters' or 'characters' while pretending these characters are separate personalities. They treat it like a game and abuse their 'moral high ground' whenever someone calls them on their bullshit.
Two of my best friends growing up decided to have DID, one following shortly after the other. A third decided she was haunted by ghosts and made comics about them, who all happened to look like hot guys. The 'alters' of the former also happened to look like hot guys. Huh. Wonder why. They drew pictures of them and had weird 'alter playdates' and it was just really disturbing.
I tried to believe them at first. But you can only indulge so much crap before calling it out. A lot of the 'accounts' here in this thread sound just like the people I used to know.
i honestly call bullshit on everyone else who's claimed to have it here.
DID isn't multiple personalities. it's a fragmented self. anyone who's been legitimately diagnosed would know this.
i feel like a dumbass now for having mentioned my situation.
Indeed. Let's hope none of them attempt to appropriate your legitimate conditions in attempt to validate their invented bullshit.
considering these sorts of people are the reason i've avoided associating with the disorder/have refused to even look at it, i'd say it's already a problem.
i'm fairly disgusted with it.
i had no idea what the actual requirements for the disorder were, and assumed it was like these people. there was no way i could have it because i was nothing like them.
yet then i come to find (quite recently) that they're the ones bullshitting and because of that, i was misinformed.
I only know one person who legitimately suffers from anything remotely like DID.
Everyone else is full of s**t. There are no personalities. There are no characters. It's not like some soap-opera in your head and you can 'switch' whenever you please (or 'don't' please). Although, due to the obnoxious tendency of some who feel the need to feed into bullshit in order to get their own bullshit fed in turn, we get to observe cases in which bullshit-feeding cycles reinforce false claims of DID and, indeed, false symptoms of DID.
DID is the fragmentation of one self. Not a collection of separate people or personalities in one mind. There is no Bob/Fred/Lindsay/Unicorn/Gorilla/two-year-old boy living in your head. You are who you are. DID is the name for what happens when who you are has been fragmented, compartmentalized to an excessive degree in response to excessive circumstances.
It's disgusting to see how many people pretend to have DID when all they've really done is turn themselves into roleplay caricatures of different 'alters' or 'characters' while pretending these characters are separate personalities. They treat it like a game and abuse their 'moral high ground' whenever someone calls them on their bullshit.
Two of my best friends growing up decided to have DID, one following shortly after the other. A third decided she was haunted by ghosts and made comics about them, who all happened to look like hot guys. The 'alters' of the former also happened to look like hot guys. Huh. Wonder why. They drew pictures of them and had weird 'alter playdates' and it was just really disturbing.
I tried to believe them at first. But you can only indulge so much crap before calling it out. A lot of the 'accounts' here in this thread sound just like the people I used to know.
i honestly call bullshit on everyone else who's claimed to have it here.
DID isn't multiple personalities. it's a fragmented self. anyone who's been legitimately diagnosed would know this.
i feel like a dumbass now for having mentioned my situation.
Indeed. Let's hope none of them attempt to appropriate your legitimate conditions in attempt to validate their invented bullshit.
considering these sorts of people are the reason i've avoided associating with the disorder/have refused to even look at it, i'd say it's already a problem.
i'm fairly disgusted with it.
i had no idea what the actual requirements for the disorder were, and assumed it was like these people. there was no way i could have it because i was nothing like them.
yet then i come to find (quite recently) that they're the ones bullshitting and because of that, i was misinformed.
I admit, they're embarrassing to listen to. It's difficult to grasp the degree of their willful ignorance, especially in light of the truth so easily within their reach. That they refuse to see what is before their eyes is startling.
That they make a show of their charade and mock those who actually suffer from the disorder is unforgivable.
Such irony; the very act of trying to prove how severe their disorder is ends up proving how very false their claims actually are. DID is designed not to be noticed; the alter fragments are not meant to be witnessed or take part in the core development of the personality. That is why they have been dissociated from the core, so that it can develop free of the memory of intolerable trauma.
I only know one person who legitimately suffers from anything remotely like DID.
Everyone else is full of s**t. There are no personalities. There are no characters. It's not like some soap-opera in your head and you can 'switch' whenever you please (or 'don't' please). Although, due to the obnoxious tendency of some who feel the need to feed into bullshit in order to get their own bullshit fed in turn, we get to observe cases in which bullshit-feeding cycles reinforce false claims of DID and, indeed, false symptoms of DID.
DID is the fragmentation of one self. Not a collection of separate people or personalities in one mind. There is no Bob/Fred/Lindsay/Unicorn/Gorilla/two-year-old boy living in your head. You are who you are. DID is the name for what happens when who you are has been fragmented, compartmentalized to an excessive degree in response to excessive circumstances.
It's disgusting to see how many people pretend to have DID when all they've really done is turn themselves into roleplay caricatures of different 'alters' or 'characters' while pretending these characters are separate personalities. They treat it like a game and abuse their 'moral high ground' whenever someone calls them on their bullshit.
Two of my best friends growing up decided to have DID, one following shortly after the other. A third decided she was haunted by ghosts and made comics about them, who all happened to look like hot guys. The 'alters' of the former also happened to look like hot guys. Huh. Wonder why. They drew pictures of them and had weird 'alter playdates' and it was just really disturbing.
I tried to believe them at first. But you can only indulge so much crap before calling it out. A lot of the 'accounts' here in this thread sound just like the people I used to know.
i honestly call bullshit on everyone else who's claimed to have it here.
DID isn't multiple personalities. it's a fragmented self. anyone who's been legitimately diagnosed would know this.
i feel like a dumbass now for having mentioned my situation.
Indeed. Let's hope none of them attempt to appropriate your legitimate conditions in attempt to validate their invented bullshit.
considering these sorts of people are the reason i've avoided associating with the disorder/have refused to even look at it, i'd say it's already a problem.
i'm fairly disgusted with it.
i had no idea what the actual requirements for the disorder were, and assumed it was like these people. there was no way i could have it because i was nothing like them.
yet then i come to find (quite recently) that they're the ones bullshitting and because of that, i was misinformed.
I admit, they're embarrassing to listen to. It's difficult to grasp the degree of their willful ignorance, especially in light of the truth so easily within their reach. That they refuse to see what is before their eyes is startling.
That they make a show of their charade and mock those who actually suffer from the disorder is unforgivable.
Such irony; the very act of trying to prove how severe their disorder is ends up proving how very false their claims actually are. DID is designed not to be noticed; the alter fragments are not meant to be witnessed or take part in the core development of the personality. That is why they have been dissociated from the core, so that it can develop free of the memory of intolerable trauma.
I only know one person who legitimately suffers from anything remotely like DID.
Everyone else is full of s**t. There are no personalities. There are no characters. It's not like some soap-opera in your head and you can 'switch' whenever you please (or 'don't' please). Although, due to the obnoxious tendency of some who feel the need to feed into bullshit in order to get their own bullshit fed in turn, we get to observe cases in which bullshit-feeding cycles reinforce false claims of DID and, indeed, false symptoms of DID.
DID is the fragmentation of one self. Not a collection of separate people or personalities in one mind. There is no Bob/Fred/Lindsay/Unicorn/Gorilla/two-year-old boy living in your head. You are who you are. DID is the name for what happens when who you are has been fragmented, compartmentalized to an excessive degree in response to excessive circumstances.
It's disgusting to see how many people pretend to have DID when all they've really done is turn themselves into roleplay caricatures of different 'alters' or 'characters' while pretending these characters are separate personalities. They treat it like a game and abuse their 'moral high ground' whenever someone calls them on their bullshit.
Two of my best friends growing up decided to have DID, one following shortly after the other. A third decided she was haunted by ghosts and made comics about them, who all happened to look like hot guys. The 'alters' of the former also happened to look like hot guys. Huh. Wonder why. They drew pictures of them and had weird 'alter playdates' and it was just really disturbing.
I tried to believe them at first. But you can only indulge so much crap before calling it out. A lot of the 'accounts' here in this thread sound just like the people I used to know.
i honestly call bullshit on everyone else who's claimed to have it here.
DID isn't multiple personalities. it's a fragmented self. anyone who's been legitimately diagnosed would know this.
i feel like a dumbass now for having mentioned my situation.
Indeed. Let's hope none of them attempt to appropriate your legitimate conditions in attempt to validate their invented bullshit.
considering these sorts of people are the reason i've avoided associating with the disorder/have refused to even look at it, i'd say it's already a problem.
i'm fairly disgusted with it.
i had no idea what the actual requirements for the disorder were, and assumed it was like these people. there was no way i could have it because i was nothing like them.
yet then i come to find (quite recently) that they're the ones bullshitting and because of that, i was misinformed.
I admit, they're embarrassing to listen to. It's difficult to grasp the degree of their willful ignorance, especially in light of the truth so easily within their reach. That they refuse to see what is before their eyes is startling.
That they make a show of their charade and mock those who actually suffer from the disorder is unforgivable.
Such irony; the very act of trying to prove how severe their disorder is ends up proving how very false their claims actually are. DID is designed not to be noticed; the alter fragments are not meant to be witnessed or take part in the core development of the personality. That is why they have been dissociated from the core, so that it can develop free of the memory of intolerable trauma.
*disclaimer: i am going to go about this in a strange way speaking straight from my head with some "identity checking" strategies and methods i have come up with for ease of trying to explain* **i also apologize about the lack of punctuation** i really don't know how to describe my experience with D.I.D. simply because it isn't a multiple personality thing, coming from a person who had a sense of identity and only a vague separation from it to a full blown disassociation to it through a complicated means of life and drug experiences *to complicated to write out here but if you really want/need to know message me or something and i will attempt to explain it* it is a fragmentation and confusion of the concept of "me" or "self" formerly i could ask myself the question "who am i" or "what is me" and i would get a internal response a warm emotional glow or a feeling that expressed who "i" was or that showed the presence of an identity or self now post this disassociation the same "identity checks" come back empty like trying to search a bottomless pit it's just a black hole of emptiness that goes on forever now if i change my "identity check" method to a different approach i can get "returns" but they aren't identity proving or feel anything like "me" i get bits and pieces like pieces of shattered or pieces of a puzzle if i pick up a piece it feels vaguely reminiscent of a former whole "me" but with the sense of "me" there is an uncomfortable and unsettling "distance" that makes it not like me and after a long period of time of me examining each piece etc *this is a period of about 2 years examining these broken pieces* each has a similar feeling and if i look at all the pieces together i can tell they intertwine but i can't put them together only recognize their similarities because to examine one piece closely i have to put another one down roughly speaking and i have an inability to define myself as a person and certain things like establishing life goals etc are extremely difficult because i can't figure out what i would really enjoy one day i really like something then the next day i'll like it but it's not super thrilling like it was the day before then maybe a few days down the road i might randomly have a huge passion for it again so to try to make this all into a smaller statement i recognize all these pieces go in the same category as what would be defined as a collection of me but at the same time they are still all somewhat distant and just that pieces never creating a whole sense of self
now with all that being said i wanted to approach my experience with the idea of having multiple personalities, so hopefully if i explained the above well enough you have a understanding of this glass shards or puzzle pieces idea. The way the idea of multiple personalities have arisen in my personal self is not so much as multiple identities but because there are all these pieces that partially claim to be me but all also don't feel like me even though i recognize it it confuses my thinking processes and so as a compensation my mind simplifies it to each one is a internal mindset me that collectively creates the very loose construct "identity" of me that is so vaguely connected that i literally can not think the slightest thing about one pieces interactivity to another beyond the extremely broad category of facet of me without mentally splintering them much like fear and happiness are both emotions but have very little similarities in how they behave beyond both being emotions and as an add in that is somewhat out of place but necessary for my next point because of my recognization and understanding of this i can take one piece and create a self created alternate identity when necessary for something like fitting into a group and being accepted or whatever anyway i'm a psychology nerd *hence why i'm on this forum* so i recognize them as pieces of a collective the formerly whole me but to a person who didn't know what i know i could easily see how they might self create the idea of having multiple identities *not saying that people faking or using the idea of having multiple personalities as a means of attention actually have D.I.D. just that where someone might get the idea* because they see two partially disconnected that feel like they are not from the same person so to speak and then out of fear or ignorance whatever they encourage the separation of the accepted self and the part of themselves they want to reject or differentiate and to the point they think they have multiple personalities when really it's just a mentally created alter ego to compensate for some unwanted thing about themselves. in summary I have never met someone with multiple identities i don't deny that i might exist but in my case and i think in the atleast the majority of situations it is not multiple personalities they just don't know how to handle a fracture or a conflicting thing and unwittingly encourage a separation till they've convinced themselves they have multiple personality....
feel free to comment or disagree whatever i hope this made some sense, it is 4am here am i tend to ramble when attempting to explain complicated ideas and if your reading this section thanks fro actually reading all this XD
Okay, I'll attempt to tackle this one a bit too. I adore this disorder. Yes, I know that's... weird, but I find it to be an engaging and fascinating concept - not that I mean any disrespect to anyone who suffers from dissociative disorders or personality disorders, or anyone who may be struggling with this disorder, but ever since I began studying psychology in university, the dissociative disorders and DID have been vastly interesting areas for me. I'll start off by listing, for reference, the section in the DSM IV which covers DID:
(Placed in spoilers to save space. smile This is a direct copy from the official diagnostic manual.))
Dissociative Identity Disorder is codified 300.14 in DSM IV. The disorder was formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder.
Diagnostic Criteria
According to DSM IV, the following criteria must be met in order for the individual to be diagnosed for dissociative identity disorder:
Criterion A: two or more distinct identities or personality states are present in the individual.
Criterion B: these distinct identities take control over the behavior recurrently.
Criterion C: the individual is unable to recall important personal information, and this inability is too severe to be attributed to mere ordinary forgetfulness.
Criterion D: the disturbance is not an outcome of substance abuse or general medical condition.
The individual affected with Dissociative Identity Disorder finds it challenging to integrate the different aspects of their identity, memory and consciousness. The disorder is diagnosed three to nine times more frequently in adult females than in adult males. The number of identities in such an individual is reported to be from 2 to more than 100. Females tend to have more identities than do males, averaging 15 or more, whereas males average approximately 8 identities.
Each of the personality states that the individual experiences has its own distinct personal history, self-image, and identity, including different age, different gender, and also a different name. There usually exists a main, primary identity which carries the individual’s given name. When this primary identity takes over or regains consciousness, the individual is usually passive, dependent, guilty and depressed. On the other hand, the alternate identities have personalities which contrast the primary personality, for example, they may be dominating, hostile, aggressive, etc.
These alternate identities emerge and take over the individual’s consciousness due to some trigger such as psychosocial stress. The time required to switch between two identities may be a few seconds, or may be gradual. Others around may discern that the switch has happened by specific symptoms such as rapid blinking, facial changes, changes in voice or demeanor, or sudden change of track of the individual’s thoughts. The alternate identities take control in sequence, one after another. They may deny knowledge of the existence of the other alternate identities altogether, or may be critical of the others, or there may be open conflict between the alternate identities. At times, the role of allocating time to take control over the individual is abrogated by the alternate identity that emerges as the most powerful.
In terms of memory recall, the individual’s primary identity appears to experience gaps in memory in both recent and remote episodes, including an overall loss of biographic memory for an extended period of childhood, adolescence or even adulthood. Amongst the alternate identities, the passive ones have more constricted memory recall, while the ones with hostile, controlling or protecting personalities have near-complete memory recall. An identity with less controlling power may gain access to consciousness by producing auditory or visual hallucinations – such as in the form of a voice that gives instructions.
Associated Features and Disorders
Individuals with Dissociative Identity Disorder have been found to be highly hypnotizable and especially vulnerable to suggestive influences. These individuals may also concurrently manifest posttraumatic symptoms such as nightmares, flashbacks and startle responses, or also PTSD. In some alternate identities, self-mutilation and suicidal and aggressive behavior, along with impulsivity and sudden changes in relationships have warranted a concurrent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. In some cases, certain identities have been found to experience conversion symptoms (e.g. pseudoseizures), or to possess the ability to control pain.
In a number of cases, these individuals report having experienced severe physical and sexual abuse, especially during childhood. There may also be a repetitive pattern of relationships involving physical and sexual abuse.
Course
The average time period from first symptom presentation to diagnosis is six to seven years. Episodic and continuous courses have both been described. The disorder may reduce in intensity and frequency after the age of forty. However, any psychosocial stress such as trauma or substance abuse may trigger a fresh episode.
Now, there is still a great deal of debate about the validity of this disorder, and though there are, in fact, actual recorded cases of this disorder there is some argument that it is induced by the practitioners who treated them. While it IS possible to induce a state of mental 'split' it is NOT possible to actually induce the true definition of the disorder by outside influences at all. The usual methods that have yielded these 'induced' types of DID were mostly with hypnosis or yielded thinner versions.
In order to ACTUALLY have DID, your alters must literally present, instantaneously, as completely different people. In some cases, even the eye-color changes, as well as the voice, poster, affect and language. These alters can have entire, fully fleshed out histories and personalities, complete with their own disorders. Someone with DID and have an alter with completely accurate Major Depression or Antisocial Personality Disorder - but not have it themselves at all. The core personality might be in perfect health - while an alter may have a psychosomatic disorder where their legs do not work. At all. Rendering them paralyzed from the waist down. This is NOT possible to induce in someone else, not even by hypnosis - not that I'm saying these things have been proven beyond a doubt to have happened either!
Also: DID is only, and I mean ONLY!!! formed in people who experienced extreme and horrifically traumatic and inescapable experiences very early on and for a prolonged period during childhood. This is a key factor in the diagnosis without which you cannot be diagnosed with the disorder. We're talking... oh god, think of the worst, most horrifically abusive and hellish childhood you can think of. Sexual assault, mental torture, bat sh*t crazy mothers who mutilate their young daughters, that sort of horrific. And it must be inescapable. No out. No relief. No options. This factor is what literally forces the mind to split - this first split begins as Disassociation from the event. This is often described as 'floating up above and watching, as if it were not me' and eventually, after it becomes a habit, the 'other person' (the physical self) is imbued with a personality and name by the host, to further make it seem as if that poor unfortunate person were not them - could not possibly be them.
This is how the first alter is born - and it's born young, during that first series of abuse. Afterwards, it becomes a habit. Whenever the core personality becomes strained or faces something they cannot handle, they split - it's a defensive mechanism born of extreme dissociation and which is used to keep the core from facing anything stressful.
The disorder does not usually fully bloom until early adulthood - though there are usually at least one or two altars by the age of 11-16, and the first is usually formed by 7 or 8. There must be more than two - two personalities (the core and one other) is considered something else - a dissociative split, which is not the same thing. This is when the mind simply splits, because it can't handle the strain. DID must have 3 or more distinct personalities, and the core personality does not usually know, until they are in therapy, that they are DID. In fact they tend to be resolutely 'normal' - the sort of people who strive to make sure no one thinks they are different. They don't think they have DID - they usually just have occasional blackouts and end up seeing doctors for medical issues because they think they're sick with an illness, not a mental disorder - all of the alters have their negative memories now, and their disorders.
Whole swathes of their lives might be missing - because they lived them as their altars, which is why they might not know who you are upon second meetings.
It takes a lifetime to form this disorder - which is why it's complexities cannot actually be induced in session with a therapist. The alters are complex living beings, imbued with all the reality of the 'core'.
For an interesting look and case study of one of the most well known and fascinating cases, I suggest picking up Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology 8th ed., by Oltmanns, Martin, Neale and Davison. It's a fascinating look, and one of the best - the case in question, "Paula", chronicles a psychologist who found himself dealing with a DID case unexpectedly - she came IN with the symptoms, one of her altars actually CALLED him. She had no idea who he was when he called back to confirm and it wasn't until she started to read up on her own that she figured out she actually had a problem at all - that her blackouts, the things that moved on their 'own' around her house and the mysterious people who knew her who she didn't know, were all related. It covers the initial treatment and a 10 year follow up, and explains a bit about the process behind treating DID - a good read, whether you think it exists for real or not.
As far as the experience you had, it is actually possible to have both a dissociative disorder and psychosis.
I am a multiple, and on a good/less stressful week, I have four core "alters". Those four split up into more parts and become more fragmented if I am under a lot of stress or something scary happens. There is a little boy, a transgendered male, the person with the birth name, and a somewhat unstable person obsessed with the occult (Magic, astral projection, etc). These alters all showed up and gave themselves names before any therapists were even aware of it, but these experiences seemed normal to me and i have had them most of my life so it took a while for me to figure out I actually wasn't normal. When I figured it out it was very scary and confusing.
Sometimes we are co-conscious (which means we are aware of each other and share the same memories), other times I don't remember half of my day. I don't black out like you see in the movies, I am there for what happens, but it feels as if someone else is controlling my body and speaking and my memory of it is usually fuzzy afterwords, which sometimes causes me to completely forget later on. However, this happens less often if we are all cooperating with each other and getting all of our needs met.
In my experience, DID (if that is indeed what I have), is about more than just alters. Alters are the least of it. It is about going day to day never certain of who you truly are. It is about having nightmares, insomnia, and flashbacks. Going through day to day always being reminded of what you went through, because you can't escape it. It is about getting physical symptoms with no known cause, seizures, synesthesia. Being unable to remember appointments or your family's ages or birthdays, where your friends work, being approached on the street by people who know you and you don't know them. It is about struggling to find help because many don't believe what you're going through is even real, having your experience criticized and your abuse brushed aside.
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