What is dissociating?
The DSM-V defines dissociation as a disruption, interruption, and/or discontinuity of the normal, subjective integration of behavior, memory, identity, consciousness, emotion, perception, body representation, and motor control.Dissociation in the dictionary is defined as the disconnection or separation of something from something else or the state of being disconnected. In psychiatric terms you are disconnected from the reality around you and your own body.Often described as a "3rd person" or "out of body" experience that eliminates awareness and functions.Dissociation develops as a coping mechanism for trauma, most often formed in children subjected to long-term physical, sexual or emotional abuse or, less often, a home environment that's frightening or highly unpredictable, without a proper support system to help cope personally.
What is DID?
The Mayo clinic defines DID as a disorder formerly known as multiple personality disorder, this disorder is characterized by "switching" to alternate identities. You may feel the presence of two or more people talking or living inside your head, and you may feel as though you're possessed by other identities. Each identity may have a unique name, personal history and characteristics, including obvious differences in voice, gender, mannerisms and even such physical qualities as the need for eyeglasses. There also are differences in how familiar each identity is with the others. People with dissociative identity disorder typically also have dissociative amnesia and often have dissociative fugue.Someone with DID may experience heavy dissociation, amnesia, multiple distinct parts, identity issues, self awareness, detachment from yourself and your emotions/actions.These distinct parts form to cope with traumatic situations in order to create what the brain thinks is a safer environment and functional state, even if a system cannot function.
What is OSDD?
Therapists may make this diagnosis when dissociative symptoms are causing distress and impairment, but do not meet the full criteria for another dissociative disorder.
There are four different categories used for OSDD. These can also be called ‘sub-types’ or ‘specifiers’.The four categories are:OSDD-1
Having chronic dissociative symptoms such as identity alteration, but the alteration and separation between identities is not as severe as in DID. There may be identity disturbance, but not the presence of clearly separated parts or amnesia.
Type 1a - lacks fully formed parts, or parts that are very similar to each other and are hard to identify
Type 1b - alters are fully formed but lack amnesia barriers and black outs of memoriesOSDD-2
Having identity disturbance due to a long period of ‘intense coercive control and persuasion’. This includes the type of ‘brainwashing’ or control that can occur in cults, during political imprisonment or during torture. In such cases people may begin to be confused about or question their identity.OSDD-3
Having acute dissociative reactions to stressful events. These typically last less than a month and can last for hours or days at a time. These reactions can include depersonalization, small periods of amnesia, and changes in sensory-motor functioning.OSDD-4
Experiencing Dissociative Trance. The person experiences periods of time where they lose awareness of the outer world and become unresponsive. This is not
something the person can control. While in a trance the person may have temporary paralysis or loss of consciousness. A diagnosis is only made when this trance occurs outside of religious/cultural practice and when not under the influence of drugs. In some parts of the world this might be diagnosed as ‘Trance
Disorder’.
Types of DID
P-DID - In the case of Partial DID the person still experiences a disruption of their identity, like in DID, but there is a ‘dominant’ personality which is usually at the front. Intrusions from other parts are infrequent and irregular, perhaps only happening during a particularly distressing or emotional experience. These systems will rarely experience a switch, and will keep the same host for a prolonged period of time without change. They will still have distinct parts and symptoms of DID but will rarely have another alter take control or disrupt fronting.UDD - Someone with Unspecified dissociative disorder might have dissociative symptoms that don't fit into any other diagnosis but the person making the diagnosis hasn't explained why not or doesn't have enough information to make a full diagnosis. Someone with UDD has a rare dissociative identity disorder that is clear in the distinct multiple parts but for some reason (such as emergency situations) can't be diagnosed as DID or OSDD.
How does it form?
DID is usually the result of any type of abuse during childhood. Sometimes it develops in response to a natural disaster or other traumatic events like combat. The disorder is a way for someone to distance or detach themselves from trauma.This trauma is usually repeated without an outside support system to help cope. DID/OSDD helps to control traumatic memories and keep the host able to function without trauma responses in daily functioning.Research indicates that the cause of DID is likely a psychological response to interpersonal and environmental stresses, particularly during early childhood years when emotional neglect or abuse may interfere with personality development. As many as 99% of individuals who develop dissociative disorders have recognized personal histories of recurring, overpowering, and often life-threatening disturbances or traumas at a sensitive developmental stage of childhood (usually before age 6).Dissociation may also happen when there has been persistent neglect or emotional abuse, even when there has been no overt physical or sexual abuse. Findings show that in families where parents are frightening and unpredictable, the children may become dissociative. Studies indicate DID affects about 1% of the population. (Approx. 78 million people)
Origin
If you frequent system communities or spaces, or see sources on tumblr/tiktok/instagram/etc, you might have seen the terms "traumagenic" or "endogenic". These describe the "origins" of your type of system.Anything other than traumagenic does not exist. Traumagenic descibes the origin as trauma-induced, which is the cause of all dissociative disorders even if they don't have multiple parts.Endogenic systems claim to have a system without trauma, this is not medically possible. Someone who is endo may claim to have formed their alters willfully, spirituality, through other non-dissociative disorders, and many other ways. That is not possible. These people oppress the DID/OSDD community by pushing the ableist ideology that anyone can just be a system, that systems chose this experience. Majority of them are fakers or people who misdiagnosed themselves based on misinformation.Some may say they think they are endogenic because they don't remember their trauma, which is a normal function of all trauma-based disorders in order to cope. These people are not excused from the effects of their actions on the community by spreading ableism and misinformation. Anyone who was diagnosed properly or had done proper research would realize the negative effects of this label. Even if you don't remember your trauma, you are not endogenic and should not use that term, unless you are actively choosing to be ableist and oppressing your own community.
"Core"
Old DID research believed in the core theory; where one identity is born into the body that later splits or one part is the "original" alter that the rest formed from. Some believe that their childhood identity is their core but unfortunately its simply a misunderstanding of the disorder.Now researchers have done extensive studies on structural dissociation, which almost proves the core theory as false (It cannot be morally tested).
Now it is understood that as a child everyone is split into multiple parts, that is why memories are split or emotions swing. Someone without DID would then have these parts merge in childhood to form their one identity. Whereas people with DID will lack the ability for those parts to merge due to dissociation and trauma.This shows how the core would not exist and is rooted in older ideology. Obviously, the theory of structural dissociation cannot be proven due to it being a mental dissociative disorder, but is widely recognized in psychiatry.
Poly-Fragmentation
Poly-fragmentation, otherwise known as Complex DID, is the most complex form of DID (hence the name).People with C-DID have a very layered form of structural dissociation, multiple layers of systems, innerworld, etc. They don't know how to cope internally without splitting, even the smallest stressors may cause a split. Many C-DID systems have a high alter count due to constant splitting and heavy dissociative layers of headspace, but not all of them do. C-DID isn't just about having a high alter count.DID is a tertiary disorder, where as OSDD is secondary. DID is considered more complex than OSDD and since C-DID is the most complex version, only those with DID can have it. People with OSDD are not polyfrag due to them being less layered structurally.Being polyfragmented does not mean a systems trauma was "worse" than another, its entirely up to your brain structure and coping strategies set up around you in childhood.
"Faking"
Due to the influx of system recognition on social media platforms, just like with every disorder, you will find fakers, misinformation, toxic sides, etc. Due to this, enter these spaces with caution and take everyone claiming to be a system with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, all systems online and in real life need to be treated with respect, and if you fear someone may be faking instead of calling them out publicly you can avoid them until it is proven or speak to them directly. JUST because a system does these things does not mean they are faking, some were given false information, some have parts who are intentionally misleading them, and more. You can always attempt to educate, and if that doesn't work remove yourself from that situation as it is harmful for your person. Some may not even know they don't have the disorder as other illnesses can appear like a dissociative disorder, and with all the sources online its easy for impressionable people to get sucked in.Some red flags;
- "endogenic" or any origin that's not trauma or a defender of them
- they refuse to listen to education
- they spread misinformation about the disorder actively
- they talk about symptoms they think are system symptoms but aren't
- they're known for faking previously
- they claim to have 0 issues functioning as a system or that being a system is fun
- they claim to be a tulpa
- they claim to have made their parts
- they believe in alter race (the idea that since a part has a race phenotype in headspace, that makes them that race bodily too)
- they use names from closed cultures they're not in, and excuse it because they're a system and "can't control it"
- systems who believe they're exempt from accountability because they're a system
- listing way too many details about their system publicly
- hyper specific alter terms (typically found in endo safe spaces)
- glorifying DID
- claim to know something the body doesn't (ie. a language the body never learnt)
- genuinely believe they are in their source (typically a sign of delusions and not system-related, additionally extremely unhealthy and should be dealt with for recovery)
- a system space run by non-systems
- disrespects triggers
- heavy tq, glitch core, tw for everything, "what does satire mean?" tiktok accounts (usually rage bait)
- claims an alter has died (not possible outside of dormancy)
- claims to have done final fusion in a few minutes, or claim that once they've completed final fusion they no longer have the disorder (used by people who no longer want to keep up with the system facade)The understanding of these signs isn't so you can go out and call people fakers, it's to bring attention to misinformation that is spread and that some active fakers may spread to justify or bait easily convinced people. Any information from a non-academic source needs to be examined with caution and reviewed in a critical lens.
Innerworlds
Many individuals with dissociative identity disorder (DID) have an internal world in which they or their parts manifest as themselves and interact. These internal worlds, which are also known as inner worlds or headspaces, can range in size and complexity.These spaces vary from system to system and often form as a coping space as well. These can be as large as a town or a small as a single room, mostly for the comfort and coping of the parts.Innerworlds often reflect the world around them, sometimes featuring things like; childhood homes, toys, tv show settings, etc. Innerworlds can be fully functioning for the parts but can also be closed off for certain parts. The layering of dissociation is also a large part in the mapping of an innerworld, as someone with C-DID may have a city where as someone with OSDD1A might have a simple room.Innerworlds can also have NPC's (taken from the video game name for non-playable characters) that can interact with partss but themselves are more similar to imaginary constructs than to actual parts or fragments.Innerworlds can also create full lives for these parts and play out entire situations. Sometimes in the innerworld, trauma is replicated through acts between parts. Parts may be perceived as having internal lives when not active in the outside world, and these inner lives may involve travel to other internal locations.Innerworlds can also include "Layers". These are areas that are disrupted from each other by dissociative barriers. Layers can affect a system in numerous ways such as only allowing some parts in or out, having certain internal coping methods, having different memories, etc.