Hi Tollhouse,

Thanks for responding. With regard to remembering my traumas, I don't remember all of it. With at least 2 major memories (one of them being my SA), I can remember what happened only in chunks. When i recall the experience with my perpetrator, i'll recall things we did up to a point, but the rest will be completely blank, as though the memory of it has been chopped completely away. I do remember some things about my childhood, but a great deal of it i can't recall. Other than a few memories here and there, I recall very little of my life before the age of 10.

I also wonder if there are some traumas that are affecting me that i just cannot remember. I say this because there are times when i can feel some young part of me inside that is filled with terrible pain almost to the point of being hysterical. However, while i can feel the discomfort in my body, i have no idea why the pain is there or what it's about because mentally, i am not thinking about anything. These are some of the things that make me continue to wonder about whether i may have DID.

Tollhouse said,

There is also something called an inner child and regression. This is not DID. Many believe everyone has an inner child that can behave, act, feel, etc as child when a person is regressed. Regression occurs in therapy.

Yes. I guess that's one thing that adds to my confusion. Maybe what I'm describing is simply an inner child part of self that's pretty common among people. Maybe therapy is causing me to regress and just feel like a child?? It's a good point, and i don't know the answer. Maybe it is this and not DID.

But, in regards to your T.....are you the person who's T does Internal Family Systems therapy? If so, then it is common to use "parts" lingo, because IFS actually believes that everyone has parts, but DID is extreme.

So, it would be common for someone in IFS therapy to say "a part of me wants to hurt myself, but a part does not." But, the person does not have to be DID.

Yes, my t does IFS, among other things.

Thank you for your informative answer. It makes sense.