Hi people,
I'm a newbie to posting on this site, though I've been lurking on it for ages. I'm 19-years-old and live in the Netherlands. I graduated high school in 2005. After that, I went for training at a rehab centre for the blind (I've been blind all my life) and now am in something called a training home which is to learn to live independently. I plan to start college by September of this year, majoring in American studies.

Mental health wise, it is hard for me to explain. I have no dx but have been labeled (by family and acquaintances) or labeled myself about half the DSM. Cause of that, and the hypochondriac (ie. non-serious) image it generated, I've come to dislike labels mostly. I still hang around on mental health sites, but always make clear that I have no dx. But I'm going to explain somewhat anyway.

I've been having social/emotional/behavioral difficulties for as long as I can remember. Opinions differ of whether they're congenital or acquired: my father most oftenly thinks they're congenital while my mother thinks I acquired them in middle childhood (age 6/7). Both could do since even if these difficulties were congenital, they might've not been noticed till school age. The difficulties consisted of very poor social skills and some anger problems that I still have to an extent - I often try to deny the anger stuff as it comes across as if I *want* to annoy people with it, which isn't true.

In 1998, I think, I developed a collection of insiders/parts, but it could've been earlier since the process was gradual and it didn't become really troubling till sometime in the summer fo 2001. At that time, I also started experiencing feelings that are most like derealization, but I wouldn't know if they met the official criteria (and as I said, I don't really care). In any case, I don't mee tthe criteria for DID, which I've often been labeled.

In addition, I've been a self-injurer for a long time, maybe even from very early on but the first time I remember is when I was around 7. I unfortunately made my last "slip" less than a week ago, after having been SI-free for nine months.

Well, I have some other things that are hard to explain and maybe I'm just an extreme form of an adolescent, LOL.