Dear Lostinthought,

It took me a long time to share with just a few people I was DID though back then It was MPD. I was terrified. Even today I am very, very cautious about who I tell and where I share that information.

Due to my current situation, most of the people in my life, except my Therapist and Psychiatrist, think I am no longer DID. I keep it that way for safety's sake. It's so much easier. Exhausting yes. But easier.

Anderson really covers the basics on getting to know the system/people/alters inside.

One of the things I did was collages without worrying about who was doing what and let whoever wanted to sign them sign them. Sometimes they signed them and sometimes not.

I had to build trust inside just like I had to build trust with my therapist on the outside.

My people loved teddy bears and dolls. So, I let them pick out inexpensive teddy bears and dolls and name them. Then when they wanted to express themselves they would grab their particular bear or doll and talk through them.

All of this took time. It was one step at a time. Slow and sure won the race.

The most important lesson I had to learn was to be trustworthy and safe so the others would actually let me know them. That took time and effort. It was worth every minute of the work.

I hope I haven't overloaded you. This is just my experience. I did tons of drawing and writing and all the things Anderson did too.

Good Luck.

I hope you keep posting.