welcome...the first thing you need to know is that we cannot help you stay focused and in the present..we are not in your location sitting beside you while you are typing on the computer and performing therapy on you by telling you to stay focused, ground your self, use your therapy tools and the likes of what it takes for a person to stay focused and in the present...only you can help your self stay focused and in the present moment. as you can see by the notation at the bottom of the page psych central is not supposed to take the place of therapy / your therapist... though some of us members are treatment providers we are not allowed to perform our jobs here.

if you would like help with staying focused and in the present moment you will need to discuss that with your treatment providers. they can help you learn how to keep yourself more focused and in the present moment and then you will be able to use what your treatment providers are teaching you to keep your self more focused and in the present moment while being online here at psych central.

what we do here is just share with each other ---
we tell each other what our days are like, what our diagnosis's are, problems we are having, tell jokes, play games, share mental health information, those that feel like they can do so give each other the cyber equivalent of a hug, thank each other.. and when one of us shares a problem others let them know if we have had the same problem, what our own treatment providers called it in ourselves and how we handled that problem..

Example I see in your post you are feeling scare, confused and lost after being diagnosed with DID...I felt the same way until my therapist explained to me that getting the diagnosis doesnt change anything, everything thats happening after I was diagnosed are the same things that have been happening since I was younger than 5 yrs old. the only thing getting the diagnosis does is put a name to whats been there for years and years. the only thing that changes after getting diagnosed is that I would get better, start feeling better because now that we know whats been happening since I was younger than 5, we (my therapist and I) could work on those problems.

my therapist was right, after being diagnosed things got easier and easier because my therapist and I worked on all my problems, then as we fixed my problems my alters all integrated with me and not Im one whole person again.

How do you deal with your alters...well that depends upon what your treatment plans are. everyone here has their own way of dealing with their alters based on what they and their own treatment providers have set up for their own treatment plans.

example with me my treatment plans for me and my alters was learning grounding, self nurturing (thats learning how to take care of yourself) medication for things like my depression/anxiety. talking problems over with my therapist and working with her to solve those problems, trauma therapy (which is learning how to handle things like flashbacks/ nightmares intrusive thoughts from my trauma's, and how to move forwards by learning how to not re-traumatize myself with recalling those few traumatic events I did have memory of, over and over again). Inpatient programs.

the way for you to deal with your alters is to continue working with your treatment providers. they will know whats the best way for you to deal with your alters.