Interesting discussion...

This is what I think... I think to know how the personalities are connected to one another -- and I believe they are VERY connected to one another, you'd have to know why and when each alter appeared.

I think, in every instance, an alter is created out of the needs of the host or another alter. So the personalites "need" each other... their very existence is dependent upon each other's experiences and reactions.

Now... at the time most DID patients enter treatment, the personalities AREN'T aware of each other... it's that amnesia that often motivates treatment in the first place. But to say that the personalities are not aware of the connection between them is different than saying the connection never existed, or does not exist.

For instance, if an abused child splits off a traumatized, opposite gender alter, the child will still be a girl, let's say, and not abused. The alter will be male, with traumatic memories. The girl may be completely unaware of the boy, and the boy may have a varying awareness of the girl... but the WHOLE reason the boy is a boy is to differentiate "him" from the actual "real" victim. That's what I mean by enmeshment.

I think healthy personalities (or personality traits) develop with nurturance and freedom and there is no perceived need to have amnesiac or other barriers between "parts". The personalties in DID are created to protect and guard and so are very different, in their creation, development and purpose.

Boy, I hope all that made sense, I am coffee deprived at the moment... M