Lifelies, that's terrible when your own nation disses your experience. Yet it's extensively so here in America, too, where DID is often ridiculed in the profession, but you can at least find some believers here.

I also want to say the first T that discovered my alter (one) was the psychiatrist on call where I was admitted to the psych ward with panic disorder. I was in and out of the hospital many times,for a decade, with mysterious, unbearable fear episodes. I didn't have a clue what caused it. But this certain psychiatrist would tell me every session that I had an "inner child" that I was ignoring and persecuting. He even said that in all his life he never saw someone so mean to their inner child as I was.

Gradually I got a hold on that idea, and started up a dialogue and negotiations with the inner child. I learned to respect her and treat her gently. After that, I never had to go back to the hospital. It was that important!

I just wish the professionals would get over themselves and realize that what a person experiences is what really counts. I do believe that the stories of "Three Faces of Eve' and "Sybil" didn't help our cause very much, as they were over-dramatic and sensationalized. They created a prejudice. But DID is a fact just the same, whether your alters are many or just one.