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Originally Posted by finding_my_way
i saw my psychiatrist today. towards the end of it, i mentioned coming on these forums (not the specific one) and was talking about dissociation. she said something about how i probably couldn't relate to those with DID, and i said, actually, i can a lot of things, just not all. that led to a further conversation where i explained that years ago (and from as long as i could remember), i had heard and felt the others and they had their own names, ages, etc. but that i never 100% had a total take over from one. she went on to say that full blown DID where you lose time 100% is still very rare, and what i have are not alters but instead ego states.
in that case, for those who also have never 100% had a take over, do you still have the diagnosis of DID or is it basically the same MINUS that one factor? i feel almost like it doesn't matter 'as much' without that except that it definitely can cause similar struggles/issues overall....but it is very confusing. i suppose that is why they have DDNOS, etc. depending on where you live.
i also was confused because i know years ago i told her about them. i asked if it's possible they could just have integrated. she said anything is possible. i am kind of unsure at this point what it all even means....it's so confusing. does it mean it doesn't exist or something?
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ego states are normal parts of self that every human being has. there is even a therapy approach for this called Transactional Analysis. basic idea is everyone has inner parts...Parent , adult and child parts.
the Parent part of self is the part of self that is very authoritive like some people call it their bossy side because this side of self takes care of everyone just like a parent would and sometimes can get a bit too parental.
the child part of self is those feelings behaviors and emotions that we had in childhood...no care for responsibility, reactive, sometimes like throwing a temper tantrum, sometimes playful, sometimes shy, emotions rule kind of part of self.
the adult part of self is the middle ground between the parent and the child. the voice of reason, logic and stability.
human beings naturally have these three parts of self (ego states) but sometimes these parts of self can get to where instead of working together and being balanced out by each other chaos takes over where someone may switch into these parts of self at the wrong times and wrong places...
example it wouldnt be right for me to be at work and suddenly act out at a co worker by throwing the stapler at her because I didnt like what she was saying. if that happens thats called switching into my child ego state (or in some locations terms my inner child threw a temper tantrum)
the difference well ego states are normal to have and every human being has them, where as alters with DID are different they are not normally there with every human being. according to my locations standards they are created by a very young child (my locations demographics\statistics are under 5 yrs old) who is dissociating while undergoing extreme abuse for which they can not handle.
my suggestion is talk with your treatment provider who is saying you have ego states not DID alters. they will be able to explain more in detail about your ego states, the differences and why they diagnosed you this way.