I had an alter like Maggie too, her name was Cinder. but my treatment providers said that Cinder wasnt a dissociative alter with my DID. they said that she fit the diagnostics for being an invisible friend. a fantasy play mate. they also told me that DID\Dissociative type alters live inside my body so they cant be left anywhere, seen or played with like you do a friend. dissociative type alters take control of my body when I dissociate. if Cinder is doing something then its with my body doing it. that I cant leave my alters behind because where my body is the alters are. that if I could leave Cinder behind somewhere then she wasnt one of my dissociation alters, that she was either an invisible friend or a hallucination\delusion (which I also had problems with)

Cinder was my invisible friend not an alter and not a hallucination/delusion. Cinder went with me everywhere, I even got upset when eating dinner and a plate wasnt set for her. my parents ended up having to set two plates at my place at the table so that I could share my food with Cinder. In time Cinder got left at the store. My mom tried to tell me she would be ok at the store but my brother hiked on down the road after her. After a while Cinder just disappeared. but I still have pictures of where I am holding out my hand to someone who isnt really there in the photo but i know that when that picture was taken I was 8 yrs old and holding my invisible friend Cinder's hand when my mom took that photo.

later I discovered by reading the diagnostics for DID and what constitutes dissociative type alters that my childhood treatment provider was right. Cinder was not my dissociative type alter. based on the fact that I had Cinder was why as a child I was not diagnosed with DID in childhood, Having Cinder knocked out that diagnosis. but as an adult when I went through diagnosis for mental disorders it was discovered I had other alters that fit the criteria of what dissociative type alters were (which did get me diagnosed with DID)