I'm sorry you haven't had supportive 'friends'. I was first diagnosed with complex PTSD and my therapist explained that dissociation was a normal response to overwhelming situations and that it helped me survive. When my self-destructive and 'everything is OK' fragments started 'switching' a lot she told me I have fragments and explained that they all exist to get me through the world.

I've had other people be upfront about mental health to me, which allowed me to see therapy as helpful and not something for 'freaks'. I try to pay it forward now, but I'm specific in how I disclose. I usually describe what I experience and where it comes from, because this humanizes my experience for others.

I updated my adviser recently about my OSDD-1. I said something to the effect of: Sometimes I 'switch' between thinking X and thinking Y. Sometimes I don't just think these thoughts though but actually step into or become that mindset. It's confusing because it feels like putting on blue-tinted sunglasses and then suddenly seeing the world through rose-tinted sunglasses without actually changing glasses. I've been told this is because I have fragments, which means I'm fractured although I don't have separate distinct identities. Fragments are one way young children are able to survive and manage trauma.....