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Old Sep 22, 2016, 05:15 PM
Luce Luce is offline
Magnate
 
Member Since: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,709
I don't know.
Part of me wants to just say "They are what they are." The are all elements of human experience and perception.
Labels are actually quite separate to our experiences. Labels are just words we created in order to communicate the meaning of our experiences with each other. The words we have now are the best words we have to date. But remember, up until about 30 years ago, most people to whom we now apply the words "dissociative identity disorder" were given the word "schizophrenia" instead. The words didn't change anyone's personal experiences, but they changed the way other people interpreted their experiences. What we know now is that there is quite a lot of overlap between schizophrenia symptoms and symptoms of dissociative disorders. So the differentiation between aspects of experience is not clear.

So to me it makes more sense if I look at it from experience to label, rather than label to experience, because I think experience is fluid whereas labels are quite restricting. What I mean is, rather than trying to sort discrete aspects of experience into neatly labeled boxes (this bit is psychotic, this is dissociative, this is hypersensitivity) I would sort them into approximate areas where there is overlap between each space and the ability to slide those pieces from one area to another.
I think it is perfectly okay to say "This bit is *like* dissociation and *like* psychotic thinking and also *like* hypersensitivity... because who in their right mind would be so arrogant as to say "This is x and x only" about any one aspect of someone else's perception or experience? Psychiatry used to do that, and look how wrong they have been at times.
There are so very many gray areas in psychology. Experience is what it is. Labels change according to what the greatest minds in the field agree upon at the time. What they believe at one point may well change into something quite different further on down the track. But, the individual's perception and experience of self remains the same.
To me, saying this part of my experience is *like* _____ and/or _____ is good enough.
Thanks for this!
Abby, TrailRunner14