I tell people that dissociation is a normal thing. It happens when you think of something you need while you are in the kitchen and by the time you get to your bedroom, you can't remember what you went there for. I just do it for longer periods-hours or days. If that happens, I "come to" myself and can't remember what I have done, I am sometimes disoriented, and I can't remember what I have done.

Of course that leaves out the part about the alters, but it seems to be an explanation that most people "get". I have a service dog who alerts me when I dissociate, so I get asked a LOT why I have the dog.

My t describes it as ego states that are taken to an extreme. Everybody has ego states, that's why we act different at work vs being at a football game. Or with our kids vs with our old friends. With DID, the ego states are stronger and less connected than with most people. And they are often in response to a trigger rather than being chosen.