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Originally Posted by confusedondid
I am so confused on how you can really tell if what you are dealing with is DID or something else. My therapist strongly believes it is true and there are many things that I can't explain (I often feel what I call 'possessed' by someone of different age and current emotional feeling and even wants and desires. Sometimes I feel like I am surprised I remember my own name because I forget things so easily and after spending a lot of time with another person and having interactions with others that I don't seem to recognize, I find I am FREQUENTLY asking who that person was and the other person has no problem remembering where we had both seen them together and interacted and I have no memory of it. I do have large gaps of memory in the past and of a lot of things that I am 'reminded of'(you remember when such and such and.......... um, no I don't)... etc..... but I know many people have varying degrees of memory and confusion for things and as for the 'possesion' feelings,
I often wonder if I am just making that all up. I know there are no people in my head, but sometimes it is almost as if I can hear them crying and even feel like there are fights going on. But then I get almost certain this has to be something major and the next moment I am sure I am just making it up for attention or something (however, only like 2 people even know if it's existance and nobody knows how often it has happened but it has happened all my life so it has seemed normal to me and now I wonder if I am just making a big deal out of what other people call 'their inner child and various parts used for different aspects of daily functioning' but for me sometimes these 'parts' feel like they are taking over and I have to work very hard to hide what is happening from anybody around and excuse myself if it feels like I can't hide it. I know if very professional and anxiety provoking situations, I wont remember what went on in conversations a lot of times but can't decide if that is just a stress response or what my therapist has suggested in 'lost time' because another part has stepped in.....
As you can tell, I am so confused that I can't even stick to one belief in my explanation... I just don't get it all and thought maybe hearing other people thoughts and experiences might help
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short version... there is no real way to tell someone is DID or if their problem is something else. most times people do have their symptoms all their lives but its the treatment provider most if not always that puts the name to all those problems that have been happening all that persons life.
the possession like symptoms Talk with your treatment provider, they will tell you if your version of possession like symptoms are dissociative or if they are something else. in short the term "possession" in the diagnostics is a cultural description designating ownership, not like having ghosts and spirits jump into ones body or appear through someone else like you see in the movies and books.
example
instead of saying....
"I got triggered, felt numb, spaced out and disconnected then my alternate personality named rainy came out to take care of things during the storm"
on the reservation we say...
Rainy had possession during the storm, after the storm i had possession.
see what I mean by a cultural description designating ownership. some cultures use type of language and language structure.
my suggestion is talk with your treatment provider, they will be able to explain in language that you can understand how and why they think you may have DID and the ways to tell the difference between your DID or your other problems, based on how things are with you,