my alters believed that about me also. One even had an idea of what happened to me... someone must have taken a giant eraser and erased me out of existence, another had me still down in the mine shafts, another had me lost in a cavern, another had told my therapist that I must be in a grave somewhere..... so many interpretations on where I was....and why they felt I was gone forever....

then one my treatment providers explained to them that no one dies, or goes away permanently, cant be erased. couldnt be in some cavern or grave somewhere. that as long as the body lives everyone that lived inside the body is still alive. He also told them that, thats what DID was for.... to make sure that everyone (the body and everyone in it including the one who's name belongs to the body) survived.

then he explained what co consciousness was.... the knowing that others exist, sharing, being aware of whats going on inside the body at the same time knowing what is going on outside the body.

then he used a concept that they all could understand.... think about something they like, a favorite toy, clothing, its at home and out of the present moments sight you cant hold it right now, smell it right now, hear it right now but you know it exists. thats being co conscious, then he told them about something that he has in his home that they had no knowledge about, his hairless dog. none of them even had any idea that there was such a thing as a hairless dog, they have never seen one, heard one, touched one... had any involvement with one in any way. thats an example of not being co conscious.

his point was that because of this thing called co consciousness those that were not co conscious with me, they were not aware of my existence in the sense of my being alive, did not mean I died or left the body for ever. It just wasnt part of their abilities to know me and me know them. that i was still there, just outside their awareness/ not co conscious with them at this time. that some day as we all got better it may be time for them to know me and be with me.

I remember the first time one of my non coconscious alters realized I wasnt dead, lost or in a cavern or erased. my head was full of what the .... what the... who are you, where did you come from, why am I hearing you, you must be a new alter (my word not the alters, the alter had a different non postable word for it) right,.... it took many days for that voice to calm down, they thought they were being possessed by a dead spirit or something. my therapist was able to calm her down and get her to understand that having DID does not mean being possessed by ghosts and spirits and that if she was she would not have been DID.

my point is please dont worry about your alter or body person being gone, and needing a replacement. you are all there for a reason and if the body is alive (which if it were not you all would not be posting, someone has to be making fingers or what ever type right) anyway your body born is still there just you dont know where they are or feel anything from them. sometimes that can be scarey and feel like death but if the body is there for you to use the body born is still there somewhere. Someday that one born tot he body may surprise you like I did my alter. it just takes lots of time, many years and therapy to become co conscious with someone.