Quote:
Originally Posted by phoenix7
alters and parts are they one and the same?
Ive read recently that they are different - that alters have their own personalities but parts dont they are just different aspects of yourself that you call up to help when needed -
its very confusing
I have blanks - i used to have conversations inside - recently someone made them quiet and then these things happened....
There has been silence or a long time now apart from the part of me that says bad things- now i am disassociating...
each time worse than the last....
I went to an ATM to get money to pay my sister back what i borrowed from her and i realised later that i must have walked away without taking the money so there goes $50 i cant afford to lose
the second one i apparently put my glasses in with someones washing at work ..... i dont remember - i remember having them - then they were gone
the third time i almost pulled into a three lane traffic on a major road through a red light - but i realised - woke up? just before i hit the traffic.....
what do you do if these things happen to you?
this is the last two days and im afraid what will happen next....
I have no control over the blanks or when they happen....
so parts....alters.. the same or different...
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I cant answer in regards to your location... but here in mine there is a slight difference in the two words but at times they are used interchangeably.....
here where I am alternate personalities ( abbreviated Alters) are where a persons whole personality has split apart due to extreme trauma at a very young age (NY state mental health standards before the age of 5)
this can be part of many different mental disorders, the most common here where I am is DID, but it can also happen with other mental disorders depending upon the type of alters (dissociative, psychosis, medication induced, medical problem induced.... there are many different kinds of alters)
parts here where I am just describes something that has many pieces....
example a normal personality has many pieces/ elements to it.... memories, emotions, id (unconscious / instincts, primitive behaviors) , ego (logic, conscious actions/ behaviors), superego (morals, knowing right from wrong....) theres more to it but this will give you an idea.
here where I am it's believed that every human being has parts of their self that make up who and what they are (their personality)
that said sometimes people with DID, me included here will use the term parts. my own alters were offended by the term alters, they did not consider their self substitutions. to them they were fully functioning human beings. they did not think in parts nor in alters. but I the body born thought of them as alters and parts of me. they took over when ever I dissociated. and they came from me, they were and are part of me. no one went away or died with integration. everything they were became me again...
I was born one whole person then due to extreme traumatic abuse before the age of 5 everything I was and who I was split a part.... my emotion of anger of extreme trauma became Red, my fears became known as Rainy, my intimacy became Thelma. with integration I was able to experience and deal with anger, fears, intimacy....
see what I mean my alters didnt consider their self parts or alters ....but......I the body born used both terms because both terms fit my situation .
my suggestion is talk with a mental health treatment provider, they will let you know if which one or both terms are used in your location and they can help you to discover which or both terms fit you and your internal system.