[krisakira]

I have had these so-called "alters" that take over so I was diagnosed with DID a few years ago. But my T said it was kinda mild. I have kris-kris, who is really energetic and just off the wall, destructive too but for fun; then there's kris-aven who is very angry, and the lil kris who is just a little girl. Hold on folks, I will make the connection to bipolar disorder soon. Well, the "alters" don't take over as much and so another T said i have dissociative disorder, NOS. And I have recently been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. And now that I know the symptoms of bipolar disorder and how to recognize what's going on.. it's got me thinking. My new T said when you have the different extremes of bipolar, that you are like a different person. Since then i have wondered if my "alters" are really the extremes of bipolar, especially kris kris. I think she is mania/hypomania. I think kris-aven is really just me being angry, which can be part of a mixed episode, and I have been told to not be angry, so I blame her instead. As far as lil kris i think she is part of my depression. It is all starting to make sense now. They are not different personalities, they are different moods of my bipolar. Any thoughts on this?

[onlymedid]

Wow, that sounds JUST like me. I was diagnosed DID a few years ago, but my "alters" don't always take over, sometimes I just have conversations with them in my head. I wonder if I have another type of dissociative disorder like NOS. Hmmm, gonna have to talk with my T about it.

[venusss]

Isn't DID marked by blackouts and lapses in memory? Aren't the alters DRAMATICALLY different (aka, different speech patterns or feelings, and other characteristics etc.), instead of just altered state of mind?

It's kinda complicated, as somebody dissasotiates to a degree, especially if as coping mechanism. And... bipolar is marked by different states of mind (I even oscillate about my world-view).

[krisakira]

Venus, this is why the diagnosis went down to dissociative disorder NOS. And yes they are DRAMATICALLY different. Mine talk differently and write differently. But huge differences are also associated with the extremes of bipolar disorder. I also have gotten loss of memory, but my T told me this can sometimes happen during mania, and it used to happen and doesn't really happen anymore, just losing track of time. To me it feels like completely different people.

[Tosspot]

Hi kris -- I've felt comfortable lurking around the DID forum even though I'm bipolar. I have personalities in my head that take over at different times. Sometimes they argue and I can't figure out who gets through. They have their own personalities. I have blacked out on occasion. I am dissociative by nature and learning these dissociative "sub-personalities" of myself. My therapist is using IFS therapy to help me befriend all the dissociated parts of myself so we can all just get along.
I believe the dissociated parts are myself, of myself. Kind of like string cheese. I started as a piece of string cheese and the the dissociates are like shreds being peeled off the string cheese but not quite being pulled totally apart. "hanging on by a shred"

its weird feeling maybe it helps, maybe not- best of luck to you though