Conscious Creation

((((bitterdregs))))

Thank you for letting us know how you are doing. I am sorry you are feeling so much pain and so scared. I hear you that you feel so alone in this. Please try to breath and rest as you can. If something does not get done then so be it as you are important and your self care is important.

I am sorry that everyone yells at you and that no one is seeming to help. I hope that this move goes as smooth as it can and that you will be able to get settled soon and maybe get into a routine so that you can find yourself and calm. I know moving to a new place is so hard.

Do what you can and take your breaks. Your health is important here. I hope that the landlord will build you that room so you have some place for you to go. Know that we are here and listening. I am really sorry things are so hard right now. We do care how you are doing.

Please keep us updated on the move and you. Remember to breath. Thinking of you. Gentle hugs.

dps

Hey Bittergregs. I do believe my own system has consciously created alters. Many times, in fact! Nearly all of the younger, hurt child parts created internal helpers for themselves. Not alters in the sense that they come out and interact with the world, but alters in the sense that they have very distinct emotional states, a particular job, and are consistent within the system. The way I look at it is: I needed them, I had the means to bring them into being, and so I did. Kudos to me, I reckon.
Hmm, thinking about it more I can think of a couple of other alters that may have been consciously created to fulfil certain external roles that were unacceptable to the primary social self but weren't yet covered in any of the other alters job descriptions! having said that... the conscious creating of them wasn't exactly like "Hmm, I think I'll make a 25 year old alter with long blond hair who can x,y,z." VERY different to that... but somehow a conscious process, all the same.

I don't know why anyone would have an issue with deliberate creation of alters in an already established DID system. According to the theory of structural dissociation the initial dissociation is a result of a failure to integrate certain aspects of experiences. If it isn't rectified (integrated) early, dissociation becomes the primary coping mechanism for stress. Any significant stress in life after that is likely to result in further dissociation. In some systems this can indeed be a conscious process in some instances (going by my own experience anyway).

That may not be every DID system's experience, but I think it is narrow minded to believe that if something falls outside the realm of your own personal experience then it must not be possible (or it must be 'faked'). That's exactly the kind of mentality which makes DID so marginalised in the psych community in the first place.

I recall very similar processes, Bitterdregs. During childhood our child parts called many, many helpers into being. I feel filled with warmth and safety just thinking about those helpers now. Can't imagine having done it without them. Being able to create such wonderful inner beings is a gift to self.

You know darkpurple...I remember an incident when I floated to the ceiling where I saw a middle aged man accross the room from me. He was wearing a long dark coat and hat. That would have been when I was about 11 ish.

You know...maybe it's not TLE per se. I've seen several people report the flaoting..I wonder if there is a genetic predisposition for unusually high temporal activity ? That might be why one person turns DID under trauma and another does'nt.

Starrina I LOVE YOU !!!!!! Most excellent ! This is what i was looking for. I knew I could'nt be the only one who remembered something.

Luce, THANK YOU ! I'm not a scientist or shrink but with all the questions related to DID, if we ask them and correlate our experiences, it might help others eventually. I just... I don't want people floundering for years like I did. If the research can progress, it may be easier to identify and perhaps advances in treatments if we know the mechanics of it.

Bitterdregs... the research HAS progressed. Dissociative disorders are much better understood these days, and there are several prominent researchers who have come up with respected theories about how and why dissociative disorders develop. The structural theory of dissociation is the one currently upheld by the international society for the study of trauma and dissociation (http://www.isst-d.org/) and there is much information to be found at that site about recent developments in research.

The dissociative community doesn't seem to be very accepting of the latest research though, and I wonder if it is because those who are actively dissociative still have a need to maintain the belief that the alters are indeed separate entities (ie - NOT part of the self). Which of course is only natural... the primary defence is to believe that the parts are all separate entities and the experiences happened to 'them' and not 'me', so assimilating something that refutes that is likely to be too much to take in. I know I couldn't have accepted during most of my time in therapy.

I have noticed people writing that alters are *only* born out of trauma, but that is not true. Of course the initial lack of integration in the developing personality comes from some form of trauma (and it does not necessarily have to be violent or life threatening as is often believed) but once that coping / defence mechanism is in place further dissociation can occur for all manner of reasons - sometimes simply even practical ones. In the theory of structural dissociation there are two main splits - ANPs and EPs. EPs are the dissociated states that hold unintegrated emotions and trauma related events, and ANPs ('apparently normal personalities' - you'd think they would have thought of a better name!) that typically deal with regular day to day events. In some dissociative systems there may be only one 'ANP' who deals with ALL day to day activities, but in others there may be multiple ANPs, each of whom deal with a particular aspect of range of activities. For instance one ANP (alter) may be the holder of music. That may be their only job. This alter may not have been split through trauma, but become a separate state because music is triggering to the host ANP and separation was required to keep the triggered information / material away from the host.

Read up more about the structural theory of dissociation if you can. It forms the basis for the treatment guidelines upheld by the ISST-D, which informs the international community on best practice for the treatment of dissociative disorders.

for you this may be not true where you are but that doesn't mean it is not true elsewhere.

Example where I am the belief within the mental health community is that alters are created only through someone enduring extreme abuse before the age of 5. This is also what is taught in psych classes and internship in relation to Dissociative Identity Disorder here.

This doesn't make it wrong. it just shows we all come from different backgrounds, states, countries, continents, religions, races and all that jazz.

I think its pretty cool that we have so many different belief systems, represented here at psych central.

Your are right amanda about there being many different beliefs in the Psych professional community about DID. The problem with that is, there has to be one truth eventually. It would be like majoring in earth science and one class taught you the earth is flat while the other says the earth is round. The earth can appear to be many things to many people, but there is only one truth. I am hoping someday that the truth about DID is uniform and correct so that more people can be diagnosed and cured. It's far too confusing hopping from doctor to doctor, each with different belief systems. I know, I've done it...not only with psyh things but with doctors who did or did not believe in Fibromyalgia. back in the day, diabetes was in several different schools of thought and many people died because of it. Now we have the truth.

I'm all for beauty in diversity unless it causes harm. In med/psych issues, it can do just that. We need to work on finding the one correct truth.

AmandaLouise, unfortunately just because something is taught that does not mean it is always correct. A friend of mine is taught in his psychology classes that DID exists only as an iatrogenic disorder created by incompetent therapists. Many of the students in his classes believe that what they are being taught is the 'truth' about dissociation. If the 'teachers' do not have the correct information then incorrect information will be disseminated throughout the community. Fortunately for my friend and some of the others who share his classes they have the intiative to seek knowledge beyond what they are presented with. They have been able to form their own opinions and beliefs from the vast array of information that is out there from the international experts and researchers in the field.

So, yes - we do all come from different backgrounds, geographical locations, races, religions, etc, etc. Here in my geographical location the majority of the mental health profession believes DID does not exist. Does their belief make them right? Does it make them wrong? Or just plain misinformed? (Or ignorant, if they were presented with valid information but chose to disbelieve or ignore it).

My ex-therapist sent me the link to this book, which was written (edited to say: EDITED) by the task force charged with rewriting the dissociation section in the upcoming DSM-V. It details the latest theories and the latest research from the leading experts in the international community. It transcends race, religion, geographical location, etc, etc. Internationally these are 'the guys' when it comes to dissociative disorders.

http://www.psychoanalysisarena.com/b...n9780415957854

What these guys say is that DID does not always come from extreme abuse. The primary cause of DID is the inability to integrate emotional experiences before the developmental age at which the personality typically integrates (roughly age 6-7). It is absolutely true that the experiences that cause the failure of the personality to integrate are traumatic, but they are not always related to extreme abuse. The research has led them to believe that other events, such as continual emotional invalidation can also cause failure of integration that becomes DID.
The theory of structural dissociation is complex and can be applied universally. Ie, they have found that people in the US 'split' in the same way as people in Africa, and Sweden and Australia. They postulate that the types of dissociated states are also very similar, even when the traumatic events that cuase the failure to integrate are vastly different.
For now it would seem that their knowledge and research is leading the way in the field of dissociative disorders. Like in all fields it can take some time for the rest of the world to 'catch up' to the new information. It is also likely that there are some professionals who would reject the latest research if it contradicts their own long held beliefs... such as is the case in my own geographical location, unfortunately.

there is uniform diagnostics for diagnosing DID you can find the world wide criteria for diagnosing DID in a book called the DSM IV TR.

Now Im not going to get into all that other stuff in that long post.

my post wasnt about people choosing sides of who is right or wrong because some people say abuse is what causes DID and some people say it isnt caused by abuse.

my post was menat to point out that we are here to support each other and accept each other as we are. whether we believe our DID was caused bfrom the abuse we went through or because we believe we have DID because of environmental, genes and all that jazz.

we are not here to say one side is right and the other is wrong. we are here to support each other not tear apart each other just because of our beliefs, what education is teaching us, what our respective mental health people are teaching us.

this is a support group. not a place to say this side is the only way and this side is wrong and that side is right and so on

thats what I was trying to point out. we all have our own beliefs and thats ok.

FYI: proposed revisions of dissociative disorders in the DSM-5

http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevision...Disorders.aspx

and here's their home page to search: http://www.dsm5.org/Pages/Default.aspx

Yes. We just showed up if you will, and we always have been aware of eachother.

(Webber)Erik