[invisigirl]

my husband and i just started watching this show. it's very .... interesting.

interesting to see the differences between 'hollywood DID' and real life DID, you know? Tara's disorder seems almost.. organized and predictable. my husband commented that he wished it were so 'obvious' in real life sometimes.

i have blanks. blocks of lost time, conversations that others remember clearly having with me but i have no recollection of.. and yet, it's not obvious to them that they're not talking to ME. at least, not always.

i also find it interesting that she is almost always an alter for at least a whole day. for me, lost time is usually fairly brief.

one funny thing, the other night, while we were watching it.. something in the show caused some thought to trigger something in my mind which caused me to have a little internal tantrum. and then? only seconds later? I couldn't remember a damn thing about it. couldn't remember what had happened in the show to cause it, what thought had entered my mind, or why i had the reaction i did. i almost asked my husband to rewind the show so i could see if it would happen again. but i didn't want to.

so, has anyone else watched it? thoughts?

at this point for me, since i haven't fully accepted things the way they are and still don't know what to make of all of it... of all of me.. i tend to watch the show with one of two thoughts in my mind 'wow, i'm glad i don't have that problem/am not that crazy' or 'oh god, that is so me.. i'm a little scared of how much i can relate here.'

[kasva]

hi Invisigirl.....I used to watch that show up at my sister-in-laws house. She has showtime I don't but I hardly ever see it now. i have similar feelings as you. Its way to obvious when she changes parts. I think parts of the show show realism and other parts are pretty off base. Still, very interesting for me to watch too. Shes not little very often it seems I am much more often than she. While some of my parts where different style clothes we don't change midday and like you we don't stay a part for a whole day.I'm glad someone else with did has seen this show...it was wierd watching it with my sister-in-law who really doesn't "get" did....Thank you for posting......Kasva

[Lillyleaf]

I love the show.
I think it is really realistic for hollywood lol
It gives me hope that one day it will be all better.
I hav eto watch it online most of the time because I dont know when it is on Showtime, but it is still a good show. It is always nominated for TV series for the oscers and stuff.

Lillyleaf

[Luce]

I have mixed feelings about it and agree with Lillyleaf that it is realistic... for Hollywood!
I do not believe at all that it is realistic in terms of the real life DID experience however, and the show often irks me for this reason. It doesn't help the general population understand DID - and even perpetuates many myths about it - but then I suppose its purpose is to entertain and not inform, so what can one expect.
Most people with DID do NOT switch clothes when they switch internally, and neither do most alts have distinctive accents etc. In fact many times individual alters go to great lengths to not reveal their individuality to outsiders, and only those very close to a DID person may know a switch has even occured. But obviously they needed to make the alters very disctinctive on the show for the benefit of the viewing audience.
I do like watching it though. I think they've done an imperfect but passable job of mainstreaming the topic.

[kikki27]

Originally Posted by invisigirl

my husband and i just started watching this show. it's very .... interesting.

interesting to see the differences between 'hollywood DID' and real life DID, you know? Tara's disorder seems almost.. organized and predictable. my husband commented that he wished it were so 'obvious' in real life sometimes.

i have blanks. blocks of lost time, conversations that others remember clearly having with me but i have no recollection of.. and yet, it's not obvious to them that they're not talking to ME. at least, not always.

i also find it interesting that she is almost always an alter for at least a whole day. for me, lost time is usually fairly brief.

one funny thing, the other night, while we were watching it.. something in the show caused some thought to trigger something in my mind which caused me to have a little internal tantrum. and then? only seconds later? I couldn't remember a damn thing about it. couldn't remember what had happened in the show to cause it, what thought had entered my mind, or why i had the reaction i did. i almost asked my husband to rewind the show so i could see if it would happen again. but i didn't want to.

so, has anyone else watched it? thoughts?

at this point for me, since i haven't fully accepted things the way they are and still don't know what to make of all of it... of all of me.. i tend to watch the show with one of two thoughts in my mind 'wow, i'm glad i don't have that problem/am not that crazy' or 'oh god, that is so me.. i'm a little scared of how much i can relate here.'

yes this my favorite show its funny and I hope this show be on air a long time

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by Luce

I have mixed feelings about it and agree with Lillyleaf that it is realistic... for Hollywood!
I do not believe at all that it is realistic in terms of the real life DID experience however, and the show often irks me for this reason. It doesn't help the general population understand DID - and even perpetuates many myths about it - but then I suppose its purpose is to entertain and not inform, so what can one expect.
Most people with DID do NOT switch clothes when they switch internally, and neither do most alts have distinctive accents etc. In fact many times individual alters go to great lengths to not reveal their individuality to outsiders, and only those very close to a DID person may know a switch has even occured. But obviously they needed to make the alters very disctinctive on the show for the benefit of the viewing audience.
I do like watching it though. I think they've done an imperfect but passable job of mainstreaming the topic.

Actually I know many DID people who do switch, change their clothes, have their own hair style, accessories, make up, toys, memories, the things they like the things they hate, types of friends they have.....

I did have alters that changed their clothes. my bar hopping alter wore tank tops and tight jeans, smoked, carried her own purse... my youngest alter wore one piece zippered pj's, had a security blanket wrapped around her, my teen aged alter wore tight fitting t-shirts and shorts (no matter what the season), hair up in one pony tail in the back, my young adult wore swim suit and jeans (no matter the season)...

I bet if you read some of the posts here you will find many people here talking about how their alters are different than their self, including clothing styles, toys,coming to and finding their self dressed differently and all that..

in fact there is a diagnostic criteria that says in order to be diagnosed DID the person must have at least two alternate personalities taking control that are different from the host and have their own way of being that is separate from the person in which they reside within.

your treatment providers can explain this criteria to you in more detail.

you might want to "not" rule out the possibility of you having alters that are different from you the host. alters are quite resourceful in hiding from the host things - memories, clothing, personal items and activities that the host isnt ready to deal with, including picking up after their self so that the host does not know they exist until the host is ready to know about them.

I know I was very shocked to find out for years I had been bar hopping in sensual type tank top and jeans, and it took me months to finally locate the clothing from my bar hopping times after I found out through my therapist and my partner.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by Luce

I have mixed feelings about it and agree with Lillyleaf that it is realistic... for Hollywood!
I do not believe at all that it is realistic in terms of the real life DID experience however, and the show often irks me for this reason. It doesn't help the general population understand DID - and even perpetuates many myths about it - but then I suppose its purpose is to entertain and not inform, so what can one expect.
Most people with DID do NOT switch clothes when they switch internally, and neither do most alts have distinctive accents etc. In fact many times individual alters go to great lengths to not reveal their individuality to outsiders, and only those very close to a DID person may know a switch has even occured. But obviously they needed to make the alters very disctinctive on the show for the benefit of the viewing audience.
I do like watching it though. I think they've done an imperfect but passable job of mainstreaming the topic.

Here is a link that tells what the diagnostic criteria is for having DID -

http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/did.htm

the criteria Im talking about in my first post is the very first one.

[invisigirl]

thank you Luce and amandalouise.

my experience has fallen somewhere in the middle, personally. i don't know that i change my clothes at all, and it does take a person who knows me fairly well to know if i'm not ME. but even my husband has said sometimes he wishes it were more obvious because there are times when he's not sure who he's talking to.

and yeah, i think it's pretty realistic.. for hollywood. but definitely in a more 'organized exaggerated and obvious' way.

[Bmee2]

Could i have made up the other people for attention? How do you know who is real and who is not? Am i real? or Am i an alter...that sounds less than whole...if i made up the other people why can't i make up that i am all better? This has nothing to do with the show. i saw part of the show.
Thought there was more to say but...drifting and losing focus...do not have cable so have not seen a whole episode. Maybe the show is more about what it is like when everyone is united....not disconnected.

[invisigirl]

nope. not united. it's about her going off meds and trying to work towards understanding her alters and her past. i don't have cable either, but if you have netflix you can get it there.

I watched season 1 and 2, and then my h watched it.

he said "it's like you, but MORE"

my understanding is that I don't have alters with their own clothes, etc. but h and t definitely know when there's been a shift. I think h likes the different parts of me...and I know he likes that I'm "me" and not "MORE"

[crystalrose]

I guess Tara has worse DID than i but i definitely can relate to it.

[invisigirl]

Originally Posted by crystalrose

I guess Tara has worse DID than i but i definitely can relate to it.

that was kind of my feeling too. and i think some of that is simply the whole hollywood aspect of making it big and dramatic. but i know that there are real people who do suffer that badly too.

sometimes, at the end of an episode, i think 'wow, glad i'm not that bad'.

[invisigirl]

Originally Posted by treehouse

I watched season 1 and 2, and then my h watched it.

he said "it's like you, but MORE"

my understanding is that I don't have alters with their own clothes, etc. but h and t definitely know when there's been a shift. I think h likes the different parts of me...and I know he likes that I'm "me" and not "MORE"

YES. exactly. and my husband seems to feel the same way.