[Sarah Bee]

We have Alex, who is currently merged with another system member, for 1.5 years now. She has always been someone who is a more functional part of the system. When we feel like we are on auto-pilot, it's Alex taking care of things. We don't know much about her at all, which leads us to the conclusion that she is a fragment, with a single purpose. In order to facilitate healing in our therapy and daily life, we are working on un-merging her and getting to know her. Is this possible if she is, indeed, a fragment? Is there any way to know for sure?
Is it simply a matter of trying to connect better with her and if we can, then she is not a fragment?
We are confused about what fragments really are and if they have the opportunity, could they develop further without trauma forcing it to happen.
Thanks.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by Sarah Bee

We have Alex, who is currently merged with another system member, for 1.5 years now. She has always been someone who is a more functional part of the system. When we feel like we are on auto-pilot, it's Alex taking care of things. We don't know much about her at all, which leads us to the conclusion that she is a fragment, with a single purpose. In order to facilitate healing in our therapy and daily life, we are working on un-merging her and getting to know her. Is this possible if she is, indeed, a fragment? Is there any way to know for sure?
Is it simply a matter of trying to connect better with her and if we can, then she is not a fragment?
We are confused about what fragments really are and if they have the opportunity, could they develop further without trauma forcing it to happen.
Thanks.

I dont know if your treatment providers use the same standards as what mine did and does and i am not you. only you and your own treatment providers can answer whether this is a fragment for you. all I can do is explain it in terms of myself and my own treatment providers terms and what they consider to be fragments......

here where I am it wasnt called fragment when I didnt know much about my alters. that was called co consciousness. I had limited to no ....co consciousness.... with some of my alters. that meant I didnt know much about them, I didnt share their memories, and in many cases didnt even know they were there.

have you ever rub your hand on a piece of wood and get a sliver in your hand... that sliver and the wood it came off of are identical, just one (the sliver) is just a little bitty piece of the wood that you cant do much with. its just part of the wood. the sliver is a fragment of the wooden board.

or have you ever done a jig saw puzzle. you pick up one piece and look at the piece not the picture. the actual jig saw puzzle piece. it is compressed paper identical to other pieces of the puzzle. that puzzle piece may be unique because of the picture and shape but everything about that little bitty piece of the puzzle (a fragment of the puzzle) is the same as the others and you cant do anything with it by itself.

or have you ever dropped a ceramic object and it beaks up into many different sized pieces some you cant do anything with it , though its like the others its not very important, its just a sliver or the others. just a fragment of the others that does nothing and cant be used by itself...

well thats what my location used to call fragments related to DID alters. just this unimportant part that didnt do anything and you couldnt do anything with....

example one of my alters that used to be called a fragment just sat on the floor or chair sucking her thumb. thats all her sense of agency was, sit there and suck her thumb.

in the old terms she would have been given the designation of last number in the line of my alters on charts, she would have been called unimportant and not worth the time it took to work with her therapy wise. why would someone want to waste their time trying to get someone who did not have the ability to talk, play, tell them why they were there, what they do to help everyone else and other therapy questions and work, why waste time on this unimportant fragment that did nothing but sit and suck their thumb. lets focus more on the one that yells, self injures or is suicidal or goes to work, does this and that and is a much more important part in the system...

since 2013 with the change over of mental health systems diagnostics, terms how to work with clients and so on where ......all..... dissociative alters are essential to the system regardless of what their sense of agency is, my alters would not and did not receive any designations on charts, nor were any of them considered to be fragments and unimportant. that alter was given a blanket to hold in one hand and a toy to hold in the other which removed the thumb from the mouth. the alter was talked to, and calmed, and my treatment provider took the time to realize that, that fragment was there as a representative of my not feeling safe, feeling scared.

to find out what this is in you, please contact your treatment providers.

[Amyjay]

My understanding is that all are actually parts of one human personality. Like all the parts together represent all aspects of one human personality. Alters are not a "full human personality" even if they can deal with a wide range of things.
So in my understanding of it, no that part would not need to become more than it is for you to heal it. That part deals with one particular thing so to heal it you learn about that one thing that the part is needed for.

[dlantern]

I would love to know the answer to this question. Is a fragment the one that helps at the supermarket remember an item? Is it one reason for getting here . I get confused with all the talking from a fragment and traits, a few traits, one job, and one reason it got here is how I heard it described.

[Sarah Bee]

Originally Posted by Amyjay

My understanding is that all are actually parts of one human personality. Like all the parts together represent all aspects of one human personality. Alters are not a "full human personality" even if they can deal with a wide range of things.
So in my understanding of it, no that part would not need to become more than it is for you to heal it. That part deals with one particular thing so to heal it you learn about that one thing that the part is needed for.

My therapist says we are not parts of one personality, that we are our own persons in our own right. We are more 3D than that. Therefore, I respectfully disagree with your view. Thanks very much for your reply and input. I think what you are saying is to learn more about the ways Alex contributes to our functionality?

[Sarah Bee]

Originally Posted by dlantern

I would love to know the answer to this question. Is a fragment the one that helps at the supermarket remember an item? Is it one reason for getting here . I get confused with all the talking from a fragment and traits, a few traits, one job, and one reason it got here is how I heard it described.

I've been searching online the definitions of 'fragments' I got this from did-research.org

Fragment: A fragment is an alter that is not fully differentiated or developed. Fragments may exist to carry out a single function or job, to hold a single memory or emotion, or to represent a single idea. Depending on the way that individual systems use the term, a fragment might be any alter that could not survive if left on its own or that could not pass for a fully developed individual without the help of other alters. Fragments usually have not been exposed to enough complex, different, or interactive experiences to incorporate more into their sense of self and so become more developed and differentiated. It is possible for fragments to develop into more elaborate alters if the need arises or with further use.

The reason I consider Alex a fragment is because she only switches out at places like work. If I cannot concentrate at work yet I find myself doing the job without being connected to it, it's her there with me but with the control of the body. She also has helped with other ADL's, but without emotion. She hasn't ever hinted at having a history of her own, which is unlike most of the others in this system.
So to answer your question, it's possible that a fragment in your system is responsible for only handling the supermarket, etc.

[dlantern]

It is about what you make it though I found that out later one. If you can only get it noticed at the supermarket frag it is.

[Solnutty]

Every one of my parts I initially thought was a fragment turned out to be much more well developed as a person than I assumed. I just didn’t know them very well so it was easy to get that idea. I have parts I still don’t know well and think are fragments, but I remind myself there might be more to them than I can see. When I call a part a fragment I think I also assume they aren’t as important or I don’t really need to understand them, but I’ve found that not to be true.

[Michael W. Harris]

Originally Posted by Sarah Bee

We have Alex, who is currently merged with another system member, for 1.5 years now. She has always been someone who is a more functional part of the system. When we feel like we are on auto-pilot, it's Alex taking care of things. We don't know much about her at all, which leads us to the conclusion that she is a fragment, with a single purpose. In order to facilitate healing in our therapy and daily life, we are working on un-merging her and getting to know her. Is this possible if she is, indeed, a fragment? Is there any way to know for sure?
Is it simply a matter of trying to connect better with her and if we can, then she is not a fragment?
We are confused about what fragments really are and if they have the opportunity, could they develop further without trauma forcing it to happen.
Thanks.

I am not an expert but whether an alter is a fragment is simply a function of how much memory that alter has. When we develop a dissociative disorder, it really is a memory problem as much as it is differences in the personalities. The memories for each alter are stored in different places in the brain. The alters have access to limited memories. That is why we call them "different" personalities more than if they act differently. A fragment has an extremely limited memory as compared to the other alters. But that alter may be highly functioning while he/she is out.