Newly Diagnosed

I am newly diagnosed with DID after years of trial and error treatments for other things... I am completely freaking out and have no idea what to think/feel, how to act.
How do you get through the beginning?

It is a lot to take in at first. Keep in mind that your system is your system and was created by you for your specific needs. It's original purpose was to protect you. Now as we get older and out in the world we don't need the same protection as when we were little so our system doesn't always fit in the world. I am older and I see that there is a lot of feelings that I don't experience fully because they are shared between several alters. My desire now is to live a full concussions life with all of us as one. It is possible. It is sometimes scary and takes work but I know it is possible. Get to know your system that helped me a lot in the beginning. Take care.

I have known I dissociated for several years but it was not until the last week that a different part of me (i don't know what to call it) came out. She emailed my T, which flipped me out completely. I do not know what to think.
For some reason the idea of losing time, the memory loss were easier to handle before. Everything about what I think I knew has been shattered.
My T thought that he had spoken to two parts before he actually brought up the diagnosis. He mentioned it to me both times but I saw a little slow to catch on. I think my family physician first suspected it, as both he and my T had been receiving countless emails and texts from me that I did not recall. This may make sense, it may not make sense, my head is a bit scrambled. how do I know how many or who what where when? nothing makes sense at all right now

Foghat18 - from disociativeannie - I was just questioned by my therapist as to whether or not I "think" that I may have D.I.D., me too after years of trial and error, misdiagnoses, etc. Am feeling very vulnerable, scared, and confused.

what got me through it was my therapist telling me many times....being diagnosed doesnt change a thing.. all it does is put a name on what has been happening since before you were 5 yrs old. nothing is going to change now that you have the name for it, except now you are going to get better and better, feel better and better because now that we know what has been going on it cant be treated.

then she told me

the first step is understanding you are the same after diagnosing as you were before diagnosing, its just a name. like if someone has had allergies (sneezing, coughing, stuffy head) every spring for years and year. then they get allergy testing ...does anything change when they find out they are allergic to pollen....nope they are still the same...

the second step is finding out what thew symptoms/problems are

and the third step is treating those symptoms/problems/ issues.

in this case its find out what your triggers are, if possible find out what trauma's you went through (in my case this wasnt always possible) and then set up a treatment plan that addresses those symptoms/ problems/issues.

for example we knew an alter would take over when I was stressed out so to help me deal with stress and anxiety on my own my treatment providers prescribed antidepressants that would work with anxiety. once I had the medication, i was able to face those problems head on, and on, my own instead of panicking/ having anxiety symptoms to the point where an alter would take over to do her job, purpose reason for being which was to handle stressful things I could not handle on my own.

After I was able to face /deal with those problems that caused me to have anxiety, that alter whos job, purpose, reason for being was to handle those stressful things, integrated and we became one whole person again.

now I say to you... you are the same person now as you were before you received the diagnostic of DID. all thats going to happen now is you will become better and better at handling things, you can now start healing from your symptoms/problems and issues.

Claritytoo said it well....

there really is no prescribed way to feel/act - it is more observing at first and trying to keep a routine as much as possible for self care. Maybe try to write about what is going on for you so that you can take it back to T. If you write it at the time whatever is happening it can be a way of putting it in safe keeping till you get back to T.

Thank you both. In this case it is it getting to my T before me I guess.... I have no idea what is going on. all of this is new and scary and I still really want it all to be a really bad dream.

amandalouis:

Something about your words put my head at rest for a bit, much needed. I appreciate all the help I can get on this journey.

Why shouldnt you be shocked. Think of it as the grief process first shock and denial,anger bargaing and acceptance. You r feeling exactly As u shud which helps you heal. The fact it shocked yiu is a very positive sign

Thank you for the helpful reply. It's really comforting to me--another newbie--to understand DD and DID. I am just learning to understand how my system works.
Right now, gratitude is helping me a lot. When I express gratitude to the different "supporting roles" in my life, I feel better and more in control.

Thanks!!

Thanks for this post. I feel the same. (vulnerable, scared and confused). But I also feel like a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders, especially as I understand more about PTSD, and DD/DIDs

Just reading the different posts in this forum is helping me so much. I am so grateful. Thank you!

Wow! Your words are so soothing. I also tend to dissociate (a lot!!!) under stress, and as I learn how to handle the anxiety, I can stay in the moment more.

Thank you!