High-Functioning DID?

How common is it for a person who has co-conscious DID to be capable of appearing high-functioning and successful at hiding their disorder from everybody except close family members who may notice switching and severe forgetfulness?

Could a person have DID and still hold down a full-time job, and their coworkers not know they have DID because their work is solitary and they don't socialize much?

most if not all people with DID actually do not realize they have it. DID is a mental disorder that happens in very young children (NY mental health demographics/statistics document before the age of 5 due to extreme trauma) that child grows up just like any other normal child does and becomes a fully functioning adult who just like any one else in America falling in love, getting married if they choose to, having careers, working jobs they enjoy or working out of necessity... here in america we even have laws that prevent employers\landlords\treatment providers and people in general from discriminating against a person with any mental disorder including people with DID.

because the child grows up having DID thats their normal. because its their normal children dont go around yelling I have DID watch me switch, and parents and other family members well all they see is the child being the way the child normally is , they dont go around noticing every time their childs moods switch\personality switching and such. if you have children you know that children noramlly do have many switches in their personality(moods, emotions, how they think, what they say and do.....0 if you dont have childrenheres a good example go to a playground or public place where there are children, take a book or something with you so that you can sit there and watch the children play, watch how children's expressions are happy one second and sad\temper tantruming the nexrt, laughing, how one second the child wants to play on the slide and the next th ey are running to the swing....

the type of forgetfulness with DID is not the kind most people notice like oh gosh so and so can never remember where she put her keys, so and so can never remember to put her toys and clothing away... the type of memory problems associated with DID is a very special kind of memory loss (some locations call it time loss\time lost) that goes beyond the normal realms of forgetfulness. one thing about DID is that its created in children to enable children to go on with their lives justlike normal people do without having to worry about all the trauma. these children grow up to be fully functioning adults who mostif not always dont remember all that trauma that having DID has made them forget. most if not all people with DID enter therapy due to other things like anxiety, depression, flashbacks, nightmares and then just like discovering they are bipolar or schizophrenic discover/get diagnosed with DID.

my point is here in america people with DID do hold down jobs, can function just like any other person regardless of whether their job is solitary or not, regardless of whether they socialize or not, and it is not......most likely just like you cant tell whether your co workers have depression,or a heart problem you are not going to know which of your co workers has DID just by looking at them and trying to analyze their work performance and if this is about you well no one that you don't tell is going to notice you have DID. you can hold down a job just like any other normal person can if you choose, in short no one needs to know except those you choose to tell.

Absolutely. Herschel Walker, the famous football player, just wrote a book on his DID. As DIDs have alters with different specialties there is no reason why each one can't be exceptional in their area of expertise. So a protector might be a black belt, the one who pays bills may be exceptional with numbers. Say by career one is a scientist. They may be outstanding and with co- consciousness with the math one may add more abilities than a normal person.

Yes. I had a job for 22 years, was promoted twice. My job included a lot of interaction with the public and with my co workers. It was stressful and full of deadlines. I made good money. Nobody new or suspected anything. No one every said anything and to this day my family don't know either. It depends on how your system is set up. We are set up to function as a whole. We don't always agree but we don't jeopardize ourselves by acting out. We did have compulsive issues, forgetfulness, anger issues etc. We just almost never expressed this while at work. About three years before I retired we started having difficulty in public. There were times when someone would pop out unexpectedly. If they were noticed we would make a joke and come up with an excuse. But by the time I retired I think the level of control and functioning we had was unraveling. We had never dealt with our trauma and didn't know we were DID until about five years ago. So yes, depending how your system is set up you can work with others and be successful.

i would classify myself as high functioning. i have DDNOS with parts, not 'technically' DID, but how mine works is that i have experienced long periods of time (including years) where my symptoms have been relatively mild and not interfere with my daily functioning as severe as other times.

i go between being high functioning and sometimes not functioning well at all depending on what symptoms are more prominent for me and what is going on in my life to disrupt things.

for example, i had a lot of high stress and loss/grief between december and january, and i barely remember february and march because of how dissociated i was. but come april, i seemed to have 'come back' again.

on the other hand, i have never experienced periods of blacking out, finding clothes or other items i don't remember buying, etc. the only thing i can say i have experienced was writing things (in a highly dissociated state) and not remembering them (but it was never with different handwriting either).

my memory issues after a dissociated state passes just leaves fuzzy memories. but thankfully, nothing important happens in my life much to have it matter so much (only sometimes)....but there are a lot of things i have no memory of (a lot of trauma, but also i am pretty sure normal stuff too). i can kind of 'feel' that there are chunks of events i have forgotten...but i also get confused what is 'normal' memory and not normal since i also have memory loss not just from my mental health issues but also from having been early and it affecting that more too.

i have found myself at times (i work from home) not knowing what i am doing work wise, forgetting six years worth of information briefly which freaks me out. it does come back to me, but i have a moment of panic because can't figure out how i can just lose all of that like that.

i also am not around people daily, and no one would even pick up on things if i was having more dissociation because i'm generally a quiet person. and i also normally dissociate (and did more severely years ago) when i was alone and not near people because it was never 'safe' to do so (not really sure how that works though).

so just like with anything a person struggles with, there are a lot of degrees and variations.

I am very high functioning. I have a very busy, very interesting job with a lot of responsibily and was in charge for several years at some things that had to do with my job.I have a family. I take care of myself, and my family. I imagine that no one in the public would ever guess that i have DID.my job makes me well known and i interact with many, many people every day. The only ones who know about my DID are my t, husband, and sister.

Before I knew I was did I would freak out if I suddenly realized that I don't know any of the information that I knew an hour ago. I never understood that at the time but if I calmed down the information would come back to me. What was actually happening was I would switch to the part who knew the information. I had/have a part I called inbetween, he was the one who would go get information from a file and give it to who ever was out so there wouldn't be any questioning about our behavior. But most of the time I would just switch to the one who had the info. Sometimes I would have to ask the person I was talking to, to repeat the question because it felt like I just got there. They would and I would answer.

yeah. i really have no idea what goes on with my head and all that. like i've said, years ago i used to have a lot more activity and stuff inside and thought i understood things a little more...but no...and now when things come up since it's not a lot anymore, i am just confused with how to deal with things because things have shifted to such a degree so it's like it's new to me each time i feel something.

i am a lot more present in my own body than i used to be so do have a lot of times where i am mostly 100% myself, but then there are times i feel shifts and not like myself but cannot figure out 'what' or 'who' it is behind me (inside, i mean). i mostly seem to get feelings, silent thoughts (cannot explain that one) instead of feeling a huge shift of things like i used to.

my dissociation has always been more internal than external as in even though i dissociate(d), it was never really known to anyone around me. always been a little of me left when dissociated but not enough to fully know what was going on.....still cannot even explain it after all these years.

I understand what you are saying. Once I realized I was DID I began to ask questions in my head like, "is someone scared" or "is someone angry". To my surprise I would get answers. I still don't know everyone but I ask a question and most times someone will respond. It helps all of us.

yes. i have found that useful or even if there is a scared feeling but i know it's not coming from me, i find if i try talking calm and trying to be reassuring that it can help somewhat. it also takes patience since i can get mad or frustrated at certain things when i don't realize where it's coming from. still a learning experience, i guess.

There's a book called Sum of my Parts by Olga (someone), and if you can get past the abuse in the first half, it says how she was able to deal with life in the second half. She was a State Attorney to the US Prez or something.... yep - high functioning... until the mechanism breaks down.... but then some people are able to figure it out again.

Ignorance is bliss. As a system, we work together for the good of the body, at least most of us does. Everyone has a job to do. The worker works, the homebody does home life, the driver does his thing, etc. As needed, we switch through out the day to accomplish our tasks.

For instance, the worker quietly focuses on his work because he's not a socializer, he has no real social skills. To deal with others, Steven, who is the friendly part comes out. Of course work ceases while this is happening. To anyone, it just looks like a person stopping to talk. We don't talk and work well at the same time.

When triggered, we do a quick run down to the next up front. Immediate memories are vague, and I know we have a lot of blank stares trying to figure things out on the fly and tend to hesitate a lot.

Of course, the homebody knows that we worked, but couldn't tell you the details immediately, unless the details are spoon fed up or the worker comes out and explains it.

Hi Peaches, I didn't know I had did until I was in my 40's and retired from teaching. Yes it is possible to be high functioning my ten alters blended together well so people really didn't notice. I have epilepsy so even family members put off memory problems to that. I now have a new career working with the elderly and sometimes they help me remember little things like forgotten names etc. I only have one alter left and we have problems from time to time but not at work. Tattooman

Every DID I've met IRL have been a professional in teaching or Mental Health or some other fast paced job. I think we're good at it because we are So Many, we can easily slide in between situations and be Who we need to be in a given instance. I was a teacher until my anxiety got so very bad I couldn't continue. So I still tutor a little. I just signed up to be an extra teacher on a field trip... this may not have been my best idea (and I'm getting crap for it internally) - I've not been around a group of kids in over 3 years. Maybe my background check won't be processed in time.... I never feel I can back out of things after I've agreed to them (or one of us has agreed)....

I have DID and am considered High Functioning. I have a very responsible job and I am good at it.
DID is a system the mind creates so you can continue to function in life.... So many with DID are high functioning. There are parts that do specific jobs..

What I have found as I work on integration, it is harder for me to focus and stay functioning.... so I slow down in therapy. I just want this over with, but I can't rush it.... if I do I cant function and go into crisis..... So I take it slow with my therapist.... staying as stable as possible and continuing to function....

that was what i found when i was seeing my psychiatrist every two weeks. it wasn't 'real' therapy, but even just going that much (on top of other mental health providers at that time) was just too much to handle.

i check in every few months which is okayish and know if i went regularly again, it might disrupt the stability i have managed to have the last few years. at the same time, i do still have times where i struggle immensely with dissociating or severe depression/darkness linked to dissociation and/or emotional flashbacks/triggers and things..but it's not as bad as it used to be.

the only issue for me recently is a huge life change which has brought up a lot more issues (sometimes for just a day here and there or weeks at a time) that makes me crumble again.

i feel like i come together where i am more me but then can quickly disintegrate again where i fall apart and have the other parts blend or emerge again in random ways...but not as full on as they used to be and not near as many. it still is confusing when it happens though because i am still able to 'deny' it is even real...until it happens anyway...and then i just think i'm crazy..so to talk about when not in that state is not something i do much until recently when i signed up on here because i don't know many people who struggle with dissociation of any degree to talk about it with.

i'd say i'm on the low functioning level... but then again i'm not very old and so school has been most of my life and i was very high functioning in tht
it was only afterwards when i graduated and was sent afloat that i rapidly deteriorated
perhaps if we'd come from a wealthy family and was given post secondary schooling we could've continued the system
:shrugs;

I am high functioning too, as I have to make it on my own financially. My dissociation did run interference a lot even when i was co-conscious. Though I could have had a good career as I have college and high I.Q., I had to take temp jobs to deal with the inner child. Emergency trips to the psych ward to deal with anxiety would terminate the job. The inner child would panic because she would get into deep transference with the T and panic at any hint of rejection, pushing to be more independent, or vacation, etc. I finally got a therapist who understands about DID, inner child, and attachment therapy. So, everything is going much better. I got so I could hold down a computer chip job and deal with my alters on the run. That was such a relief, and I hope this will encourage you that it can all get sorted out, especially with a good therapist that is very gentle as well as trained.

I do the same - I work a job now with very few hours to supplement my stipend - but it is the kind of thing where I might end up inpatient between days I work - no one is the wiser to it. or on vacations when I can 'let everything down', I end up inpatient... like I have to "plan" my crises.

For the first 35 years of my life I was non-functioning, caught in a bipolar ultra rapid cycling self medicating to feel normal mode. I sorta maintained a job, barely was sober, always confused as to who I am.

I'd say we function today, but pretty limited by our MI.

I think my worst fear is ending up in the hospital. That would be the worst thing that could ever happen to me with the exception of death. I have talked a lot to my Therapist about this. My old therapist threatened to have me admitted and years ago when I first was dx'd, my therapist at the time tried to have me admitted. Tried is the key. It wasn't fun being tackled by the police, but the drive in the police car allowed my calmer parts of me to take over and go into survival mode. By the time they got me to the hospital, I was calm, I knew all the right things to say to the admitting Psychiatrist.... and I walked out triumphantly 2 hours later to the chagrin of my Psychologist and spouse.

I did not come from a rich background, nor did I have anything spoon fed to me, I have had to fight for everything I have become in my life, and I have survivor triggers that allow me to be safe... no matter how bad the anxiety and how bad everything is falling apart... dissociation is a blessing that way, as I can look calm, posed and professional, while I am crying and falling apart inside.....

My biggest fear is that as I go through this process of uncovering the secrets I have hidden from myself that I may not be able to hold it together..... me and my therapist have had several discussions about it. .... I can't afford to fall apart, I will not go to the hospital..... I will quit therapy before that happens. However, I have made a promise... as my survivor kicks in to protect me from self harm or worse.... IF I am unable to stop the feelings, and feel I have a choice of Hospital or Death, I will call her. I have never called her and I never will. We text, but she knows if I call, there is only one reason I would call. All I can hope is I never get there as I have an extreme fear of ever going into a hospital ever!

I have always been high functioning too. I've never been hospitalized and have always held a job, although there have been a couple of occasions when dissociation has interfered with work to an unacceptable degree. I have always had very strong protector alters and no matter what has been going on internally we have mostly been able to hold it together during the hours of work.
...Albeit sometimes as a kind of automaton. : )

My 4 rules were: never go in to therapy. never take psych meds. never be hospitalized.
(now I can't remember the 4th). But I've broken every one. in that order.
Hospitals aren't quite as bad as our worst fears... they sure are miserable, though, and it feels more to me like being in a jail (not that I've been in one) than a hospital; the bars or grates on the windows, the rules, the orders one has to follow or there are consequences, the 15 minute checks. They are a pain. Sometimes they are the only safe option for me. And then I get there and I hate that I made myself go in. "I could be miserable here, or miserable at home with amenities". But the truth is, I can't be safe at home in those times since I live alone.
The way things are going, I should likely go in soon, but I REALLY don't want to. All kinds of things are triggering behaviors that I can't get them to stop doing. But nothing seriously dangerous, yet. Just all my red flags are up and now is the time I am supposed to be looking at "Relapse Prevention" (not just for addictions, kids - behaviors that end ppl up in hospital, too).
The joys of being DID.
But don't let it fool you - all kinds of high functioning people (including nursing staff) end up in psych, too, sometimes. You gotta do what you gotta do to stay safe. Period.

I just will not go to the hospital.... it isn't a hospital, it's a jail.... one of the biggest fears of my life is to be locked up..... then they find out how crazy I really am, and they throw away the key and I never get out.

Rest assured sweety, my insurance isn't that good. 2 weeks then I'm walking home!