questions: dissociative disorders version

Umm, that question was 'the' next question, not a question for SR, in case anyone was unsure.

5 years ago.

Do you have a teddy bear for your littles?

No, I think about one and desperately want one but have some issue about not getting to have items that might make me feel better right now.

When you feel like a child, what do you see when you look at your physical body? (Chronological age or the age you feel)... example, if you feel like a 5 year old child and look at your hands, do you see your big adult hands or those of a child? (OR if you look in a mirror, you as adult or the you felt inside)?

Hmm, yeah, there's a bit of cognitive dissonance there. Young alters see the body as it is... they don't see a child image in the mirror. I am pretty sure their feeling is that they are younger / smaller etc. When they are in possession of it the body moves and looks younger. The 'w' sitting position... don't know how the heck they make these old hips do that, but they do.

Do you like to cook? Do you have a part of you that likes to cook? Do you like it when you spend ages cooking something you are really looking forward to eating and then someone else eats it for you? (Yup, just happened. )

I personally HATE to cook, but we have one insider (an adult) who LOVES it, taught herself to cook several years ago, and loves creating new recipes. I cannot even follow a recipe. my stuff tastes horrible. her stuff she makes tastes great.

what do you do to calm down an inside child who is upset?

depending on how we are feeling some of the things we do is hug our stuffies, spend quiet time hiding in the closet, colour, and get lots of cuddles from dear hubby.

have you disclosed to your family of origin about your DID? and if so, have they been supportive and understanding?

we have the kangaroo ride. the "bouncy kangaroo"

the inside child sits in a train shaped like a kangaroo and after a few moments, the music starts and the kangaroo bounces up and down

we also have a peppa pig room

oink oink indeed!

me and my family are as dis connected as they come.

so no

has another insider ever put you in hospital?

lol yeah, if you consider childbirth. It certainly wasn't me that got us in that little pickle.

ETA: we have gone to the emergency room a couple times only to have another alter take over and walk us on outta there.

Questions: Do you have inside jokes going on in your head that are so funny you bust out laughing during unfunny moments and everyone looks at you weird?

Questions: Do you have inside jokes going on in your head that are so funny you bust out laughing during unfunny moments and everyone looks at you weird?
Yes. We have a 12 year old who has a great sense of humor and is often sarcastic, and she says things that make me laugh.

what does your inside world look like?

We have a young part just like that too. She keeps us smiling.
The inside world used to look like something, but then our system underwent a massive traumatic change, and since then it hasn't looked like anything much at all. A lot is blocked off.

Question:
Do you and your parts/alters/bits of self aim to integrate eventually?

I have an emotional support dog. My moods are much more stable when she is with me so I don't go into as deep depressions. On really bad days I literally live for her. On all days she is a calming presence and I feel a little less alone in the world. I give her belly rubs and she gives me emotional support, I think it's a pretty good deal.

Emotional support animals are covered under transportation and housing law but not the ADA. Service dogs are covered under the ADA. I went through the student disability office though to have my dog named as a reasonable accommodation. I had to separately document both disability and why an emotional support animal would help with my specific symptoms.

Question: If you have complex PTSD and OSDD-1 or DID do you ever confuse emotional flashbacks with fragments or alters?

Ugh who knows! I think I have to learn all the parts first and learn to get all of us working as a system.

Question: Do you ever confuse emotional flashbacks with fragments or alters?

Question: Do you ever confuse emotional flashbacks with fragments or alters?

i did before i knew what was really going on, that i was DID. as i learned more about the nature of DID and my system my experiences started to make sense.

do you feel that some of your insiders/alters/parts are trying to sabotage your therapy or the relationship with your T?

At this point, no. Certainly up until now with every t we have had there have been alters that sabotaged / interfered with / compromised our ability to heal. We are not really in therapy at the moment - we see an old t for work related stuff and communicate via email with an ex-t - but right now I think I / we are really focused on growing and healing.
And, inner ones seem to be coming forth of their own accord and reaching out to us and our ex t for help, so that's a good sign. Things are a-moving in the right direction, me thinks.

Question:
Do you know any other people in your daily life who have a dissociative disorder?

Yes, but she doesn't realise it I'm pretty sure she's DIDish.

Do you believe it is possible for someone with DID to ever recover and lead a happy life?

YES! Absolutely, without a doubt.
I see glimmers of it for me. There are still some really awful things that I have to face... but once I've done that I reckon this whole person here will be in a much better place. I look at how far we ourselves have come.... and it is verrrrry far. Once we work through some of this other stuff it will be even better, for sure.
I also know other people who have had / still have DID and are living perfectly healthy, happy, productive lives.
The trauma stuff is the hardest part. Unprocessed trauma has the power to dominate one's life. Life will be spent trying to avoid triggering anything related to the trauma, and will maintain the dissociation. Inner conflicts will do the same. Work through the traumas and the conflicts and life has the potential to not only flow smoothly but actually be enjoyable.
That's what we reckon anyway.

question: What is one trait about any one side / part / alter / aspect of yourself that you admire or like?

i admire michelle!. she is 1 of our internal helpers.. and is great with the littles

i also admire stacy for being the only person with a direction in life, and the only person who claims to do something with her day.

what is 1 thing you wish you could know about your alters which you don't currently know

(this could be 1 alter, or a group of alters)

Hmm, this is a tricky one. Do I really want to know what I don't know? I don't know! What if I don't know what I don't know for a reason I don't know about? If I thought I wanted to know something and then knew it, could I unknow it again if it turned out better not to know?
Do you know? I don't!

Question:
Do you like to eat chips?!

yes i do!.

do your littles like drawing?

No, not really. In my experience it seems to be American littles that seem to like coloring and drawing. My littles have never wanted to color when they've been out.
ETA: gotta change that, forgot some that did draw, but that was kind of abuse stuff, like a way of processing. I guess they didn't 'like' that tho??
Do you have an alter or part or side of you that likes to learn stuff? Any stuff. But a part that thrives on learning.

yes. vivian our eldest. she loves learning about stuff, especially historical events
when you meet someone for the first time, do you tell them that you have alters, or do you usually wait for them to find out

Pffft. No we never tell them. They don't normally find out either! We don't have alts that jump out and say "hi, I'm Amy." We fly under the radar out in public as best we can. Sometimes we fly low. Sometimes we seem to loop de loop across the sky. But we never say hi.

Did you ever watch United States of Tara? If so, what did you think of it?

yes we've seen united states of tara. 1 of our friends suggested we watched it. we are impressed

do you have anyone who can speak other languages?. (i'm not including the host)