questions: dissociative disorders version

I am always depressed, no matter what season.

Can you have alters if you remember stuff they did?

yes.
do you like art?

nah.

not really much of a fan of art

what kind of books do you like reading?

I don't read anymore

never was able to really focus on it

but quite enjoyed mystery/ romance
were you affected much by day light saving over the weekend

no.. clocks don't go forward in the UK for another few weeks

what's 1 thing you like to do in the summer

when it gets hot, use our big fan we have.

cools us right down.
(actually, we like using that fan anyway)

do you exercise frequently?

no.

best part of the day for you?

Salmon time - evenings

What do you do when someone pisses you off?

usually shout at them and get frustrated too

and not speak to them for the next billion months

do you take a comfort item with you to therapy?. if so what is it

I thought about a teddy bear to session. I don't know without it seemed like a better decision. I actually like the idea of props to therapy video pictures etc anything that seems you get alters front most often especially when first starting the journey. .................................

What do you do when someone has upset an alter for the zillionth time? I'm talking about after you learn who you are dealing with but still want to keep peace do you go after the alter or deem the person toxic?

This has been happening to me recently. It's new. Her name is Alice she doesn't talk she just thinks I think. I've never heard her voice out loud she's selectively mute maybe. My boyfriend is her trigger. Not always but the three times she's been out it's been around him or the thought of him coming home once brought her out. I don't know how old Alice is I just know that she can read. But she refuses to write anything or speak. My boyfriend is a really good understanding patient guy. So I can only guess that he reminds Alice of someone who's hurt us. She's younger than 8. Older than 5. She feels like more of an emotional memory. When she gets you far scared I can't reach her at all. I can't calm her. I'm trying my hardest to learn to switch fluidly with purpose to give each alter time to roam but it's proving difficult and exhausting. I've fainted once fighting so hard to gain control. That was when my boyfriend met Alice. 😧 I'm rambling sorry.
I have six alters

Q: do you have a favorite alter and why?

My favorite is a very little girl (3yo). She has big black eyes and is always asking for food- that's all I know about her. She is dead which is the strange thing, a ghost. She's only come out a few times, usually a co-conscious thing, and never for my T, usually he can get the others to surface but never her. I think that mysteriousness is why she's my favorite, that and I love kids her age too...

She doesn't have a name, none of them do.

Do you leave things around for your alters to find?

no not really

not unless their's some sort of need too (like an event or something)

do any of your insiders have any passiffic things they'd like to acheeve, or have any wishes

I have a question about alters. I'm trying to understand and no I do not have alters. Maybe I would understand this more if I did. I've noticed with people , in most forums, here on PC that some have multiple diagnosis. Is it possible for a host to have one diagnosis and the alter have another diagnosis? Or do the alters and host seem to have the same diagnosis usually? Or can an alter have a diagnosis? I guess I'm looking at an alter like a separate person, is that the wrong way to see them?

first and foremost psych central has a rule that all posts have to be supportive and we have to accept that what a persons posts in psych central is in fact their situation. that means when you read posts here on psych central whether or not its possible for alters and hosts to have dual diagnosis is that regardless of whether its possible or not we have to accept that its possible in the person that has posted...

for example if you read a post that says a persons alter has an anxiety disorder and the host (person they reside with in )has a dissociative disorder. we who are reading such posts have to accept that for that poster it is possible and that they do have alters with other mental disorders then their hosts do. its just the way the site is set up. we dont question whether things like this exists or not in general because in general it obviously does for the person that has posted it.

rather than question whether this problem exists and whether it can happen due to finding it in posts (because of the sites rules saying we can not question the existance of this kind of thing) we talk in terms of...

whether the problem happens in....... ourselves....

for me I did not have alters that had other mental disorders then I had. my alters were due to extreme trauma at a very young age under the age of 5, because they held the memories and truama's and emotions that I went through I was able to survive. they had problems that I did not have simply because I did not have the memories of the trauma's and emotions..

example I did not have the memory of being lost in a storm. Rainy had that memory so Rainy reacted (feared) to storms when I dissociated (spaced out, numbed disconnected) because of a storm.

another thing that complicates the answers to your question is that each mental disorder has their own diagnostic criteria... for example a common dissociation .....symptom.... is numbing, spacing out, but that .....symptom .... is also part of other mental and physical health problems like CEN, PTSD, Depression and others. the result of this is the treatment providers have to go by not only symptoms but by diagnostic criteria. some mental disorders state in the diagnostics that the problems can not be because of other mental and physical health problems and drugs and alcohol. this complicates the diagnosing process due to the treatment provider where I am located has to look at the symptom of numbing, spacing out and decide which mental disorder is causing that symptom.

my suggestion is to not try to figure out why some posters here on psych central have more than one problem/ disorder and others do not. the sites rules dont allow us to say question the existance and why a person is diagnosed the way that the poster is.

question...
what brought you to psych central?

I came to psych central because my treatment provider thought I would find others here going through dissociation/ integration. at the time I joined there were none. i was going to leave, pme'd those I had grown close to and they asked me to stay. I did and over time I found others at my stage of healing. I have been here now for 6 or 7 years and psych central forums continues to help me and I enjoy helping others.

alters are individual people.

yeah you're looking at it right, and with that said, it is possible for alters to have other diagnoses to the host

welcome to this section of the site. if you have any questions about alters (or DID in general), i'm sure us (either as in us the system, or us the forum,) will be happy to answer them

Thank you for that. I just want a better understanding of alters and hosts and that helps a lot. If other questions come up I will ask. I

My youngest is 5.

My eldest is 60

Is there an alter for each trauma? Is that how they come about being an alter?

I have a "part of me" that came to be for the events I dissociated from. That is what I'm coming to understand as how my parts were created/formed/made

Do you have any parts that are too young to speak?

I don't have any alters......I don't think. That questions about having some that don't speak is interesting though. How would you know they were there if they don't speak? Is it a feeling that they are there. I'm learning a lot from you guys thanks.

I have one that doesn't speak, but she is a teenager. It is not that she is too young, it's just that she never learned, the conditions were never right and she's basically feral. Before I was co-conscious with her, when she was out, we would be mute and unable to interact, that's how I knew. Now that we are integrating, she still can't speak but I can speak for her if I really tune in... I'm aware of her general feelings and needs, sort of like being around a dog.

In theme with the questions about differing diagnoses... do you experience sensory differences? For instance, mine each have their own way of perceiving color, depth, sharpness/blurriness, flavors...

You must be very in tune with them to notice those differences.
<<I'm aware of her general feelings and needs, sort of like being around a dog. >> Love this analogy, I truly can understand this. Thanks for the feedback on this.

Please forgive me before I say anything.

May I ask you if you, yourself, are working through this and experiencing it, or are you examining it?

Just a curious question before I share any more that I am working through myself.

I hope you understand my question.