question for the experienced...

How would one tell the difference between simple time skips and memory error; vs disassociation?

From personal experience...time skips or time loss are actually missing memories. The memories are there, but another alter has them. For instance...there is a constant and continuos timeline. When a switch occurs, the next alter begins memories and the other stops...then when the first alter again presents, all the memories that they missed out on comes across as time skips.

The other I call my duh moments. Blondedness.

Someone would notice if you have alters though... right, yes????? That shouldn't go unnoticed I would think.

Great description!

Alters can definitely go unnoticed. It isn't like they jump out and say "Ta-da! Herrrrrre I am!" I told this to one therapist and she replied "Oh, so you don't have DID then. Because DID would be like that."
Ummm. Yes I do, and
No, it isn't.
Alters just slip and slide behind the eyes, doing what they gotta do without too much fanfare.

it depends on what you are asking...

for example here in america we have two different terms\word that get confused for each other but are vastly different and means totally different things...

your word in your post Disassociation is defined as to purposely/ consciously make the decision to stop doing something...

today I disassociated from doing the laundry (in psychological terms in the USA this means I purposely made the decision to stop doing the laundry.

going on that definition and your wording in your post a person would know whether they were..... choosing to ignore and not remember something or whether they experienced a trauma that caused them to not remember something or if they just forgot to do their homework kind of forgetfulness or in your words had a time skip so that they did not remember every detail of what they did.

the other term we have here in america is dissociation (no letter a between two s's)

dissociation here in america having a dissociative reaction (feeling numb, spaced out, foggy minded, disconnected feelings) when encountering a trigger (anything that is extremely emotional for that person.

how do you tell when it goes from not being normal dissociation in my location it becomes a mental disorder when it fits the diagnostic criteria in the link at the bottom of my post which lists all the american dissociative disorders.

The cases with an amnesiac barrier (zero co-consciousness)....alters can function in their own life unawares of the others.

But like in us....we work in stealth...to not be noticed....it's our secret. Only a trained eye can suspect....my locals are ignorant, so they think I'm cooky and would reject the possibility of DID in my case (which they did) because DID only happens in the movies or in an insane asylum in another country- Transylvania is a good location.

Well... now this isn't making me a happy camper.

A few months ago I had some blood drawn for tests, and made the mistake of giving the Fleb. my left arm because I'd used the right arm the day before for same. Left is the one I used in my attempt as a kid, and I looked. And the next thing I know I'm being jerked back to reality by this previously friendly fleb doing her best imitation of psych ward nurse trying to maintain control with super stern voice loudly saying my name and showing me the drawn vials with name label on them right in front of my eyeballs like I was seriously paranoid or something. Even made a point to make sure I saw them go in the collection bucket.

great......

trained eye.

wonderful.

Might as well tack this on... I'm still very skeptical...

If "they" exist, How do I help "them" hide? PC's little test yielded 75/100 on dis and I have no idea which questions were relevant. The memory skips are substantial and often tied to stressful events that I *should* remember.

I think I like blaming bad memory on a four decade old head injury better.

My alters are largely unnoticed. My husband can tell, and my ts. But I am good at hiding it. Sometimes people are confused by me because I am not consistent, but to my knowledge none have ever put it together that I have DID.

Have you been diagnosed with DID? Coming to terms with that diagnosis is difficult. And who knows, maybe your old head injury really is to blame?

you can have dissociation with memory issues and not have alters. i don't know if you have a diagnosis of DID or not when asking this though.

if you don't have DID and dissociated during getting your blood drawn, it is possible that you were feeling on edge/anxious which could have caused a dissociative reaction for whatever reason.

anxiety is one thing that can cause derealization/depersonalization for me but doesn't usually cause an alter to surface unless there was a more specific situation for them to come around or a trigger. there are variations like that too even in some people who have DID. those types of dissociation can also cause memory disruptions. unless you are diagnosed or have other things that concern you to make you think you might have DID, i wouldn't automatically just think it is since there are other things it can be.

No diags yet. I'm just putting together pieces of things I might want to talk about. I'll probably see a psychiatrist for the first time, sometime in February. Really just a quest for Zoloft for depression, but if the disassociation sticks out that much on small test, and matches symptoms, it'd be hard for it to go unmentioned. And this group of doctors both phys and mental health, if they are anything, they are thorough.

Not sure getting such a diag would be a good thing....

I could go with Anxiety for 200 I think. That fits well enough for the single event as I'd dropped my testosterone to far and was still misidentifying an anxiety startup with anger which I'm overly aggressive in managing. I could have just dumped nitro on the anxiety fire and lost it.

The fleb's reaction was over the top for just regular lightheadedness or something, and it was strictly clinical because she was friendly once I got focus back.

I guess the bigger problem is the many full length events,outings, etc that just disappear; but the blood draw is the first time anyone had caught on to something more...

Still the whole point of seeing these new docs was a promise to myself to be honest and not hide things.

I'm not sure what you mean about "attempt"....but if I'd have to guess...I'd say a flashback triggered- PTSD maybe? PTSD can have dissociative elements like going in to a trance and reliving the traumatic event. ???

But you did say you have a bunch of skips. Believe me..you can have both. I lived for years with C-PTSD after the great escape.

Whatever the cause, I hope they find it and make you well. It's completely awesome that you have a team at your benefit leaving me highly envious.

For what it's worth..I'll throw in my 2cents...
AC2..definitely good description!
All I really have to add is whenever I think that there is progress something happens that proves me wrong
Ex. I just lost my insurance and given written warning for client termination due to no shows with T/PDoc..Both of these things have happened many xs before...twice this yr alone! But I swear I remember filing out and mailing in forms!..for a long time, I have just chalked it up to Medicaid being the most unorganized mess of an agency....but, this time when I received the letter of policy cancelation...when I thought really hard about it...I can to a startling realization.... That I don't actually have any real specific memories of completing or mailing in the req. Forms!! I remember precisely sitting down to do them..very specific, where, what I was wearing, time and date...but after that the "memories" I thought I was certain of are vague... "Stock footage"..so I started digging into my files...nothing..hmm...tore apart my room...and way way in the back of the closet under messy pile...the forms!..My handwriting first few words..then..it just stops mid word...I literally found five forms all the same..except one..that my writing was crossed out and angry unknown log written F*** You! Across the pg!! So not only is the mind superb at "filling it in the blanks.."..I now know that some part is triggered by Medicaid forms??...And so much that I thought I had together and doing right...Sabatoged! Illusions of any control Shattered..I've spent the last fews days in complete state of shock and defeat... I truly HATE the DUMB DISORDER! ����

(((Huggs & tears)))

I get it. I've always said that I was my own worse enemy....with a person like me...who needs enemies? Oh ya...mine makes them everyday.

Wow! May I please say too (((hugs))). I completely understand. There was an issue of missing dentures and a not so nice adjective of my mom that happened with me. I can relate.

It takes a few minutes to collect yourself, when you realize what has happened. Putting the pieces together is enlightening and also hard to gather up.