[Solnutty]

Hey Psych nerds! What do you think of Structural Dissociation as a model for understanding DID? What are the pros and cons of the model? Do you find it reflects the reality you live with as a person with DID or as someone who provides therapy? Thoughts?
I'm a bit of a psych nerd myself, and my own diagnosis has been an intense area of personal study for me. I'd love to hear what anyone has to say in the matter. Hehe...good books or papers to fuel my info-binging in this matter would be well received suggestions

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by Solnutty

Hey Psych nerds! What do you think of Structural Dissociation as a model for understanding DID? What are the pros and cons of the model? Do you find it reflects the reality you live with as a person with DID or as someone who provides therapy? Thoughts?
I'm a bit of a psych nerd myself, and my own diagnosis has been an intense area of personal study for me. I'd love to hear what anyone has to say in the matter. Hehe...good books or papers to fuel my info-binging in this matter would be well received suggestions

I do not use the structural dissociation model to explain or understand my DID, not even before my alters were integrated. short version America goes by the DSM way of explaining DID therefore none of my treatment providers used structural dissociation to explain DID... that said my treatment providers and other treatment providers that I know do use the term and structural dissociation model for other mental disorders like PTSD, and depression.

here is why my treatment providers and I do not use structural dissociation model for explaining DID with in me and those that they know who have DID...

structural dissociation runs on the premise of a person having EP (emotional personality) and ANP (apparently normal personality) with in my system of alters and those that I know with DID their alters are like fully functioning human beings....

an example my alters that were able to show and express emotions also cooked cleaned, and did other normal things. Rainy though she was my emotional alter of fear and depression was also able to color, get dressed, take a bath, and other normal things every human being does.

my alters Thelma and others that showed and expressed normality being normal also had their own emotions that they expressed and showed the world...my alter who's job it was to go out to work, school and cook, clean and all those other normal human being things also was able to laugh smile be happy, excited and other emotions...

structural dissociation here where I lived was used to prioritize the importance of the alters with in the system... so for example if my treatment providers had used this model my alter trish would have been labeled just fragment, just an unimportant part... why because she embodied only one emotion and one memory. the result in my location under the structural model of therapy she would not have gotten her needs met, would not have been worked with in therapy and so on, why because she was just an unimportant fragment where as Rainy and Thelma and the others were more active more memories, more emotions did more for the system therefore they would have been designated as being more important which would be discrimination against the alters that would have been prioritized as unimportant, just a fragment.

Another way structural dissociation here where I live used to be used for prioritizing the alters was designating which alter came from who alter or host which alter so that therapy could focus more on the host and the primary more important alters.

because all of this tends to cause conflict with in the DID systems like mine we have a different way of doing things now where all alters are important, no alters need to be designated as being unimportant, just a fragment and stuck with labels like EP and ANP that dont fully describe the alters.

if I had alters who were EP (alters that were just an emotion) or ANP (alters that showed little to no emotion just got down to business of showing and imitating whats normal) they probably would still use this model for DID here where I am.

Im not saying the model doesnt exist here where I live, just that it wasnt used for me and those I know dont use it for DID, its now used for other mental disorders here like borderline personality disorder, depression and PTSD.

It made for interesting read....but my emotional parts are a bit more then just emotional parts....they are very active and led by their emotions rather then logic which does tend to put a screw in the gears of life.

EP's seem to be more associated to those that are DDNOS or OSDD and also BPD. We are poly-fragmented, but the lines are very blurry, and no other part is lesser than another part granted some are stronger or weaker than others...but we are all equal in value.

Obtw....welcome to PC!