[HealingTime]

Back in 2009-2010 I was 21 and kicked out of my home by my alcoholic mother. There was a lot of stress of being homeless and jobless (I lost my job less than 30 days before getting kicked out). I soon found a place to stay with my friend and her family but my emotions were chaotic. Everything was swinging to the extreme.

I began experiencing black outs and waking up in strange places around the city. I didn't have access to a car so at least I never went too far. I didn't have health insurance and no money so I never saw a doctor about it.

I also began dating which eventually devolved into an abusive relationship.

After a few months of these blackouts I began to notice a... a pressence? In my mind there was something else. SomeONE else. It was like talking to myself... but with feelings and images instead of words.

This pressence had her own name and wants. She was a guardian of sorts. Someone who could take charge and DEAL with a situation.

Then there was another. She too had a name and wants. She was a pleaser for the man I was dating.

When that guy and I broke up I was physically alone but I wasn't really.

Then I began dating my now husband and very quickly the 2 pressences faded away. My living situation stabilized and so did my emotions.

I never saw a single doctor about this and actually forgot about the whole thing until I saw Dr. Phil yesterday about the woman with 10 programs. She describes herself similarly to how I felt back then.

Can dissociative identity disorder be a temporary thing?

It is generally not a temporary thing... it takes years and years of treatment to properly address and process, and it is always something you get in very young childhood. I am not sure what you went through, but I can guarantee you it was not DID.

[Amyjay]

DID isn't a temporary thing, but it can "recede" in calmer times so that the symptoms are not so noticeable. In times of stress the symptoms (dissociation and switching) worsen.
Did you experience much trauma as a child or have attachment issues with your parents? DID can't suddenly appear in someone as an adult but it can "reappear" if it begins in early childhood, things are calm and well for a while and then you have major stresses (like you did in your 20s).

[HealingTime]

I can't think of any similar occurrence from my childhood. I grew up with a "functioning alcoholic" mother and 2 younger siblings. Nothing too traumatic happened that I can remember. Things were always financially unstable and my mother was mentally and emotionally abusive (which escalated horrifically after I turned 18) and while I would now classify her treatment of us as abusive, at the time it never occured to me that anythibg was wrong.

So perhaps what I experienced was not DID. Thank you for the insight!

[Loose Screw x 2]

Amyjay makes a lot of sense here. In less stressful times some of my weaker or sub personalities went into a dormant state leaving mainly my original and my dark alternate 'awake' and fully functioning.

Possible trigger:

Now because of intense stress that seems to be getting worse all of the time many of them are back and some I've had to clamp down on because I don't want them out. This too is causing some stress and disagreements between my original self and a protector.

I'm not saying that you do have DID but, it's still possible that you do and that those personalities have gone into a dormant state because you no longer feel a need for them. Just saying...