How does DID affect your life?

How does DID affect your life?

I didnt recognize your name so I read your profile and past posts...

DID is a lot different than your mental disorder (schizophrenia)

DID is a dissociative disorder that begins in very early childhood and affects a persons whole life in every aspect of life....

heres an example....

any time it stormed (rained thundered ....) I would dissociate (feel numb spaced out and disconnected) then my alter rainy would be in control to take care of that.

it did not matter whether I was with my friends, in school, which grade or class I was in, whether I was at work, at home, enjoying school functions, or just hanging with my friends. if a storm was happening I was dissociated.

according to your past posts you are into drugs and alcohol and dont care about whether or not you are throwing your life away...

DID is different. its a protection/ survival thing where drugs and alcohol use has to be ruled out as a problem, and surviving / staying alive at all costs is what its about.

my suggestion if you think you may have a mental disorder different than what you are diagnosed please contact your treatment provider. they will explain to you how and why you are diagnosed with what you are diagnosed with and why you are not diagnosed with DID. they can also get you set up for the very lengthy and involved testing process to find out if you have DID instead of schizophrenia.

So it doesn't affect your life a lot?

it .............does........... affect a persons life.

it affects ...................every.............. part of a persons life.

if you need more information contact your treatment provider. they will explain to you in a way that you can understand and they can tell you how this disorder is different than what they diagnosed you with. and why.

Oh I don't have DID.
Trying to find people who are though

Hi amanda,

I have spoken with you in past. Some good conversations, some not. I just want to clarify here bc I know Caitlin as well. Caitlin and I were discussing different dx's one day and this is one she did not know a lot about. I told her it would be best to read the description of the disorder, the posts here, and if she felt comfortable - to post in here. After all, isn't it best to talk to those who deal with it first hand rather than those who have second or third hand knowledge? Anyway .. that's what she's doing here - not necessarily trying to dx herself .. she may or may not agree with her dx but learning about other disorders does not mean she is trying to dx herself nor is it a bad thing.

Anyway .. that's just my observation. Take care. ❤

Another thing I am not sure you are aware of, amandalouise, is that drug abuse can be comormid with DID. The problem is, it is often overlooked by psychiatrists, but that does not mean it is not present. Here is an article from a reputable site to explain what I am saying.

Dissociative identity disorder and substance abuse: the forgotten relationship. - PubMed - NCBI

I am not trying to argue with you. Just letting you know so you can be aware. ❤

Take care

Wow. I was just diagnosed. I have no communication with my other parts. I know there are children and a few ANPs, but I don't know any of them. My therapist has met some, however, how many is unclear. It's a strange thing for me, because previous to this I thought the disorder didn't exist. I lose whole weekends, my son deals with it well, however, I think the only time he's run into a child me was in the middle of the night. I'd like to know more, but am just at the beginning of this journey.

Hi, so DID can and does effect every aspect of our lives. At any given moment I can have someone else just take over without my permission because they are there to prevent me from feelings of pain, anxiety, fear.... literally anything. Then there are the episodes of amnesia or even the alters emotions bleeding out and effecting you.
I have one that is obsessed with food and sometimes that is a good thing it kept me alive when I was homeless and had no choice but to eat from dumpsters, but now she causes me some problems with my weight.
The whole thing is very confusing and especially difficult when you don’t understand what is happening

the stigma that comes with it and the wrong alters being called the wrong names are what winds me up

that and time loss

trying to peace together days (sometimes weeks), often failing

kaitlin how are you doing....?

I apologize.
I am a witch at times. Though I still feel the need to wave my hands in a frenzy, in front of someone's face.
I tend to rage a lot.

I'm raging today. But im okay i guess. You?

raging?

(but that's my title!)

lol... just on seeing what diffrences (if any) I notice with the new site

wanted to check before I did other stuff

Ah alrighty. Cool beans

I have a hard time with relationships with my DID. I have lost a ton of gf's because I can't function normally. I've lost a ton of friends who were spooked about DID as well as not really being able to function like a real friend with some of my alters. It sort of changed though once I found my core again.

not sure it was the complete newlook I was sort of expecting (not sure why I was expecting that), but the site is faster

It is very difficult to maintain romantic relationships. I tend to fall for people who are in relationships because I don't have to fully commit. So I always have an excuse to leave. Usually my heart gets broken. It is good to know we can love. The other problem in relationships in general is some of my friends know me one way and other friends know me to be another way. When I was younger I would keep these worlds apart. Now I just avoid all my friends which is not working for me. It's just less anxiety not dealing with people even if we have been friends for over 30 years. And none of them know I am DID. It is exhausting.

I can relate to so much of this. We tend not to have romantic relationships because they are just too darned triggering. We have had some relationships in the past, but lets just say they weren't good ones.
The friend thing, oh my gosh I can relate to this! Different alters have different friends, and when the wrong friends mix with the wrong alters it just doesn't work for anyone! Like you our current solution is to avoid all of them.

Hands down I would say DID most affects my life in the area of personal relationships. This system is just not stable enough to maintain a personal relationship beyond the level of a simple acquaintance. Maybe one day though...

A new look would be cool though.
Like, a hip new look, similar to facebook or other social medias. Something were we could personalize our profiles, have games, and etc.

This too. Relate. Relate. Relate. I get nervous about disclosing what I "do" on this site but I most definitely have different "rooms" of friends and work activities. At the moment, I have left the whole house of rooms. Not really in contact with friends or work activities and totally distracted by medical appointments at this time.

It is like I see the outside world, and they have their impression of who they believe to be me, and I am just here watching all the lightbulbs go off and on in my own mind and heart and guts. I think I am hiding because on the few occasions I've gone out, people seem to react and notice that I am not the bubbly funny energetic me they were expecting to see. And then they ask me if I am OK, or say I look sad. And the irony is...I AM ok. More so than usual. I have just given up wearing costumes for people on their schedule.

Ooph!
FL47

DID saved my life. I'd have never lived through childhood. I feel blessed to have the skill to be able to dissociate. Treatment was rough but integration is amazing.

Needed to hear this today, sheltiemom2007. My T recently called it a "super power." Not that we want to live there...but just that it is a remarkable survival tool.

FL47

I piggyback off sheltiemom2007. My fragments have helped me get through all the tough experiences I had early in my childhood, and throughout my life since then. On the other hand, it has also been very challenging on a day to day basis. Some good, some bad, some blah. Overall, I feel my fragmented state has affected and is still affecting my life in a good way.