Some basic DID terms for those unfamiliar with it:
DID: Dissociative Identity Disorder (DSM-IV name for Multiple Personality Disorder), as in someone having multiple personalities, aka Sybil (yeah right. trust me, they ALL get it wrong.) It’s actually the only way the shrinks can explain several people all living in the same body. And I think I read somewhere that we supposedly can’t communicate with each other, can’t all be “out” at the same time, etc, etc. Too bad there aren’t any ‘specialists’ in the field who’ve actually lived it.
Of course, unfortunately, even though it is an official DSM-IV diagnosis, there are still too many so-called professionals out there who claim it doesn’t exist at all — I guess cause of the number of people who mis-use the diagnosis. Other than schizophrenia, the most popular mis-diagnosis of someone with DID is “depression with psychotic episodes”, the treatment for which just happens to be the same as the treatment for schizophrenia anyway — extreme medication with anti-psychotics.
System: the group of people inhabiting the body. one body can have more than one system (in my case, I call them families) and many systems have their own names — that way you can speak to them and not
offend anyone in the system by calling them by someone else’s name. It helps when dealing with other DID systems/people. My own systems (there are about 4, with, I don’t know — around 30? — alternates) haven’t bothered to name themselves, other than the one we call The Core.
Alternate (alt): within each System, there can be one or many Alternates. It’s just another term for “alternate personality”. For the most part, the psychiatric community doesn’t recognize any alternate as an actual, complete person. I told you they got it all wrong!
Other: Another term for Alternate. Can refer to another in the same body/system; can refer to other people. Used most often when a particular personality absolutely does not want to be associated with the one being talked about. “That’s not me, that’s someone else.”
Switching: when one personality recedes and another “takes over” or comes out. watch Sybil for extreme cases of switching. for the most part, it doesn’t really happen like that.
Rolodexing: exactly how it sounds. picture an old-fashioned rolodex file being spun — rolodexing is Switching so fast, your head is spinning like a rolodex wheel.
Inside Alternates vs Outside Alternates: Yes, there are some people inside the system who never actually come “out” to the outside world. They don’t take over the body or interact with “outsiders” (other people). Don’t think they’re not there though. They lead full, complete lives, have their own opinions and can sometimes (in my case, anyway) be very, very LOUD. Radio, Chorus and The Announcer, in particular. Many inside alts do express themselves to the world, in writing, painting, etc, they just don’t come out and come face to face with it using the body.
Co-conscious: When two or more alternates are aware of each other’s presence, or are “out” at the same time. For many people recently diagnosed with DID, this is not easy to achieve, and seemingly impossible to some personalities. Oftentimes, the goal of therapy is to bring personalities together to become more co-conscious with each other. I haven’t met any other people who’ve been co-conscious for as long as they can remember – most come to it gradually.
Host: usually refers to the primary personality who is on the outside most of the time. One body can have many hosts too, often taking turns, which is why I guess the shrink set think we can’t have more than one out at a time. It is difficult for different Hosts to be out at the same time because of their extremely strong and agressive hold on the body.
Littles: DID personalities come in many ages (as many systems also have both male and female alternates living in a single-sex body). Littles refer to the younger set — think Toddler. Littles typically do love to play and have fun! This is partly the reason so many DID systems have tons of toys, stuffed animals and games around.
Trigger: to a person with DID, means it can cause them to switch or can cause some kind of set-back. Not that it will, but it can. And some people who don’t get DID, as in understand it, as in many DID ‘doctors/therapists/whatever’ — you know who you are — switching is, in itself, a set-back. Every system has different triggers, although many systems do share the same triggers: talk of depression, suicide, cutting, abuse, etc. Those are some of the obvious ones.
you wanna know what triggered me? The movie, Butterfly Effect. I was away for a couple of days. ie: triggered = caused a switch I couldn’t get back from that prevented me from going to work/interferred with my life. Hence the reason for warning others about potential/possible triggering stuff/shit here in this journal:
Trigger Warning!
Warning to anyone with DID or any other form of dissociation! I can’t say what will go on these pages — some of it may cause triggers! Can’t avoid it, can’t pre-warn you since I don’t know your personal triggers. Not recommended reading for littles due to some talk of suicide, certain topics.
Remember, most forms of “I”, “you”, “we” and sometimes “she” refers to me. Don’t take anything personally.
Disclaimer: Many of the terms above are considered “labels”, and like anyone, many DID systems HATE being labeled. For the most part these are terms we have become familiar with/use in order to communicate more to the outside world or to have a single point-of-reference for other DID systems when speaking to them. Please don’t judge my use of terminology/definitions, as the ones here are mostly to explain terms used throughout the journal.
Thank you.