Dissociative Disorders (DID)
If you experience daydreaming, "going someplace in my mind", memory loss, or other experiences of your brain "turning off", you may be experiencing dissociation. Dissociation is a coping mechanism that our brains use to keep us safe when we are unable to fight, run away, or play dead to keep ourselves safe from danger.
Dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personalities) is a brain type where an individual identifies as having parts, head mates, or different consciousnesses existing internally at the same time. Studies show that at least 90% of individuals experiencing dissociative identity disorder (DID) have experienced repeated, ongoing, early childhood trauma. This can include but is not limited to war, sexual abuse, recurring medical trauma, and other extreme events.
While it is theoretically possible for someone with parts to integrate themselves into one identity, many people with DID do not wish to be "cured" or have their parts integrated. Often, the traumatic experiences that a plural person experiences have happened at an age prior to when most people create a sense of self. Asking or forcing a person with DID to "stop acting crazy" or "just be one person" is unhelpful, and can lead to further trauma.
Just like traumatic events can happen on a spectrum of impact, the response of dissociation also happens on a spectrum. Individuals who dissociate may not always have experiences the same as those of the DID community, but many do. People experiencing this brain type may identify as a system, as plural, or as one person with parts. They may have 2 or 3 parts, or they may have hundreds. They may have one part that fronts more often, or they may switch between parts often. They may experience memory loss, they may identify as LGBTQ or transgender, and they may act differently depending on who they are with, what situation they are in, or a variety of other factors. All of this is normal for someone on the dissociative spectrum.
Anyone who has experienced a situation where they have felt unsafe can benefit from talking to a trained mental health counselor. At Nothing About Us Without Us Creative Arts Therapies we always take a trauma informed approach with every client, and we focus on therapeutic interventions tailored to the comfortability and pace that each client needs. Typically our therapists take several weeks or months to build a relationship with, and understand, all the parts in an individuals system, as well as providing an environment that feels safe, and working with clients to discover accommodations for all aspects of life that work for each individual client.
