I should stop trying

Every time I start trying to explain about my dissociation symptoms, the ones I'm aware of at least, I seem to hit a wall. People don't seem to get it. I only told two people seriously about the alters. At least one of them seemed okay with talking about it. That's better than no one. The other one understood but doesn't really want to talk about it. I feel bad that I'm writing stuff on here that people around me don't know and don't understand. I'm glad I can write it here but then I feel bad that I'm writing it too.
I should just save it all for the doctors. Feels lonely though.

I am so sorry people are ignorant! I haven't attempted to tell anyone yet. I am still getting used to the idea myself! <3

Rubyscarlet wrote:Every time I start trying to explain about my dissociation symptoms, the ones I'm aware of at least, I seem to hit a wall. People don't seem to get it. I only told two people seriously about the alters. At least one of them seemed okay with talking about it. That's better than no one. The other one understood but doesn't really want to talk about it. I feel bad that I'm writing stuff on here that people around me don't know and don't understand. I'm glad I can write it here but then I feel bad that I'm writing it too.
I should just save it all for the doctors. Feels lonely though.

I've told about nine people about the DID. What I do is I determine beforehand how much I think the person will be able to handle knowing, and I tell them accordingly. Sometimes, all I tell them is "I'm an alter for a girl who has DID" and it takes a few days, but they accept it after processing it. Other friends of mine have talked to the alters several times and are concerned about our well-being.

I take great care in how I tell them and how much I tell them. It takes us a while to determine if it's "safe" to tell someone. It's worked well for me.

It can be difficult, though. I've been trying to decided whether I should tell a good friend of mine about them or not. I'm still struggling with it.

~Katrine

I have not told about this yet... I surely can't talk about it with my parents but it would be nice to talk with some friends but... they might think I'm crazy.
-Tom

I ve told a few family members - they can stand me talkin about it (briefly)

just one friend wants to talk to the others, apart from the people I ve met on here.

so I relate to 'feeling lonely'.

As for 'I have to save it for the professionals'-
I ve thought that too, but I found it so refreshin to see Indie make friends on here and to see Amber play on the playground, to see Fabio hang out in the Lounge...
They feel at least somewhere they can be themselves!
So - for me - therapy alone isn t enough.

*gentle hugs*

Yes, I don't think therapy alone will be enough either. And yes, when I talked about one alter they thought it was crazy or a joke. It is great that this forum exists, at least there is somewhere to talk - it would be super lonely without anywhere to talk/write.
I know I want the professionals for the memory loss and not knowing stuff, but I don't think the alters themselves are anything crazy, it would be so nice for them to be accepted!
Thanks for all your replies

When I first tell a friend of mine about the DID, I let them process it first. After that, I first let them ask half the questions they want to me. Then, what I do is I have them talk to another alter, specifically one who seems very "Normal" and easy to talk to. They ask any other questions to that alter. That way, they get used to seeing someone else out, and talking to them makes them more comfortable.

Sometimes the processing time takes days, and some people I've told I can tell would be very awkward around alters. So not everyone knowingly talks to them, or even hears about them. I just like some of my closest friends to at least know, so I don't feel like I'm lying about my life.

I've only told two people straight out about the DID. One of them was accepting and has asked quite a lot of questions. That also helped me make sense of things because we could discuss times in the past and see how the alters were working in certain situations, though we didn't know they were alters then. Unfortunately she doesn't live near me. The other person I told started off accepting but seems to be in denial now. Hopefully that's just processing as you said, chocolat159. I hope I can talk about it with her again soon. With other people I've been trying to 'introduce' the idea, but it's not looking too good so far. I hope that will change. I'd like to tell more people and them not think I'm crazy.
How would I let them talk to another alter? I know Jak would be a good choice for anyone to talk to, but I don't know how to let a friend talk to him.

Maybe you could try somehow asking Jak to come out, like leave a note for him or something? Or if you know what might bring him out, put whatever it is in front of him.

Ok, I'll try the note, or see if I can ask him directly. I haven't tried asking them to come out, not since I knew about them anyway. I used to be able to do it, but only when I was really desperate and I wasn't aware it was switching then.