Question for Hosts... hearing alters thoughts?

My husband whom has DID is wondering if those who are the host while they are on the outside at times hear voices which are at times higher than other times but when he goes in there is no one talking so he thinks it's their thoughts. Has anyone else experienced something like that? If so, how do you stop them, or is it possible?

Then if you hear their thoughts do you also have an impulse to repeat what they are saying?

Any help will be appreciated. He said thanks also.

Monet

I don't hear their thoughts. Usually they don't hear mine either, although there have been times when it seems they read my mind. Maybe they are just paying close attention. Hold on... They don't think they hear my thoughts.

I was mostly unaware of my DID for decades, until I had a "DID crisis" 3 years ago. What I heard initially is the alters "talking out loud" to themselves or talking to each other. At first they were unaware that I could hear them, and probably some of them had been talking freely inside for years or even decades without my being aware of them. Once I began hearing them, after a while they realized I was listening and they were shocked and went into hiding. They went dark on me for months.

Eventually, they began to talk to me and "come out" overtly and talk to other people around me. They rarely talk to other people, though. Even now after more than 2 years of therapy they are very guarded and even secretive.

The one who does the most talking is Alter 2, and he comes out often but as a rule he asserts some kind of passive influence on me or blends with me or sometimes it seems as if I am him not myself. The identity alteration of DID is bizarre and complex, and usually highly covert. I now accept that although I was mostly unaware of it, for the past 3 decades I have been switching on a daily basis between myself and Alter 2. He lives for work. When he is working I have trouble remembering my name or any other personal information such as that I am married and have kids, the names of my family members, where I live, my phone number. It is all something I have to "think about" with effort before I can answer. At work I am "one of the guys" and when I go home poof all thoughts of work vanish from my mind. I keep home and work separate, because whenever they do converge I experience very severe cognitive dissonance. Sometimes it is so severe that my head spins and I become briefly disoriented. Oddly enough, I met my husband at work and we continued to work together for many years. We both compartmentalize work and home in the same way, although he is not a multiple. We were coworkers at work and a married couple at home.

We have this all the time, although in our system all alters can make it so the thoughts aren't "broadcasted", and remain private. Some choose to do this all the time, and others choose to never do it.

Maybe your husband can see if the alters in his system can do something similar. If they can't, then I guess he'll have to learn to tune it out. I don't even notice them anymore. Hope he can figure out a solution.

~Kat

This is actually something I've thought about a lot and I've asked the others about their experience. We can't generally hear each others' thoughts unless the thoughts contain phrases or sentences and then someone has to be "tuning in," kind of paying attention for someone to notice. I can certainly guess what someone is thinking if they're out based on what they're doing.

We can hear each other when there is a deliberate attempt to communicate using words. We can pick up images or have a sense what the image contains sometimes. We can also sense things like "this is about the father." We can sense emotions more easily but we may have no idea where or who they are coming from.

We don't hear each other's thoughts, but most of us hear the thoughts of the person who's in control of the body. I don't really know how that works or why it happens, but that's how it is for us. I once heard someone compare having DID to being in a car full of people; one is driving, and that one has control of the body. The person in the passenger seat (sometimes multiple people, for us) aren't driving, but can still see as much as the driver. Not only that, but they can also seize control or at least affect how the driver is driving more so than anyone in the back seat. Those in the back seat have no control, can still see a little, but are usually in their own world. And for this last part, you're going to need to try not to think of serial killers and kidnappers, because that isn't what it's like; sometimes, there are people in the hypothetical trunk, who can't see anything and are completely separated from the rest. So for us, the thoughts of the driver are broadcasted to everyone who is in the car (except for the trunk), and everyone replies to them. At least, the people in the passenger seat (usually Michael, Z or myself) do. Sometimes, as I mentioned, the people in the back seat are too involved in their own stuff to pay much attention. I hope that made sense. For your husband, it's probably different, because I haven't heard of anyone else who has it like we do. However, we are also able to share our thoughts with each other when we're completely co-conscious (usually only with two of us), and that's something that can be controlled. I'd suggest asking him whether these thoughts are relevant to what your husband is seeing and doing (more like the alters' comments on the situation) or relevant to what the alters are doing in the inside world, assuming he has one (more independent). If it's the latter, I don't quite know how to help, because we don't experience anything like that. If it's the first, then I don't really know how to "turn that off". My alters are just really talkative, and our system is very social. If he really wants them to shut up, then he could just ask them to please be quiet while they don't have the body. Usually, making deals like "if you let me have my peace and quiet for this amount of time to do this, I'll let you have the body for this amount of time" work. Good luck!