Can you see your alters?

I've suspected that I've had more than one person in here for quite a while, and it didn't seem too prominent until the other night.
I was in the hall and I felt someone next to me, and I thought it was my mother. I turned around and it was someone else, who vanished when I looked at him, but the thing is I know what he looks like if I think about it, and I didn't see him long enough (or at least I don't think) to actually remember what he looks like.
After that I started panicking and talking to one of my friends, who caught on and asked me for my name, which is how I met Sophie.
Anyways. Was this a hallucination or an alter? Sorry if this is a dumb question. I'm new at this.

It's really hard to be sure whether it was an alter or not, however I have had hallucinations of alters before that sound like the one you described: transitory - disappearing when you look at them. If you are currently seeing a therapist, I would bring this up. Hallucinations (if not caused by severe stress, fatigue, drugs or mental illness) can be signs from the subconscious (from personal experience). To clarify, when I say "mental illness", I mean mental illnesses that are known for causing hallucinations. I don't believe DID is one of those. Keep an open mind on this one. If you can talk to your other alters, ask them about the experience.

doe-eyed wrote: If you are currently seeing a therapist, I would bring this up. .

I recently reported a rape, and yesterday was my first of six sessions with my new therapist. I brought it up, as well as a few other things that can be listed as DID symptoms. We'll see how that goes.

doe-eyed wrote: Hallucinations can be signs from the subconscious (from personal experience).

I'm not sure I get what you mean on this one, can you clarify?

doe-eyed wrote:If you can talk to your other alters, ask them about the experience.

I realized a few minutes ago the man looks a bit like the first alter I ever met, Michael. He came to comfort me by watching movies with me and making me my favorite foods when I was feeling stressed. The thing is, I haven't seen him in months. I met him a long while after he started showing up, talked to him for a few weeks, then he disappeared, and I haven't seen him in about 2 or 3 months. My other alter Claire doesn't like to speak, and Sophie is about 8 years old and so she's just as confused as I am.

uraeus wrote:I'm not sure I get what you mean on this one, can you clarify?

The way we see our system, the alters in the "front" or the "conscious" and anyone who is not out is in the "subconscious" or, the part of our brain we cannot actively access at will. When I began to first discover my alters (before I knew I was DID) I would get random brief hallucinations of people, or hear voices in my mind. I believe this was the alters trying to move from my subconscious to my conscious mind. Does that make more sense?

uraeus wrote:I recently reported a rape, and yesterday was my first of six sessions with my new therapist. I brought it up, as well as a few other things that can be listed as DID symptoms. We'll see how that goes.

Good for you. That takes an incredible amount of courage, and we are so proud. *safe hugs if wanted*

Have you meditated before? I find the best way to get in contact with an alter I am having difficulty communicating with or finding, is by laying down, or getting comfortable somehow, and clearing my mind, and then summoning this alter by saying their name and recalling the way they make me feel, etc. Perhaps this may help you find Michael? I am sure he is still in there.

It is Sophie right now, I will make sure that Sarah reads this when she gets back

doe-eyed wrote:I believe this was the alters trying to move from my subconscious to my conscious mind. Does that make more sense?

That makes much more sense, Sarah was trying to be "perfect" a while ago, which is silly to me. But anyways that means that Claire came out a lot because Claire is very perfectionistic and she doesn't like being "weak", and so I think it scared Michael away, except the fact is Sarah has lots to deal with and so Michael is probably wanting to help her.

doe-eyed wrote:Good for you. That takes an incredible amount of courage, and we are so proud. *safe hugs if wanted*

Perhaps this may help you find Michael? I am sure he is still in there.

Thank you for hugs! And Sarah likes to meditate a lot, except there is another girl somewhere who is Buddhist we think, and so maybe it's just her. We will try this though because I think it would be funner if Michael was here.

My boyfriend can see his alters. I don't know how exactly... But I do remember doing a few quick sketches of them. One of them flat out refused to let my boyfriend (at the time were were not dating) described what he looked like. So my boyfriend described his personality and I drew him based off of that. I was actually close with the quick sketch. I just had the hair off. I kinda want to see if they will let me draw them again. But this time, me drawing them a bit more cleaner. It would be a lot of fun.

I also remember drawing one of the alters when they were controlling my boyfriend's body that day (and again, this was before we were dating) and I drew them sitting (the drawing was a little weird looking because I was literally in front of them). I was too scared to ask them to describe what they looked like so I could draw them. I kinda regret not asking them that because I really wanted to practice drawing from just descriptions and drawing like that.

Anasui wrote: I kinda want to see if they will let me draw them again.

That's pretty cool if they trust you to draw them. :3

I rarely have visual hallucinations of my alters (where you "see" them in the "outside" world), but they have happened. However, I can see my alters in my "inner world" in my mind quite clearly. Lately I've also been seeing them in my dreams (but then again, that's a weird mixture of seeing them and being them in my dreams). Anyway, from what you described (in your first post, that's all I clearly remember right now), I think you saw a visual hallucination of an alter (which can also be called a projection from the mind, consciously or subconsciously). Which is normal for people with DID.

tomboy24 wrote:I think you saw a visual hallucination of an alter (which can also be called a projection from the mind, consciously or subconsciously). Which is normal for people with DID.

Awesome I've known I have alters for a few months, and tried to deny it at first, so I'm still new at this.

uraeus wrote:

Anasui wrote: I kinda want to see if they will let me draw them again.

That's pretty cool if they trust you to draw them. :3

One threatened to kill me and to castrate my boyfriend if I ever drew him.