Alters appearance

Hello Non DID here,
I realize that alters all will have there own perception of how they look to themselves, How do alters believe that the outside world views the way they are seen by others,, thank you

Hrrm, no answer to a good question for several weeks. In my system my alters behave as if they're going to appear as how they believe they look. At the same time, most everyone by now can tell that we're all in a bigger body, and some understand it is adult. For those who get it, they might say it's John's body or their own body got older somehow. What's strange is that everyone can hold these mutually exclusive expectations and beliefs at the same time. If they're just sitting or playing, it feels like they are in their own body, the right size and all is well. If they move, or see the hands, they pick up things are wrong.

I can't forget Max's feeling of satisfaction and an "all's right with the world" feeling when a super tall guy walked by. He felt like his perspective of being little was confirmed by the world for the first time in a long time. I do get images of how they think they look occasionally.

Thanks for rescuing this thread from oblivion, Johnny.

For me, this is one of those questions I cannot answer because it comes from a point of view that I don't relate to at all. In my system we have hardly any images of self.

I think I have DDNOS/OSDD rather than DID but two of my alters have some degree of appearance.

Both are child alters: Anna is very small and has long hair and a pretty frock. Not that I had long hair at that age and Coral doesn't have an appearance per se but is definitely smaller than me. This can cause problems because we misestimate how big/strong our body is and accidentally lean on our wife' hair or climb about without realising where we are in space which can cause some bumps.

This happens to us all the time. Amber, one of our littles, gets very shocked when she's out because she doesn't understand that the body is big now and we can't quite do what we were able to at six. She also has an image of what she looks like on the inside, strawberry blonde hair and amber eyes, which makes looking in the mirror tough for her. So we can totally relate to you.

My alters are literally the best and are very understanding. (Lately, I've come to really appreciate all that they sacrifice to make my life easier and to help me live comfortably). They understand that they are all in my body and although they all feel really awkward when moving around in it, they accept it and do their best to deal with it.

Nielle is much more graceful than me and often times she will forget that my body is not as strong or as flexible as hers and when she tries to do something athletic and my body just can't do it the same way that hers can, it will surprise her for a moment before she realizes this isn't her body. It's really frustrating for her, but she handles it well.

Also Charlie has fiery red hair that's longer than mine (when she is a girl) and mirrors are hard for her, because she really misses her hair. (For my 18th birthday I'm going to dye my hair red for her as a gift.) She has gotten use to it by now though and is getting somewhat use to my body. It's a lot different from hers, but according to her "No matter what body she is in she can still work it and be super sexy."

Also Charlie (when he is male) get's very confused for a moment when he goes to the bathroom before he remembers that I am not a boy.

Anyways, sorry for the long reply. Long story short: They understand that they are in my body and although they miss their own bodies, they handle it remarkably well.

-Dani