Trying to understand DID.

So it seems DID is having multiple personalities as alters and I get that. How exactly does switching from the "host" to another alter work? Is it instantaneous, can you feel it creeping up and does it feel different (different mood and emotional regulation). What age did your DID take place and did you have a traumatizing past?

On another forum, I spoke to someone who apparently suffered from DID and he claimed he'd sometimes wake up with sh!t that wasn't his and won't recall how'd it get there; is this an impartial effect that DID may inflict? Do you and your alters all make ends meet?

Why do you guys calls it alters? Why not call it a different way of being yourself? Is it distinct?

Cosmonaut wrote:How exactly does switching from the "host" to another alter work? Is it instantaneous, can you feel it creeping up and does it feel different (different mood and emotional regulation).
On another forum, I spoke to someone who apparently suffered from DID and he claimed he'd sometimes wake up with sh!t that wasn't his and won't recall how'd it get there; is this an impartial effect that DID may inflict? Do you and your alters all make ends meet?

Why do you guys calls it alters? Why not call it a different way of being yourself? Is it distinct?

For me, it depends on whether i have a blackout or we are co-conscious. In the case of a blackout (when you wake up without knowing how things got there etc) it all starts with a trance-like feeling i learned to recognize. Then everything gets muffled and i feel like im just going into the ground. This only happens with one alter.

The feeling of being co-conscious with an alter is a bit harder to explain. My reactions would not be fully me but influenced by their own personality. And, sometimes an alter can react in a different way about a situation than i ever would. In that case im just kinda on the backburner but still there.

Lets say i like icecream and someone else hates it and we are there together. It would make me feel really confused on whether i like it or not. Or, i am perfectly fine with a situation and an alter isnt. When its just me, i know i am fine with it. Then later someone shows up and feel differently. Its not about me changing my mind, but rather someone having a different opinion i didnt know about.

My alters all have their own memories, feeling, and past. In a way yes they are all me, this is why its a disorder. But, they are not me.

I dont think i can explain it better than this because i am also pretty inexperienced and discovering stuff still.

The whole switching feeling is a bit hard to explain and it can also differ a LOT, so I think it depends on the person as well as on the specific switch

So it seems DID is having multiple personalities as alters and I get that. How exactly does switching from the "host" to another alter work? Is it instantaneous, can you feel it creeping up and does it feel different (different mood and emotional regulation). What age did your DID take place and did you have a traumatizing past?

On another forum, I spoke to someone who apparently suffered from DID and he claimed he'd sometimes wake up with sh!t that wasn't his and won't recall how'd it get there; is this an impartial effect that DID may inflict? Do you and your alters all make ends meet?

Why do you guys calls it alters? Why not call it a different way of being yourself? Is it distinct?


Once your therapist breaks the dissociative identity order news to you. After, that I would do some research to see how other people experience it. Ultimately it is going to take you getting intuned with your body and brain to see how you experience it. It really isn't a big deal unless it starts to interfere with you making living earning a paycheck. I would remain hidden and untrusting as long as possible. Trust, if you have it there will be some point were u can't ignore it, but until then trust your therapist. Talk about your life and memories of traumas.

The only reason I call it alters is because when your other selves emerge volume and your in tuned with it therapy goes on and on you begin to hear them more distinctly in your head. ...I can go more in depth, but ultimately you have to gain your own understanding

Cosmonaut wrote:So it seems DID is having multiple personalities as alters and I get that. How exactly does switching from the "host" to another alter work? Is it instantaneous, can you feel it creeping up and does it feel different (different mood and emotional regulation). What age did your DID take place and did you have a traumatizing past?

On another forum, I spoke to someone who apparently suffered from DID and he claimed he'd sometimes wake up with sh!t that wasn't his and won't recall how'd it get there; is this an impartial effect that DID may inflict? Do you and your alters all make ends meet?

Why do you guys calls it alters? Why not call it a different way of being yourself? Is it distinct?

Switching happens in different ways for different people. Like I usually switch when i'm really tired. Sometimes I can switch on purpose but only with the younger ones because I am giving them something fun to do. For others they have no control and will switch without knowing. I believe, I think, that's when things start showing up that you don't remember doing, like finding ne clothes you know you didn't buy, or coming back at a place you don't remember going, or some people who know you but you don't know them, etc. etc.

DID can take place at any age. I personally think most DID is formed before age 6, at least from literature i've read and what my T has told me. You can be aware of it at any age. For mr I only just found out a few months ago and it explained a lot of things for me. I'm scared and confused about how to deal with my alters, trying to get to know them. A lot of DID is formed due to extreme abuse as a young child like physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse. I consider all of the situations trauma.

Sometimes people are able to make ends meet by consensus among the alters. At least those who are more experienced and know how to cope. Sometimes alters can be co-conscious with the host and work together. My T suggested that I have a meeting with mine and lay some ground rules so things aren't so chaotic. Still working on that. As far as making a living, some can work and others can't. From what I read for those who work, different alters will come out and handle different aspects of the job, or the alters may have an understanding that the host has to work and they hang back and not interfere. (Don't know how much that happens though)

Some people, I think call their parts alters because they are alter ego's. It's a term that everyone can use and understand to talk about the different aspects of their parts. Sometimes I call mine aspects, parts, pieces, of me. Most of the time I use alters because it is the generally the accepted term to refer to our others. Some people even refer to their system or group of alters as their family. I believe that it can be very distinct as alters have different personalities, ages and genders (sometimes). And they can be referred to or come out as themselves. In that way I believe it's distinct.

Like I said, I only just recently accepted and understand that I have DID. I fought it, ignored it, denied it for over a year, even though I had all the symptoms and problems classic to DID. I finally accepted when I blacked out while driving for about 30 minutes. I called my T in hysterics telling her what happened and I heard her say, "listen everyone!" Then I blacked out again and when I came back I had stopped crying and was perfectly calm. Couldn't make any excuses for that, so I accepted and started working on it.

Hope some of this helps. These are some things i've learned from research and working with my T. I would suggest to do some research and read some articles about DID and that may give you a better understanding. I'm new to this and all I know for sure right now is it is confusing, painful, and hard as hell to understand. Still learning myself.

How exactly does switching from the "host" to another alter work?

Nini and I, at this point, are nearly always co-conscious. Sometimes it's just one of us fronting, but we've also created a co-host "personality" where we merge. We are very fluid now, but in the past it was an obvious and difficult task to switch, and it still can be if an undeveloped alter or an alter that isn't cooperative (tries to) front(s).

It's really difficult for me to explain the feelings we get when that happens. We get this weird... distant emotion. Sometimes, if it's a fight for fronting, we get a headache or what feels like pressure in the head.

When I'm inward and I get thrown to the front, which Nini does on instinct when something severely stresses her out, I react purely on instinct, which usually means swinging. When I get thrown to the front by another alter it's not out of instinct, it's out of that alter deciding they don't want to front anymore, and it's very disorienting for me and I often stumble if not fall if standing. I think our body goes through a momentary unconsciousness when we switch based on my own and boyfriend's observations.

And this is just me. I think Nini's experience is similar to mine but I can't speak for any others as they are either not fully formed or non-cooperative.

What age did your DID take place and did you have a traumatizing past?

We became aware of our multiplicity at age eleven or so, but we were experiencing it for at least a year prior to the realization.

Yes, the original's past was traumatizing.

- Nokomis.