TW, “THE” trauma? Anyone else like us?

TheGangsAllHere wrote:I'm sure that you didn't mean to invalidate the experience of many people on this forum

Correct. It's an opinion.

Ok. But perhaps you can understand that to hold the opinion that DID is only caused by "horror, torture, sadists" while interacting with people on here who have DID and did NOT experience prolonged physical torture or sexual abuse DOES feel invalidating. Essentially we are saying we have DID and you are saying that in your opinion we don't. Unless I'm misunderstanding you.

Thanks Gang - you clearly expressed what we were thinking, but were unable to put into words.

Violet 1

You are misunderstanding me and I'm not 'trying to imply' anything; my opinion is very clear.

I'm not saying that neglect/psychological abuse is not bad. It's horrible, it destroys perceptions of humanity, it leaves us with attachmentissues, and ALL of us have been there.

Would we all be on this website/in therapy if we'd know about all of our trauma's? DID is DENIAL, Gang.

We won't express opinions about this in other topics than our own anymore.

It's the same for us: disorganized attachment, troubled parents, some physical abuse & neglect, but mostly emotional abuse.

It's been of great comfort to me to know that perhaps there isn't a 'deep', hidden trauma that I don't know about... Of course one can never know for sure, but hearing that others have DID without remembering such an event makes it seem more plausable.

(our respons in our own topic contains a bit more. We don't want to trigger people anymore, ofcourse, with this, so we won't respond in this topic anymore)

Efragment wrote:Would we all be on this website/in therapy if we'd know about all of our trauma's? DID is DENIAL, Gang.

It feels JUST as invalidating to me for you to assert that I absolutely without a doubt HAVE experienced some kind of severe physical or sexual abuse and don't remember it. It has been quite a journey so far to believe that I have these parts in the absence of that--I spent many years telling myself that of course I couldn't have actual parts since I didn't have the "requirements."

One can have the repetition of "small" traumas over a long period of time from early childhood--I don't feel like listing mine right now, but there is quite a list--and NOT overt prolonged severe sexual or physical abuse, and still have DID. That is my T's opinion, and he has worked with many, many people with DID, and consulted with other therapists on their cases.

I guess I am. **trigger warning for verbal abuse, trauma**

I was verbally abused growing up, since third grade, and before that, my mother abandoned me once because I almost killed my brother. Physical abuse was sparing, mostly threats. And the main catalyst was a childhood accident where I hit my head on a marble floor.

**end trigger warning**

My Dad once punched me with his fist in the back simply because I was walking by. I was around 8 years old and almost fell to the floor but was able to catch my footing. I remember later in the day sitting at a table trying to do my homework and my back hurting. But on the whole, there was not a lot of physical abuse.

What he would do most though, was verbally cut me apart. His voice would be full of contempt and anger. I was afraid of him and he was unpredictable.

If I had a choice of being punched again in the back or being verbally ripped apart, I would choose being punched. The things my Dad said to me were far more damaging.

A number of elements come together with DID. Disorganized attachment may be a necessary element that primes the brain for further trauma. It isn't necessarily even caused by abuse but if the mother has mental health issues she can pass it to the baby. The same environmental conditions can have a different outcome depending on individual traits. If people have been tortured as children, some retain their humanity while others become sadists themselves. I think people with DID are more likely than average to be highly sensitive and creative.