Could I have DID

I second the concern about how many medications the doc wants to have you on. I would recommend asking specifically what target symptoms she is trying to treat with each one to make sure that each is a symptom that is truly impairing your life right now to the point where you want to take meds for it. There aren't any meds that specifically treat dissociation.

Also, what dx does she think you have? Ask lots of questions and if you think you won't remember the answers, you can take notes.

Thanks so much. We feel really overwhelmed right now and feel totally crazy. We're considering this a chance to get a grip on life. I know it'll take time though. We're a mess.

Us

You are not crazy, you are traumatized, and have really great coping mechanism all people don't have. DID is the reason why you are still here, after all you've been thru. Without it, you wouldn't have survived.

Some studies tell a person needs to have higher IQ and creativity levels than average in order to have DID. It's really complicated and amazing way for brains to work. You wouldn't have it, if you wouldn't have needed it. At the moment I hope your life is safe, and you don't need such complex ways to process information anymore, and that is when it can come a disorder that makes more harm than good, because it makes things so much more complicated. It can't turn itself off.

DID is a disorder that was created for you to not become crazy. It is true neurological thing, not anything fabricated by too vivid imagination, although one of the symptoms are tendency to think so. I think it's easier to cope with it, when you can respect it. It's just that there's time for everything, and when something is not needed anymore, you can let it go to have well earned retirement days as a figure of speech, and learn new coping skills.

Welcome to the forum.

Do people with DID usually have a history of being abused too? It was also interesting what you said about having a higher IQ too. This is all so interesting.

Me

esuzie1115 wrote:Do people with DID usually have a history of being abused too? It was also interesting what you said about having a higher IQ too. This is all so interesting.

Me

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Trauma (especially in early childhood) plays a huge role in DID........but due to the nature of DID you might not remember it or parts of it.......due to the others holding the memories so you don't have to feel/face those memories yourself.

Ponyta wrote:

esuzie1115 wrote:Do people with DID usually have a history of being abused too? It was also interesting what you said about having a higher IQ too. This is all so interesting.

Me

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Trauma (especially in early childhood) plays a huge role in DID........but due to the nature of DID you might not remember it or parts of it.......due to the others holding the memories so you don't have to feel/face those memories yourself.

Just adding on to what Ponyta said, trauma is anything that is traumatic in the infant or child's experience. It is very often some kind of abuse, but DID can develop from severe neglect, including emotional neglect.

Briefly, it is felt to arise from disorganized attachment to the primary caregiver (you can look up disorganized attachment--there is a lot written about it). So no one is available to help the child learn to regulate their emotions, and that lack itself leads to overwhelming emotions that are traumatizing.

If a child is overwhelmed enough, they dissociate because the feelings are intolerable. The current theory is that when it happens repeatedly at a young age, the usual integration into a single identity doesn't occur. Then as the child gets older, any additional traumatizing events that occur are also coped with using dissociation, since that's how they've learned to deal with them.

That's a simplified overview. Hope it's helpful.

ALL this is very helpful and informative. I have HUGE holes in all of my memories. I know I was abused for a long time, but have blanks and lots of confusion about it all. I also suffered from severe neglect growing up and even to this day. I've been through a lot of trauma. Not just sexual and emotional abuse, but also I was injured badly in a car wreck when I was in 5th grade and had to endure lots of surgeries afterwards for recovery. I was in another car wreck 13 years ago where I was driving and I broad-sided an elderly couple because they ran a red light and they both passed from a broken neck. I still cannot even deal with all this. I don't feel like I am me. I cope in unhealthy manors too like starving or bingeing and purging. I never know who I'm going to wake up being. I have sudden mood changes and can actually feel like I'm a different person from moment to moment. It's crazy. Does all this sound typical too. Sorry I'm asking so many questions, but yall have a wealth of information out here. I am very thankful I found yall.

Yes, that is all "situation normal" for DID. Try to slow down, take breaks. You are not crazy. You are going to be okay.