Are "big DID moments" while using THC legitimate?

TW: Drugs and Non-specific, intentionally vague childhood trauma


I am diagnosed DID, although I would argue that I don't have an extreme case of it. I have and do experience some time loss, but over time it's become less and less common. I do know of a lot of trauma in my past and personally I always feel like it's not enough to be a cause of DID, but my therapist disagrees.

Anyway, over the last few years, I've had a lot of "big DID moments" that I'm sure we've all had, e.g., discovering new alters, uncovering past traumas and body memories , etc. All of these have been while I'm completely sober.

I'm 40 years old and I've never done drugs until about a year ago when I started using THC edibles. I only do it about once a week and usually just to help me relax at night and sleep. Almost all my experiences with these edibles have been positive, but there's been a few times it's done really bad things to my DID system, often in the form of a little getting really freaked out and possibly remembering some things I had no clue about.

Last night I had one of these episodes and the trigger, if legitimate, was a childhood trauma that I had never really considered. But oh boy did I FEEL it. And looking back on it today, it makes a ton of logical sense. Like, a TON of sense.

But I was high. And I've heard some people say that such things feelings, whether they're flashbacks or triggers or whatever are probably not legitimate because of the drugs. My therapist disagrees with that but always talks about it indirectly, so I don't know if she's really being level with me.

I guess I'm just freaking out a bit because there were some really, really big emotions and triggering stuff and I just don't know what to think anymore.

Have any of you experienced big DID moments while you were high? Did you feel they were legit? I don't know if there is any concrete data out there regarding this, so I welcome any and all opinions on the matter.

I have never been in your situation but I guess that if the feelings of the trauma/flashback lingers there is a possibility it is a flashback that resurfaced because you were in the proper mindset for it. Especially if your therapist also has this opinion.

If I had any advice to give you it would be, trying to switch to the CBD version (relaxing without the hallucinogenic properties) if what you are looking for is helping you sleep rather than getting high. This might help you check if it is "getting relaxed" that helps you connect with your hidden parts/alters because of the feeling of safety, or if it might be something else.

Good luck, and keep up the good job of being responsible when consuming.

ArbreMonde wrote:If I had any advice to give you it would be, trying to switch to the CBD version (relaxing without the hallucinogenic properties) if what you are looking for is helping you sleep rather than getting high. This might help you check if it is "getting relaxed" that helps you connect with your hidden parts/alters because of the feeling of safety, or if it might be something else.

ViTheta wrote:One thing my friends who do use THC a lot is that some strains can cause things like anxiety to increase rather than decrease. It would be helpful to make sure which properties are being triggered.

Coming from this as a mod in the anxiety forums (and as someone with anxiety/OCD) I'll just jump in and say if I had a dollar for every time a new OCD forum member mentions freaking out while high on pot......

And it definitely don't like me- sure it feels good for a little while but by the time I get to the other side of it I am paranoid or super anxious about something or suffering a migraine (visual aura).

If a person has the least issues with anxiety (and I would think pwDID could definitely fall into that because, Trauma) I say stay away from weed- or in this case, THC. Might be fine, or you might find yourself gibbering about how you're dying to your irritatingly amused friends who think you're just being silly. Just... no. To me it's not worth it, when a person with anxiety issues tries the stuff. At least, if you're the least bit obsessive/compulsive. You wouldn't think something as innocuous as weed/THC is made out to be, that it'd be something to be definitely stayed away from, but yeah. I think it should be approached with caution and if you get a bad reaction from it then yeah it's not for you.

I'd second the idea to go with CBD and see how that compares.

I have DID and I also use THC to help me relax and sleep, since none of the prescription meds for sleep that I have tried work for me. I use the tincture, though, so I can control the amount. I have had good experiences with it, although I did have to adjust the dosage a bit to avoid that "out of control high" feeling and just stay within the "relaxed but still in control" range. My therapist knows about it and has encouraged it because it helps my anxiety. I think it's really just a matter of what works well for you. I have not had any of those "big moments" that you mention, but that may be because I have been in therapy for a lot of years now and have worked through most of that already. For me it is about keeping the lines of communication open and everybody working together to keep life moving in a good direction, and that means being able to sleep well at night so I am rested and relaxed during the day (as much as possible, anyway). My littles know that the "protector" will make sure they are safe and one of the littles actually enjoys the feeling because of the sort of free-flowing thoughts that happen with THC. I think that, like everything else with DID, there is not one "right" or "wrong" approach to managing life, it is about what makes sense to your system and keeps everyone safe.

I don't respond well to THC so rarely will use anything with it. If I do, it's a super tiny amount. I wouldn't take anything under the influence of that or alcohol as that real memory wise just because of how it all affects me. It all causes anxiety and more dissociation/loss of control, so it's difficult to know what is just the effects of it versus a mix.

I would focus more on things when not under the influence. If they are still there then, then I'd say it's more real and less related to the substance. I say that because I know that people experience all kinds of things under the influence, and DID cannot be diagnosed while using substances, so I would think the same is true for what happens when you have DID and also are under the influence. It also is similar to dreams where you might have an intense emotional response and it feels real but is not.

You might try asking parts when sober about those events too. It might help with a more solid answer.