Question about alter

What's the name of people inside who don't actually front?

As in, they are there and they have a job and a way of being and all of those things - but they don't (or haven't) actually fronted?

I know about ISH'ers but I mean other types of jobs.

Some kind of guardians? We have some like these too and that's where we put them. They say that they are protecting, but are not ISH-ers, so we have called them guardians. You are not talking about the ones that go to sleep, are you ? Because those don't/ can't be fronting.

Yeah, guardians would be sort of right for us too. Or caretakers. Protecting and taking care of certain alters inside that need help (like babies).

Are these alters though? Since they don't front?

No, not those that are sleeping. Like what you first mentioned, yes.

Thanks

But, if they are not alters, what can they be? They can be animals, fairies, angels, or whatever, but they are still alters, only if you want to believe the ''possession'' theory, then we are talking about something else. Plus, they might front sometime, if they are needed, right? You can't really know that.

Just because it's there doesn't mean it's a full alter. Could be an alter, could be a fragment or just a product of the inner world. For instance, we have animal alters, but we have also had an animal pet inside - who was not an alter, couldn't front etc. But yes, these people in our system have a set personality - so I assume they are either an alter or a fragment. My point was more, if this was something that had a set name already in literature.

Anyone know if these are usually just called "alters" in DID literature, or if they're called something else if they have not yet fronted or primarily are inside and tend to a job there?

I don't believe alters need to front to be alters. Just as you can have animals inside that aren't alters, you can have alters inside that don't front.

Some alters are content with their job and rarely front, or only front when needed, like Rain.

So, one would think, that if there are alters who rarely front, there can be alters who don't front at all. Perhaps their job is to stay inside. Perhaps they're content with staying inside. Perhaps it's better for them to stay inside. But just because they don't front doesn't mean they're not alters.

Not fronting and being less involved overall are two different things. ISH's are different from alters because they tend to keep their distance and "stay out" of things as much as possible. Inside alters that don't front aren't in that same category because even though they're not fronting, they're still involved with the system, and they're not keeping their distance because they have a job inside and such.

I haven't yet come across a term for alters that don't front. I believe they are just alters, and not fronting is simply a fact about them; just as someone with agoraphobia (fear of being outside) is just a person, and it's a face that they have agoraphobia. (Hope that made sense).

I think I remember that ones like system managers and gatekeepers sometimes don't front at all, because they're focused on managing the system inside, or on being a gatekeeper and regulating who's allowed "out" and who's not. But that's more of a job title, not an actual term for an alter that stays inside.

Hope this was somewhat helpful.


~The Hawk

Alters don't have to have ever fronted to be considered alters. I have at least one, Marc-Dominic, who arrived at age 12 as internal only as far as we can tell. He came into being as my advisor, a sophisticated adult who prevented me from feeling intimidated by powerful or wealthy people, something he did successfully whenever such a situation arose. I described it well before I knew it was an alter's influence as being infused with self-confidence, belonging, equal to anyone. Not that I travel in those circles but my father was a politician when I was a kid so sometimes then. Later, I lived in NYC for a decade and saw or met some rich or famous people and my reaction was always "meh" due to his influence.

I've made him step up front many times since he announced himself a year and a half ago. He's rather arrogant himself, entitled really, so I believe that was needed to counteract my feelings of inadequacy or the fear of making a fool of myself or something. It used to be jarring for me to have such opposites in the body like Marc and Jack, or Jonathan and Quato, but I came to see that's just part of being DID.

I've read biographies of people with alters who were purely internal. An alter of the author of A Fractured Mind was active only on the inside until well into adulthood, when he came out and took over as host. He described this alter's role as a "recessive personality" (quotes included) though I've never encountered that term elsewhere.

Thank you for explaining all this to me. It makes a lot of sense Alters it is

It's good to see you posting again Johnny-Jack