Check in: Time to diagnosis?

Hey everyone, it's been a few years, but I am back. It took from 16 years old to 22 to fully understand what is going on.
I was previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder..I can see how this makes sense from their point of view, but it doesn't answer a lot of questions about the amnesia, recurring flashbacks, and how different a psychotic hallucination vs a dissociated part..

This was largely because I never picked up on the amnesia, which I consider to be the most telling and unique symptom of DID..Amnesia is unique to DID, and serves as a valuable indicator. For example, I realized I had it after recognizing a pattern of "blacking out" after learning of bad news (ie a death, fight, domestic issue), but this was very difficult to detect, as I would completely block out the situation!

Anyways, my answer is 8 years.

Levi and I have never been officially diagnosed. We self-diagnosed ourselves about 4 months after splitting 7 years ago.

I finally figured out the signature function.

Not sure if my therapist saying dissociative identity disorder counts when the insurance company still thinks it's just a trauma thing, like maybe PTSD. But whatever, I know.

1991 referred for sexual abuse. Counselor said, don't talk to voices, you'll make them stronger. Ha!
2005 diagnosed bipolar II yeah not even
2017 therapist actually used the words dissociative identity disorder.

Never been diagnosed with a dissociative disorder. First contact with mental health services was... four or five years ago (sorry - not good with dates or times), but have not been involved with them on a continual basis.

But at least one of us has been aware of it for... something like fifteen years. Most of us became aware of it when we were here last (a couple of years ago now, I guess), though still arguing whether it is a true dissociative disorder. Nobody thinks that we would ever be diagnosed with a true dissociative disorder by a mental health professional for a lot of reasons.

I first knew something was up when the body was about 12
I first considered DID when the nody was 14, in 2010, but it wasnt until 2012 I had really felt comfortable with that concept, and not until 2014 that i could confidently say I had DID.
I first saw a professional in 2011. I was originally diagnosed with depression with psychotic features (i still have that dx tho)
I was diagnosed formally with DID in 2015 and the doctor was actually surprised I wasnt diagnosed my very first hospitalization. It was confirmed again just last month when i started therapy again after 2 years of no professional help.
-Kai

I always knew I was different from other kids considering the unexplained black outs and the what I thought was the ability to think completely different things at the same time and understand what everyone was saying. The first time I remembering blacking out was in first grade. But I didn't start therapy until 2003 when I was 14 for being sexually active. I refused to talk so I stopped going.

By 15 I was cutting and had scars all over my body when my mom put me back in therapy. They diagnosed me with depression. Meds helped a little.
Still refused to talk so I stopped going.

7 years and 3 kids later I was diagnosed as having bipolar 1 after having a complete mental breakdown that took a toll on me, my marriage, and my family. But it still didn't give me an answer for the black outs and why I felt like I was different people at different times. So about 4 mos ago I started trauma therapy and she recognized the symptoms right away and knew what it was. So it took me about 14 years.

1970
21 years from first psych visit
3 years from start of weekly long term therapy
dx'd in 1991 - the last year 300.14 was still MPD before the change to DID in 1992.

Finally getting around to posting here.

First mental health contact: 1986
Official diagnosis: 2017
So, 31 years.

But I realized that another way to survey this would be actual years of mental health contact between the first time and the diagnosis. I mean if someone has periods of time when they are not seeing an MH professional, can that be counted as a delay in being diagnosed? For me, if I total it up, there were just about 7 years of therapy between that first contact and my diagnosis, which is the average found in the literature.

I would be curious to see everyone's answer to that question.

Lol 32 years here? I think?

We're pretty sure our first time in therapy was in high school, probably around age 16, so 1985 or 1986. Our memory of the first 20 years or so are almost blank. We're pretty sure we got in a lot of trouble as a teen and ended up having to see the board of education's staff psychologist. No idea exactly why. Pretty sure it was for at least one school year, possibly two.

Then nothing till the mid 90's, we were treated for depression. Or maybe manic-depressive disorder.

Then nothing till around 2008, we were again treated for depression. We have notes from this period, found a blog post that basically described switching while at the psychiatrist's office. He changed the Dx from major depression to bipolar and increased our meds.

Self-awareness / self diagnosis in November 2017, and official confirmation from our therapist in Jan 2018.

I was diagnosed with DID a yr back and an not familiar (all the way) w/my alters/other parts. Although I'm pretty sure I've had it for most of my teen an adult life. So much I introduced a few months back to get to know this guide, then he said my name, gave me a huge hug, and asked in how I was doing. Took me a few minutes then it dawned on me... I dated this guy for more than 6months. 'Twas, of course dussacotiative amnesia. Damn! I must have looked like a fool!
It seems like NOBODY knows what I'm going through. I need friends with DID, that will help me feel more normal and not so much like an abnormal freak of natures with a team of personalities within me that the slightest move or thing or change me into another part of n