splitting into higher functioning

So, there is something I've been thinking about and observing and I am not sure if it is a common DID thing or not...
When we split new parts we tend to create some that are higher functioning than the current ones. A way to adapt to the new challenges in life. Somehow a lot of representations make it look like leaving a trail of wrecks behind but if that's the case, its the older parts that got replaced by shiny new ones who function better. Overall, we have a system of really tough kids and most of them have been high functioning in the situations where they were needed. We as a system grow with our challenges. When a part has reached the end of their capacity we form someone new who can grow some more. It makes me feel strange. Like high-functioning DID somehow works differently. But then it also seems like this isn't rare. It just makes so much sense. We don't really experience the kind of trauma that splits off hurting parts anymore. But we do get overwhelmed with life. We just make it so we aren't overwhelmed anymore. Writing this into the internet because it is a huge space and someone might relate. I just find it so hard to relate to systems online these days... but maybe someone has a similar experience and I am not the only weird one?

honestly not sure who we are becoming at this point. We just wrote a report and it wasn't our usual writers voice that we worked on for 7 years now. weird sense of something new emerging. something truly awesome too. just scary somehow.

You are not alone. Several times we have created new parts for new situations and other times new coalitions will appear that usually are higher functioning. We also have a few aspirational parts who we hope to grow into. Not exactly the same but I get the gist of what you are saying. We have also had old alters "evolve" into newer better forms often with accompanying age growth. Our system will stabilize for sometimes years and then show a lot of growth for a while- or seem to go dormant only to have reorganized out of sight and revealing the changes when things heat up again. I think there is a lot of creativity involved in coping this way. hope this helps!

That's because DID is not neurologically about "splitting" it's about "lack of integration". So of course we learn new things, get new experiences, learn to function better... And when these experiences cannot integrate into old alters, they gather and form a new one.

It's not "high functionning DID" it's just regular DID and learning new ways of functionning, the way we all do all our lives. But, granted when we are used to forming new alters because it's "trauma stuff" that cannot integrate, we tend to think that only trauma "splits" (does not integrate). But in reality, ANYTHING can "split" (not integrate) especially for people with high levels of dissociation like in DID. Including happy events, when they are too overwhelming to properly integrate within a pre-existing alter.

I do agree, though, that it is not spoken about enough, that dissociation can also compartimentalize positive aspects of life into new alters.

It's mostly the same for us. Parts develop to deal with new situations and face up to them.
Other parts get "left behind", they do not continue to grow and develop /change at quite the pace that was needed.

Sometimes it seems like a part was developing & then it does get integrated into the current host. In that case it does feel strange/scary/like a big change, but it happens with enough intervals of rest to take it in and make it "make sense" with what we already know about ourselves.

This is an interesting topic. I recently found myself back out at the front. I have found I was last the full time host 8 years ago. There are 2 others who can get to the front also, they also lived inside ..in what we call the Shadowlands

When I was host I never knew any of the others existed or this inside world so I saw the entire life as mine.

Now I’m finding myself out front every day I seem unable to go back to the inside I just remember a very dark place, occasionally waking up to lots of strange dreams. I don’t know who hosted after me but they seem to have vanished from the front.

I wonder if I was brought back because I had once been able to see the entire life as mine and maybe the others were unable to reach this point?

The only ones I have communication with are 2 that said they also lived inside with me who are now also at the front with me. We have no idea why we’ve been switched out to the front as there’s no one here from previous team to explain anything to us!