Ego states Vs DID.

I still don't understand. I've read about it but I'm too dumb. I need it in words of 2 sylables lol. Can ego states leave you flooded with emotions that you don't know where they came from? Can you ever hear ego states like a voice that says something in your head, in response to something someone you was talking to said? Can you hear ego states talking out your mouth having a conversation with someone? Or yelling at someone but you can't stop them without asking them to stop? X

Can ego states leave you flooded with emotions that you don't know where they came from?

Yes they very much can, but are usually called self states or alters. I will answer the questions as if you mean alters.


Can you ever hear ego states like a voice that says something in your head, in response to something someone you was talking to said?

Yes. You can hear them that way and sometimes other ways as well.

Can you hear ego states talking out your mouth having a conversation with someone? Or yelling at someone but you can't stop them without asking them to stop? X

Yes

Actually... maybe you actually did mean Ego States? I can't answer this. My brain is a dissociated one.

Then what's the difference between an alter and an ego state..?

That's what I want to know. I'm totally confused about the whole DID thing. Maybe it doesn't exist and we just collectively invented it to make ourselves feel better. Its not impossible that lots of people on planet earth all subconsciously had the same idea to make themselves feel better. Maybe therapists just go along with it because they're also trying to make us feel better and don't want to take away our coping strategies. Maybe I really don't exist. and I'm just crazy. X

I think we all feel that ways at times, but DID does exist and its not as complicated as the media and others try to make it out to be. I answered your questions assuming you thought an Ego state is the same as an alter.

Here is the difference:

No one has a truly single, or unified, personality.

All humans have ego states, so its confusing when this term is used for DID/DDNOS.
An ego state is simply those different parts that do different tasks in one person: The Mom, The driven employee, the carefree dancer, etc.... An Ego States IS NOT a Dissociative part! ...even though the acts it performs may be unconscious.

So what is a personality?

All People are made up of "many diverse, fragmentary—and generally illusory—images of “self.” Psychologists named these normal parts "Ego states."

An Ego State is NOT unique to DID/DDNOS. It is unique to all HUMANS!

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DID/DDNOS Brain
This is an abnormal brain. Those ego states have become compartmentalized so that communication between them is difficult. In DID/DDNOS we often call these parts Alters because they are so compartmentalized they have taken on characteristics and have been divided from communication with the other parts of themselves so they continue to become more unique into themselves. (just as you would if you were not around a group of friends or family. You would become isolated and unique. When around others, they influence who you are by communication)

I'm not an expert but I think that 'ego state' and 'alter' are overlapping terms which have been formulated in order to describe and treat certain psychological phenomena that are very real to the people who experience them. In other words, different theories of psychology aim to explain the same thing in different ways, using different labels and approaches. For some reason, DID is a controversial diagnosis in the world of psychology. There seems to be some competition within the discipline of psychology about who owns the truth about this sort of phenomenon. (I found this valuable piece of information in Wikipedia )

If a theory suggests (or a theorist postulates, or a doctor or therapist says) that DID isn't a valid disorder/isn't your disorder, and instead we should talk about ego states, it can't erase what a person with this kind of stuff experiences. I understand that diagnostic labels are important because once you get diagnosed it's easier and cheaper to get treatment for the disorder, at least it is where I come from. What I don't quite understand is why they are quarreling over whether DID is 'real' or 'not real'. Anyway, labels are just like a finger that points to the moon, they are not the moon.

From what I have read, one of the main reasons that DID is not believed is the same reason that repressed childhood memories are not believed.

Abusers get the courts and others to believe they are innocent and the victims are whacky.

It's very sad! I have a post somewhere on the group that summarizes this whole idea well. Also there are people out there that make money disproving movies like Sybil. No matter how true a movie is suppose to be, it is made for entertainment purpose and has a lot of untruth! Add to this, that psychology was archaic back when Sybil sought treatment and you have a basic to really confuse people.

There are places like the false memory society that work hard to discredit victims. They also discredit psychologists, which makes it scary for anyone to diagnosis someone with DID.

My favorite book of all time met this fate. My T is reading it right now.
Here is what happened to the author of that book. I admire her so much for standing up for the victims!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Renee Fredrickson and her book on Repressed Memory

I hate this site, they post anything and everything they can to discredit abuse victims.
http://www.stopbadtherapy.com/experts/experts.shtml

Everyone has ego states. Persons with DDNOS that resembles DID have dissociated ego states, with walls between them that cause lack of internal communication or even amnesia. Persons with DID have dissociated ego states that take executive control.

Many psychotherapy professionals who deny the "reality" of DDNOS and DID agree that everyone has ego states, but deny in some form that there are dissociative walls or that there can be a transfer of executive control. Many acknowledge the apparent symptoms of DDNOS and DID, but believe the symptoms are voluntary. Some of these professionals will refuse to acknowledge any alter except the one they themselves consider to be the host. This drives the DID system into hiding and looks like a fast cure. But it is no cure at all. Been there, done that.

Una+ wrote:Everyone has ego states. Persons with DDNOS that resembles DID have dissociated ego states, with walls between them that cause lack of internal communication or even amnesia. Persons with DID have dissociated ego states that take executive control.

Many psychotherapy professionals who deny the "reality" of DDNOS and DID agree that everyone has ego states, but deny in some form that there are dissociative walls or that there can be a transfer of executive control. Many acknowledge the apparent symptoms of DDNOS and DID, but believe the symptoms are voluntary. Some of these professionals will refuse to acknowledge any alter except the one they themselves consider to be the host. This drives the DID system into hiding and looks like a fast cure. But it is no cure at all. Been there, done that.

All right, this clarified things a lot to me.

I have questions!

Trigger warning! Self State Discussion!


"Una+ - Persons with DID have dissociated ego states that take executive control

I am confused here! In DID-like DDNOS "Dissociated Ego States" Alters I thought also can take executive control. Did you mean both DID and DID-like DDNOS?




I wondered about this once, but I thought I was proven wrong on this point?

Let's move this over to the other similar thread and give this back to the original topic.