DID/osdd

A small independent project on DID/osdd or otherwise known as systems
This carrd is inspired by DID-research.orgI had to split this carrd into 3 lmao. Thanks carrd element limit.

Note that I am NOT a professional, I may get information wrong, I am human. Please contact @the-starry-city on tumblr or katz_on_saturn on discord if you have any concerns or want to correct any misinformation!

This carrd will mention and discuss heavy topics such as childhood abuse, neglect, sexual assault and more, please keep that in mind.please do not use this carrd as a way to self diagnose yourself, go do much more research outside of my little carrd!"

“As an undergraduate student in psychology, I was taught that multiple personalities were a very rare and bizarre disorder. That is all that I was taught on ... It soon became apparent that what I had been taught was simply not true. Not only was I meeting people with multiplicity; these individuals entering my life were normal human beings with much to offer. They were simply people who had endured more than their share of pain in this life and were struggling to make sense of it.”― Deborah Bray Haddock, The Dissociative Identity Disorder Sourcebook

DID/osdd

DID, standing for dissociative identity disorder is characterized by the presence of at least two or more personality states or "alters", amnesia and dissociationhow does this form you may ask??
DID forms during early childhood trauma causing the child to dissociate as a way to escape reality, children who are actively dissociating may result in amnesia barriers over the underdeveloped states of identity, these amnesia barriers cause whats known as alters, short for alternate personality states. (also can be known as headmates) alters can range in differences from eachother, some may be similar and some may seem like completely different people.There are 2 main diagnoses of CDD's such as
DID - standing for dissociative identity disorder, someone with 2 or more alters, amnesia, dissociation and more
osdd - standing for otherwise specified dissociative disorder, someone who almost fits the criteria of DID, there are 4 types of osdd but only osdd1 creates altersOsdd1 has been labelled with 2 subcategories by the community, these are not diagnoses themselves
osdd-1a - the presence of alters and amnesia, however the alters are less distinct and may appear like the same person from different times or small differences
osdd-1b - the presence of alters and less severe amnesiaosdd-2 - identity disturbance and amnesia due to brainwashing, torture, thought reform, or otherwise coercion-based dissociation.osdd-3 - a transient diagnosis in which severe dissociative symptoms are present directly after a traumatic event.osdd-4 - dissociative trances that do not have any other causeP-DID - one who experiences disruption of identity like in DID, but there is a dominant alter in which is almost always at the front, intrusion from other parts is infrequent and possibly only happens during stress and or traumaUDD - standing for unspecified dissociative disorder, is usually a temporary diagnosis when a full diagnosis cannot be done yet but someone clearly shows signs of a CDD

“wasn’t this called MPD/SPD?”
DID used to be known as multiple personality disorder/split personality disorder, however this term is now outdated as this disorder is more characterized as a dissociative disorder rather then a personality one.osdd was originally called ddnos, standing for dissociative disorder not otherwise specified

fun fact: one of the highest recorded number of alters in one system was Jeni Haynes who had around 2'500

Treatments

There are 2 main types of treatments for CDD systemsFinal fusion - the act of lowering amnesiac barriers between the states of identity enough to cause fusion to happen between every part until all become 1Functional multiplicity - lowering amnesiac barriers between the states of identity, not fusing but instead integrating until all trauma and dissociation has been worked throughIntegration is the process of lowering dissociative barriers, every person must go through some form of integration during the healing process

Unfortunately none of the current treatments are 100% permanent, as its still possible to split after if more trauma occurs and the brain sees it necessary still

Fakeclaiming and ableism

Fakeclaiming is the act of telling someone with a disability they are lying, or implying they are faking.
Fakeclaiming in some cases might seem being done in "good faith" to "help spot out the fakes" but ultimately always lumps in real disabled people aswell.A common aspect in DID/osdd is doubt and denial, many systems hosts will experience something called "host denial" in which a current or past host will deny the existence of the other alters and or the disorder itself.Fakeclaiming individuals who may be more vulnerable to denial can and have been harmed by the way systems are treated online and in real life, especially systems who may have experienced neglect or been dismissed for their symptoms and or experiences during childhood."But what about someone with 200+ alters and tons of fictives?"
1. That example is completely possible and there are real people who fit that mold and you are actively stigmatizing systems by invalidating these experiences as "fake"
2. Whether or not that person is faking doesn't excuse bullying them out of it, it will not work, plus if that person is doing it for attention, that is still a sign of something wrong. Almost no one fakes a heavily stigmatized disorder for the hell of it, so just leave them alone, even block them if needed.

Structural dissociation

Structural dissociation theory is the current most agreed upon theory as to how DID forms, it's the idea that everyone is born with separate alter ego states that fuse together as the child grows.
A child's development is one of the most important events in our entire life, it shapes who we are as people and can be horribly damaging if a child goes through stress and trauma during the early stages of life.
This is where cdd's come in, a child that learns to cope with trauma through heavy dissociation may cause the brain to then put up amnesia barriers between the alter ago states and cause a dissociated identity

Well known and common terms

system - a catch all term for those with DID, osdd and udd.alter / headmate - every state of identity is usually refered to as an alter/headmate. There are some other alternatives some systems may use.innerworld / headspace - not every system has one, and even singlets can have them, but headspaces are a therapeutic visualization tool used to help with communication in DID/OSDD. It's good to note that events that happen in the innerworld are not actually happening in real life, however some events can be symbolic in trauma.front - fronting is when an alter is in control of the body.co-con - when an alter is aware of what the body is doing, however has no control over it.co-front - when an alter is aware of what the body is doing and has connection to the other(s) in front, they also might have a bit of control.blurry - when a system is dissociated and unsure who is in front, blurriness can range in extremity being mild such as mild unsure with some ideas to being completely unsure and out of it.blended - this term is originally a therapeutic tool when dissociative barriers are lowered for a temporary amount of time and experience temporary unity, the term has been misused commonly in the community and is usually used as a type of blurriness, when multiple alters are in front and the system is unsure which one might be in full control, the alters may feel like they've temporarily become one even if they haven't.split - a term for when an alter splits into 2 or more.fuse - when 2 or more alters become 1.fragment - alters with a very underdeveloped identity, these alters personality may soley be based on their source, role, etc. An alter can develop over time by interacting with people, hobbies and interests.role - some alters have roles, alters with roles help the body/system with specific tasks.ANP - standing for apparently normal part, is an alter who does not seem to be affected by the bodies trauma.EP - standing for emotional part, is an alter who is consistently affected by the bodies trauma.MP - standing for mixed part, is an alter that is somewhere in between an ANP and EP.core - core is an outdated term as the term implied that theres an “original alter” which goes against the current theory of structural dissociation.

Not every system uses every single term here, and there are hundreds of other community terms too! Never be afraid to ask someone their preferences

ANPs are not "endogenic alter" that is not how systems work

Well known roles

roles are like alters jobs, most systems have many alters with roles as a way to help take care of themselves
not every system uses these terms, and theres also many other roles an alter can have, these are just a few basic and well known roles that may be useful to know about

host - hosts are responsible for fronting the most, they may act like a leader of the system.gatekeeper - gatekeepers can manage front, they can usually control whos in front, lock front and may also have access to information, memories, parts in the innerworld that the other alters cannot. Their job is to keep this information away from youprotector - protectors are responsible for keeping the system safe, there are multiple kinds of protectors. Ex: emotional protection, physical protection, etccaregiver - caregivers are responsible for caring for the more vulnerable alters such as littles, trauma or memory holders, ectsymptom / emotion holder - these alters tend to display the symptoms of a disorder the body has more, or display a specific emotion more then the other alters.trauma / memory holder - these alters may hold traumatic memories, or even happy memories depending what kinds of memories they hold. These alters may be more affected by the memories, or be the only ones who remember themmood booster - mood boosters can boost the mood of the general system / body

The idea that alters can have a disorder / disability the rest of the system is still debated on by professionals, it is however from what I've seen generally agreed to not be possible, but of course that can change with further research