u/TurnoverAdorable8399

Promise PROMISE I took them I know they're at least doing SOMETHING because now I'm kinda nauseated just waiting out the elevation if I'm very lucky I won't even hit long enough to be hypomania. One must hope. Emailed my psychiatrist so she's in the loop. I just want to chat I want to share everything on my mind but so many things are inside thoughts. I've listened to so much ABBA I'm in love.

I work so hard. I want a new piercing. Made myself promise to me that I'll get at least 8 hours of sleep before I commit. Time is CRAWLING i just want everyone to talk to me forever. Really listen to ME talk. I'm going STIR CRAZY. If I don't get any sleep tonight it's hospital. Don't like that outcome and I really don't like what benzos do to me but they're pretty loose with the Ativan around here and last time I was in the psych ward that knocked me out of full psychosis long enough to stop being dangerous to other people. Not ideal but I hit my deductible already and I've got the summer off between jobs so maybe it's the best time of my life for a stay. Of course I'm hoping my rescue meds do the rescuing. Mozzarella sticks for dinner because they're comfort sleepy food.

First of all, I'm diagnosed and graduated therapy. I'm asking here because I don't feel like the topic is appropriate for the main sub.

Second, I mean to ask people who approach dating with some significant separation between alters: some examples I'm referencing are people who only date a few alters within a system, or people whose individual alters have very specific relationships with their partner(s), or even multiple people with DID/OSDD who have complex individual relationships between alters.

Probably because not many people seek support for relationships that are going well, I only *personally* hear of this going badly. I can certainly explain why that approach doesn't work for me, but I would like to learn from people who thrive with that. This comes from genuine curiosity, and I apologize if this is judgemental.

I haven't split in ages and I don't really remember what was usual for us, but this time around it was a super slow process. About two weeks from the initial stressor and despite my efforts, the dissociation won out. Happens. Whatever.

But because it took two weeks, by the time I was "done" splitting and a whole distinct part, I was not in one of my designated safe areas. I'm at a friend's house about 8-9 hours away from where I've been staying. I love my friend and it's very nice here, but I want to be in *my* bed with *my* stuff and *my* pets. Not here.

It's pretty late and I'm not going to pull an all-nighter driving. I might try to leave tomorrow morning. I feel bad for cutting the stay short but I *need* to be in a safe place. Not that they're unsafe, just that the rawness of splitting means I'd really like to have time to myself in a way I don't really get here [crashing on the couch.]

I just have to get through until the morning but I feel like crap.

Obligatory: my experiences with diagnosis and treatment are my own.

It seems pretty common for undiagnosed individuals seeking care to have a hard time describing symptoms in a way clinicians take seriously, which is no fault of their own. Mental health care in general is highly inaccessible, let alone for more complex and less "mainstream" disorders.

I got diagnosed through therapeutic observation over the course of a few years. My piece of advice is: you're allowed to describe feeling fragmented, on top of the rest of your symptoms. Outright saying "I think I have alters" or "I think I have DID" to a professional can often result in doubt or dismissal - again, not your fault. But *feeling fragmented* is a SYMPTOM and a subjective experience that, in my experience, clinicians will take seriously.

Reporting this fragmentation, regardless of the cause (could be DID; could be CPTSD; could be some other response to trauma), can result in better therapeutic outcomes. Even if the source of this feeling isn't DID, the mental health professionals I've worked with unanimously want to address it.

I know exactly why I'm stressed. Took on too much today. Tomorrow I'll pick two things to focus on: myself and my dear friend who's going through something awful rn.

I miss my baby I miss my baby I miss my baby I miss my baby I miss my baby i miss MY BABY and you just *don't talk to other people about this stuff.* It's all fucked

Out of the way - I talk about it often enough, but I survived childhood sex trafficking through a common institution prevalent throughout the USA and generally trusted by family units. I can't go into more depth, unfortunately; the individuals who survived, including myself, absolutely do not have the luxury of privacy. If you can't put it together, don't bother asking me.

A lot of the artwork I made throughout college contends with the mythologization of organized abuse and how this harms survivors. If I had to sum up my portfolio, the message would be "childhood sex trafficking and other forms of organized abuse are far more mundane than anyone likes to face, so fucking look at us." I stand by this message.

I firmly believe that the characterization of sex and labor trafficking, cult survival, institutional abuse through incarceration or the troubled teen industry, and other such trauma [it would be impossible to produce a comprehensive list] as extreme or otherwise a unique level of suffering hurts survivors of organized abuse. This "news-ifies" us. We become horror stories and podcast topics and, unfortunately, often *news* - thus reinforcing that the infliction of these traumas is exceptional rather than intended consequences of the patriarchy, Christo-fascism, racism, classism, etc.

This serves abusers: if the abuse they inflict is exceptional, then survivors can easily be discredited. And if the abuse isn't a consequence of broader social forces, then the social forces that facilitate organize abuse go unchallenged.

Willing to discuss. I'm not gonna subject y'all to all of my analysis at once, I've written too much for a Reddit discussion and would like to reciprocate and offer others space to talk and to be listened to.

AGHH. IT'S OVER.

I was diagnosed with DID while in university. It was really painful and difficult, and I took a break from continuing my education to deal with it (and chronic illness.. yay.) I've done psychodynamic therapy, CBT, several inpatient stints, and group DBT; I've been diagnosed with the fun comorbidity of schizoaffective bipolar. I handled and unpacked my trauma and got stable enough to return to school and I fucking did it!!

My final project for one of my courses was a hypertext literature piece about what I survived. I'm finally at peace with everything that's happened to me. All of us know we're capable and strong. I haven't been formally evaluated this year but I would guess I no longer qualify for the diagnosis. I'm still fragmented in at least some aspects, but it's been years since it's been disabling.

I'm doing a masters in applied math next. Who knows what from there? I got out. I left my hometown and that traumatic situation behind and I'm doing exactly what we all want for our life and I've never felt more on top of the world.