Dissociative identity disorder (DID): You ever heard of it? Maybe from a book or a movie sure, but how much do you actually know? It’s gotten great publicity from movies and books, but I hate to say it movies where the main character with DID has an alter that’s a serial killer probably isn’t your best bet for getting some actual information and it’ll just lead to people being scared when someone with DID gets switchy (I’ll explain in a minute I promise).
Well, let’s begin with the basics first shall we. What is DID? DID is a mental disorder in which one person or one body we’ll say has multiple personalities, these are referred to as alters. DID is often caused in your early childhood, usually due to long term trauma however in some cases DID has occurred in people as old as thirty, usually still due to long term trauma. Now back to alters they aren’t just different personalities of the same person, no these are practically different people, some having different genders or even ethnicities. All these alters put together is called a system, so one person or again one body will have a system of alters all with different names and personalities. Although these alters can be practically anything, there are a few trends in alters with people who have DID. For example, there is usually always a Protector, this will be the alter that “comes out” when there is a perceived threat especially one that has to do with the trauma the person has gone through, and the Protector will do what they can to keep the rest of the system safe from any sort of physical or verbal abuse or even negative emotions like anger fear
or shame. Caretakers are the alter who take care of the system, not in a defensive way the
Protecter does but in a nurturing way, caring for the other alters. The Host is not what you may think, it is not the original, it is the alter that fronts the most, the alter that is most often in control, which could be any alter, so it could be both the Host and the Protector. Another,
simpler alter to explain is the Child, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, a child
alter, which usually fronts when the person sees something a child would be excited by.
Right, I promised I would explain at the beginning so let’s get into it. Switching. I used the term “getting switchy” earlier which is a phrase people with DID use when they feel like they are about to switch to a different alter. This can be a very quick and sudden change, or it can be one where the person will seem to be zoning out for up to a few minutes. Usually, especially for the first time, after switching to a different alter a person will either black out and simply not remember anything the other alter does, or they will feel like they are having an out of body experience almost as if they’re watching their body do and say things but have no control over it.
And that’s that, you’ve now got a much better image of what DID is. However, this is still just the tip of the iceberg, if you’re eager to learn more about DID I encourage you to watch Anthony Padilla’s I spent a day with MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES (Dissociative Identity Disorder) to learn more from the mouths of the three interviewees with DID who share their experiences with the disorder.
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