WHAT IS DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER?
To put it simply, DID/OSDD is a disorder that is caused by repeated trauma during childhood where the ego states that make up a child's mind never fuse into a singular identity. These ego states remain separate due to dissociative barriers. They are referred to in a medical setting as "parts'' or "alters'' however some may also call them "headmates'' or "sysmates". An old term for this disorder is "Multiple Personality Disorder". Do not refer to alters as personalities or someone with DID/OSDD as someone who has multiple personalities. While DID/OSDD is only diagnosed for people over 18 years old in the United States, minors can have DID/OSDD, as it is a disorder related to CHILDHOOD trauma. Some people realize that they are systems earlier than most.
WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR?
DID stands for Dissociative Identity Disorder. OSDD stands for Other Specified Dissociative Disorder. The two types of OSDD are OSDD-1a and OSDD-1b. There is also P-DID (Partial DID), and UDD (Unspecified Dissociative Disorder), C-DID (Complex DID), and HC-DID (Highly Complex DID). They are all characterized by different symptoms and cannot be used interchangeably.
HOW DO I TREAT SOMEONE WITH DID/OSDD?
Like any other person. They aren't any different just because of a disorder that they can't control. However, it is important to note that you shouldn't say things that can be seen as Anti-Recovery, as it can be extremely hurtful.
WHAT ARE SOME DID/OSDD TERMS?
There are lots of system terms. It's important to note that only systems can use these terms UNLESS the definition/context is different.
SYSTEM - A person with DID/OSDD. You will commonly see systems refer themself as we/us instead of a singular I/me, therefore getting the nickname 'plural'. SINGLET - A person without DID/OSDD. FRONTING - Basically being in control of the body. SWITCHING - When an alter who is at front 'switches' with another alter, giving them the control of the body. INNERWORLD - The area in which other alters reside in. You'll commonly see people refer to their innerworlds as their headspace.
WHAT JOBS DO ALTERS HAVE?
There's many alter jobs. The most known ones are hosts, protectors, persecutors, malicitators, littles, and introjects. There are more which will not be listed.
HOST - The alter that most commonly uses the body. They are alters who most frequently (or maybe even all of the time) front. There can be multiple hosts. PROTECTORS - Protectors are alters that protect the body and the system. There are different kinds of protectors. Physical protectors, verbal protectors, sexual protectors, emotional protectors, and caregivers are some of them. PERSECUTORS - Alters that harm the body, the system, or others around them in the belief that they are protecting the system. They tend to mimic things that the systems abusers did to them because they feel like it's the only way they can live. MALICITATORS - Alters that harm the body, the system, or others around them for the sole purpose of hurting. LITTLES - Child alters, or child-like alters. INTROJECTS - Alters that are based off an outside source. They can be based off of fictional things/people (fictives) or real life people/things (factives) or a mix. They may or may not see themselves as the individual they represent. INTROJECTS DO NOT EQUAL THEIR SOURCE. That being said, if someone is an introject of your favorite character, do not act like a creep towards them. That means don't say creepy things about them, don't pretend like you know them, and don't bring up things such as source trauma to them. They are still people with feelings. This is especially directed towards singlets because some of you don't know how to act around systems.
OTHER INFO
Systems cannot be formed without trauma. People who claim to be anything other than traumagenic are either not systems or systems who are in denial about having trauma. Check this rentry for more info.
Some systems have less than 10 alters, some have over 100. Do not fakeclaim systems just because of their head count. Different systems have different boundaries. Some want to fully integrate, some don't, either way, don't fakeclaim them.
People with DID/OSDD are not violent people. Despite the fact that they are portrayed as weird relentless killers in media such as Split, they are just like anyone else.
Body age is an extremely important thing. Adult singlets (and bodily adult systems), don't be creepy towards systems who are bodily minors. Even if the bodily minor system has an alter that is older than the body's age, the body's age still matters.
made by the inferno collective