Definition of Dissociative Identity Disorder

DID is a dissociative disorder that develops due to severe and prolonged early childhood trauma, which fractures the child’s mind. If the mind stays significantly separated over time, DID develops. Distinct and enduring personalities form, who have their own names, ages, genders, and relationships to the world around them. They may perceive their appearances as different from the physical body. Often, the child’s mind creates an internal world, where the personalities reside when not conscious.

Survivors of extreme abuse may develop polyfragmented DID, which is defined as having multiple layers of personalities, or an extremely large number of personalities. In trauma-based mind control survivors, the personalities and inner world were deliberately developed by abusers, and not by the child’s own unconscious mind. These systems may struggle deeply within their abuser-induced inner world, which has been programmed to recreate their trauma, and to manifest blockages to healing, freedom, and self-awareness.

In general, alternate personalities are sometimes referred to as alters, people, inside friends, etc. When interacting with a DID system, others may notice vocal changes, and changes in abilities, mannerisms, mental age, and reactions to events. Alternate personalities often prefer to have their unique identities respected.

Alternate personalities usually have some amnesia for what other personalities experience. It is common to be told of actions that the system took, and to be unable to recall them, because another personality had been fronting. Unlike singletons who have parts of one personality, and may say, “My personality can be very different at different times,” those with DID have completely split personalities, and may say, “Other people take over the body sometimes, and I either can’t remember what happened, or I feel pushed into the background, passively watching as others live this life.” This is a key difference between those with parts, and those who have DID.