The most recognizable symptom of DID is the presence of two or more unique identities or personality states known as “Alters”, “Switches”, or “Headmates”. One personality is shown to the world at a time which is called “fronting” or being “out”. The fronting alter can change as little as once every few years or as often as multiple times in the span of mere minutes. The common number of personalities someone with DID holds is 10-12, however, there have been rare reported cases of suffers having as many as 100 or more alters.
Alters can come out as the result of a traumatic or scary experience such as loud sound or uncomfortable situation, a pleasant experience such as a song they enjoy or a favorite food, or even as a result of being asked to come out by someone like a counselor, though the alter can decide whether they want to come out based on how much they like the person who is requesting to see them. The process can happen quickly or over a period of hours or days and will often involve a trans like state during the change. The purpose of alters is always to protect the original personality. Since identities are created though trauma, each identity is usually specifically equipped to deal with a certain set of situations or emotions. Even if the alter is not nice, it is a defense mechanism to protect the host in the only way they know how.
The original personality is usually the host, or the identity that fronts most of the time. Often the host is not aware of alters, but there are cases where alters can communicate with the host and/or with one another. Occasionally an alter can take over as host if the original personality is too traumatized to go on, but this is a rare occurrence.
The host and the alters all live together in the head space (the person’s mind) which is called a system. Alters take over full function of the host with their own mannerisms, speech patterns, interests, skills, sex/gender, race/ethnicity, nationality, and so on which can be similar or different than that of the host. The host can either observe but have limited to no interaction while an alter is “out” or experience amnesia for the time they are not in control. How much or little control the host has with alters can vary among different alters. Alters can have individual and shared memories with some or all alters as well as the host. For this reason, alters have unique memories, experiences, and even relationships throughout their lives which the host may have no knowledge of.
Below is a list of common symptoms that comes with switching – the process of an alter taking control of the body.
- Headache
- Amnesia
- Time loss
- Trances
- “Out of body experiences”
Some people with dissociative disorders have a tendency toward self-persecution, self-sabotage, and even violence (both self-inflicted and outwardly directed).
People with DID may experience:
- Depersonalization: a sense of being detached from one’s body, often referred to as an “out-of-body” experience.
- Derealization: the feeling that the world is not real or looking foggy or far away. For me depersonalization and derealization often feels as if I’m in space attached to the world by a string and looking down at it.
- Amnesia: the failure to recall significant personal information that is so extensive it cannot be blamed on ordinary forgetfulness. There can also be micro-amnesias where the discussion engaged in is not remembered, or the content of a meaningful conversation is forgotten from one second to the next.
- Identity confusion or identity alteration: both of these involve a sense of confusion about who a person is. An example of identity confusion is when a person has trouble defining the things that interest them in life, or their political or religious or social viewpoints, or their sexual orientation, or their professional ambitions. In addition to these apparent alterations, the person may experience distortions in time, place, and situation.
- Symptoms and experiences vary widely between individuals. Even after decades of study the symptoms are still vague and much of DID is still misunderstood by researchers.
Symptoms and experiences vary widely between individuals. Even after decades of study the symptoms are still vague and much of DID is still misunderstood by researchers.
Definitive DID 