You're a 'System'??

What is DID?

Before anything, let us make this perfectly clear:

This is a SAFE place for those with DID and OSDD and allies.

We do NOT want to see any discriminating or hateful comments toward the community.

DID & OSDD ARE NOTHING LIKE THE MOVIE 'SPLIT' AT ALL

Any mention of this movie or comparisons to something similar will be reported.

If you do want to respond with your own experiences, please put a trigger warning (TW) with a brief mention of the sensitive content beside it before you write what you want to share, for example:

TW: emotional abuse, gaslighting, sexual assault (SA), discrimination

[your experience]

Okay, now on to the explanations :)

For those of you who don't know, DID stands for Dissociative Identity Disorder. Here is a brief explanation:

"Dissociative Identity Disorder is a severe form of dissociation, a mental process which produces a lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity. Dissociative Identity Disorder is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct or split identities that continually have power over the person's behavior. With Dissociative Identity Disorder, there's also an inability to recall key personal information that is too far-reaching to be explained as mere forgetfulness. With Dissociative Identity Disorder, there are also highly distinct memory variations, which may fluctuate." - WebMD

Reference: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder#1

[NOTE: 'Multiple Personality Disorder' is an extremely outdated term and does not represent the disorder correctly. It is DID. The terms cannot be used interchangeably.]

This also corresponds to the definition of DID in the DSM V used by medical professionals.

The identities within the person who has DID or OSDD are referred to as a 'system', and these identities can front (take control of the body) at any given time with or without a trigger (explained in 'Common Terms').

They may behave differently or similarly to the 'Host' (the person who fronts the most).

They may have different perceptions of the world and people around them, different beliefs, different genders, or sexualities. They may have different tastes in food, music, clothing, etc.

We use the word 'may' because no two systems will be the same, just as no two people are.

We will look at the symptoms after we have explained what OSDD is, which - unsurprisingly - is the next chapter!

See you on the next page :)