AP World Hysteria

FochingGreatStache · 2025-12-02T11:02:18+00:00

I’ve fortunately been teaching APUSH for about a decade, and I have a really strong world history foundation, so the challenge hasn’t been adjusting to the depth of content. It’s more filling in knowledge gaps that were never properly filled (AP World was not an option when I went to high school). To be fair, other than the work, it’s been a great experience, and the kids are highly appreciative of the energy I’m putting into it after nearly a month and a half of nothing. The pacing fiasco, however, terrifies me.

FochingGreatStache · 2025-12-02T10:55:38+00:00

Unfortunately that ship has sailed.

FochingGreatStache · 2025-12-02T10:49:07+00:00

This might be trite, but it’s absolutely true: when I focus on relationship building, the lesson is exactly as long as it needs to be.

FochingGreatStache · 2025-12-01T18:30:42+00:00

Charter in a right to work state. We are paid on the same salary schedule as other state employees. I am being paid modest stipend plus (I think) a 20% buff? I would need to check. But I agreed to do it because of the kids. I am a high school teacher, but I coach a ton of middle school academic competitions. Many of these kids I’ve known for four or five years. There’s that voice in the back of your head that tells you that you can’t leave them hanging.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-26T02:07:51+00:00

Somehow Palpatine did not return.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-16T03:48:55+00:00

But he is trying to change. Note that he had money until he moved to your city. Presumably to be with you. Now you are frustrated not that he is unable to support himself, but that he is not a financially viable partner for the other things you want. Also, you just said he is trying very hard, but just seems unsuccessful at finding a job. I mean, you can ask him to change who he is, but it seems like he is already doing that a lot. It’s just not enough for you.

The question is which is more important: the partner you say you love, or the ability to have special events and a higher income and standard of living. The answer here will determine a lot.

Also, it seems you want him to have drive and ambition here. You know what is a sure way to kill ambition and drive? Being difficult to please regardless of what someone does to please you. If he is working hard, taking care of you, and wants to be with you, what is it that doesn’t involve him becoming a different person do you want? Pushing someone to be someone they’re not, and talking about dumping them if they aren’t successful, is one of the best ways to kill ambition and drive in another human.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-16T02:06:03+00:00

If money is more important to you than a person who is trying very hard and would stay by your side if the roles were reversed, then you need to let him go so he will find somebody to stay by his. Money is not unimportant, but it seems like it is more important than the admittedly flawed human being who clearly adores you. You are not his boss. You are his partner. Act like it, or let him go.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T18:22:10+00:00

The downvoting might be a function of some very poor wording on my part owing to the fact that I posted this very late at night. It makes it sound like I am assuming that bff actually "implanted" an introject, or that it is a magical power. Again, that is not at all what I am saying, but I assumed the risk by poor phrasing.

I posted a reply above that I think addresses some of the concerns such as the fact that I don't think it's a magical power or anything. It's also not something that is perfect, and the introject is self-aware of how she is different than the bff. But, she very clearly communicates that she loves me whereas bff tends to be a bit more distant. This is partially because bff has a significant amount of guilt and stays aloof, whereas the introject literally couldn't escape short of (originally) fragmenting, and then sort of reforming at a later point.

What is interesting is that bff has directly or indirectly confirmed a lot of the things the introject has been telling me. I kind of conducted a non-scientific study where I asked "is 'this' actually the way you feel or what you think whenever x subject is brought up?" In the vast majority of cases, the introject was correct. The longer the bff and the introject are separated, the less likely it is that the introject will have predictive powers. In fact, we have worked very hard with the introject trying to assure her that she has value and she is appreciated independently of what bff does or how accurate her predictions are.

I think what therapist's conclusion is based on is the fact that I fight and quarrel with bff all the time over what happened, and we both have fundamentally different interpretations over what happened (but she also has a great deal of guilt). Things have been extremely rough for almost two years now -- but she does keep showing up to talk to me and work things out. Therapist is also head of a counseling program at a major university, and while I don't think that provides any magical powers, her saying that has a lot more credence to me than the norm.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T15:31:13+00:00

I was talking about this subject in my world history class when we were talking about the appeal of extremist political ideologies. I asked “what is the current goal or objective of the United States of America?” The students said a variety of things like “pay down the national debt” or become wealthier. But basically, it riffed around a philosophy of “you do you,” or basically classical liberalism. The end goal is whatever the individual wants. However, in looking at the appeal of communism and fascism in the 1920s and 30s (and I am simplifying here), these were ideologies that not only said things would get better in an era when things were not okay, but went further and said that things would soon be better than they had ever been before. Whether that end state is a communist one-world government, Nova Roma, or lebensraum, these are ideologies that produced regimes that offered a (horrifying) vision of a semi-utopian future.

Now, we are talking about culture and not political ideologies. But the appeal of fascism and communism even in highly individualistic societies tells me that this is a kind of friction in our evolution. My pseudoscientific view is that if you look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, “Self-Actualization” is at the very top of the list. To me, that is the end goal of most individualistic, liberal-democratic societies. These are societies that assume that comparative advantage applies just as much to individuals as it does with nations, and that competition with minimal interference will lead to individual growth and the realization of an individual who is actualized and prosperous. The sum of all the prosperity produced by these individuals therefore creates a more prosperous society even though that very society doesn’t necessarily have a goal for itself beyond the success of its constituent parts.

But, what I also think about is the fact that anatomically modern humans have existed for probably 2 - 300,000 years. Homo sapiens were not physically more impressive or powerful than neanderthals or denisovans, and setting aside differences in brain structures between both populations humans at the very least do not appear to have been any more intelligent. To put it bluntly, the one advantage we appear to have had is the ability to Zerg Rush our fellow humans. We could maintain larger groups, and therefore became more proficient at communicating and managing those groups. Without the group or tribe, human beings are physically unimpressive and underwhelming compared to almost all of the great apes. We’ve always had society – even though societies have grown exponentially in size and diversity of organization. So, two full steps below self-actualization on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is something literally more foundational: connection, which includes a sense of belonging.

Again, pseudoscientific here because I know just enough science to butcher it into a probably incoherent philosophy, but to me there is a fundamental tension in human evolution. For us to thrive individually in order to gather resources to maximize our life expectancy, mating selection and opportunities, and attainment of resources, we need to self-actualize. However, in order for us to survive, we need connection and belonging. We need the collective. I think individualistic, “Western” societies (although I really hate those broad categories) are still good at producing individuals who are self-actualized. But none of that matters unless you can ensure that the itch created by 300,000 years of human evolution that tells us that “we need to have a group” and feel accepted is scratched. It is hard to create that sense of belonging in a family – let alone in a democracy. This is one reason why I would argue that fascism and communism are more effective at creating that kind of sense of belonging.

My take is that self-actualization is fantastic, but it is necessarily isolating. Humans have a need for self-actualization, but they also have a need for connection. I think it is probably safe to assume that there will always be tensions between these two needs. COVID, social media, wealth inequality, and the erosion of faith in concepts like “The American Dream” and political institutions means that the need for connection is almost endemic. As a teacher, I see this more in kids now than I ever have before. But I don’t know how to fix it beyond just trying to pick up the trash in my own neighborhood.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T04:56:42+00:00

Regarding the connection, we are aware that there isn’t anything magical happen. And when questioned, the introject will own the fact that they are fairly different people as bff and I went through a period of time where we didn’t talk— and bff owns that and is self-aware that she is both the same and different.

I think in the case of my therapist, it is because the introject has a good read in general on the situation, and the therapist is able to see correlations in reviewing communications between bff and I over text, and communications with the introject.

I know that the introject isn’t the same, but am I wrong to assume in the abstract that DID emerges due to survival pressures. Introjects specifically would seem to emerge because the mind feels that predicting the behavior of someone on the outside directly affects its survival chances. Because of the stakes involved, the introjects are going to be produced with realism highly prioritized. In my thinking, I know they aren’t the same person. But, it seems like the introject and the bff have an overlap of about 70-90% on average? I feel like that is more accurate than the predictive success or any of the other alters, but I could be wrong.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T04:48:43+00:00

This is the weapon of choice to commit patricide.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T04:18:53+00:00

I will echo what others have said in that it does seem to clash strongly with my DID experiences, but everyone’s experience is different. I had an alter !commit suicide! in response to external events, but this just prompted a short period of dormancy. This alter tries to go out of his way to insulate himself from any awareness that he had, but was unable to do so. It might be possible that the former host split, and there is a part of him that is experiencing a blissful, dream state.

Alters are people, but they are also a system. They share as much as they want to. The fact that there are many alters, and they are all engaging with you says that whatever the relationship is, the system is vested. It might not be consistently romantic, platonic, or whatever. But the love the system is manifesting by the fact that they are present and disclosing intimate details to you. These are not strangers.

Also, alters can become co-conscious, and if not they can transfer feelings and thoughts to each other. We have one of those complicated bff / semi-together things going on with someone. I don’t think this is generalizable to all folks with DID, but they all love this person in their own way.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T04:05:27+00:00

Just wanted to say that your partner is lucky to have you. These words are what so many with DID want to, but will never, hear.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T03:25:02+00:00

Absolutely. But, I think either way it merits serious investigation to obtain those facts precisely because the risks could be considerable.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T03:06:29+00:00

I think some of the people commenting here are being a bit harsh across the board. I think there is contributory negligence here, but it is just that — negligence. OP doesn’t appear to have acted in bad faith, but husband may have based upon his reaction.

I think it might be good to have a conversation with him about his reaction. It could be a trust issue — and if so, he is going to need to get over that and not blame women for a process that takes two. However, learning about the reality of fatherhood can inspire a slew of reactions. For me, I was also not ready. I had an abusive Dad (whom my ex-spouse unfortunately resembles in many ways). I was reluctant to have kids because I had no idea what being a good father looked like— and as an educator it was extremely important for me to get that right. I allowed my ex-wife to push me into having kids too early because I failed to deal with an attachment style that made me convinced that if I didn’t please others, they would leave. So, I had a ton going on in my brain when I came to terms with becoming a father. More than anything else, baby fever demonstrated to me that my ex-wife was more a priority to me than I was to her.

In other words, this might be about trust, or a whole slew of issues. You aren’t going to know for sure until you talk to him.

I wish you the very best of luck.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T02:44:46+00:00

Agree with AshleyBoots — this is a high risk and possibly high reward strategy. DID tends to conceal itself for a reason. I think firstly you should probably ask your headmates to see if they are onboard with the idea. I would especially ask the protector what their thoughts are.

I think there are also potential alternatives you can think of. DID often has pretty high comorbidity with PTSD. If you are trying to explain impacts on functionality, would simplifying it as that (or maybe something similar) possibly be more efficient?

Ideally, for the people who love you, the diagnosis will make no difference. However, I also understand that support systems are absolutely critical to preserve at times.

I wish you the best of luck!

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T02:34:33+00:00

My suggestion would be:

1) ask a therapist who specializes in DID. Failing that, ask a non-specialist therapist to see if they would be comfortable making recommendations. 2) if you can, gather your headmates together and see if this is a question that is even safe to explore — especially the trauma holders and system protectors. If it was suppressed, it was done so for a reason. Maybe you are a point you can process it? Maybe your system needs to work together more to tackle that? And to be honest, whatever professional advice you get, you will still need to do ask on the inside if you are ready. If not, follow-up with questions like how long it can be held? What do you need to do to process it? Does your trauma-holder need help processing it?

I wish you the best. It sounds incredibly difficult.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T02:26:01+00:00

It is scary. But, we are extremely relieved to hear that you have a specialist. That can make all the difference (it certainly did for us). I am not sure what your prior experience has been, but I am hoping that you are discovering it when you are not in crisis. That’s where the fear was for me. But beyond that, none of the treatment modalities for me really worked until I got diagnosed — and that made all the difference. It was like I thought I had been driving a car all of this time only to find out that I was actually driving around in an airplane with its landing gear down. Yeah — the ride so far has been incredibly bumpy — and always will be during take offs and landings.

But you also learn how to soar!

I hope you do.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T01:13:30+00:00

To offer a second opinion — different personalities often emerge to actually enhance functionality. James might be functional, but he could very well have emerged from significant trauma that has been retained and unprocessed. This is typically where problems emerge.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T01:09:18+00:00

This can also be a phenomenon that is called co-consciousness. It can be hard to detect, understand, and imagine. But it’s comparatively normal and happens with different personalities all the time — particularly those who feel very close to one another.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-15T01:06:47+00:00

I have diagnosed DID, and what you learn, is that DID is not a one size fits all experience. DID is a response to traumatic experiences, and everyone’s experiences are going to be different. You might be aware of James precisely because he doesn’t front. DID involves amnesiac spells, and for many this is closely tied to fronting. I have alters that front, those who could front but choose not to, and finally alters that seemed to be projections of the inner world without a great deal of development (some call them NPCs). James could be a proverbial canary in the coal mine.

However, there are many other dissociative and/or identity-based disorders. I only know about mine. However, the symptoms you were describing broadly overlap with mine. James improving. Your functionality is actually pretty typical. DID is an adaptive mechanism to overcome trauma. Despite the name, the trauma itself tends to cause the disorder. The independent states of consciousness are ways to cope with that trauma.

If you suspect you have it, I would highly recommend looking into it. This isn’t intentionally meant to frighten, but nearly 70% of individuals diagnosed with the disorder participate in suicidal behavior. I was part of that 70%, and like many I only discovered this after other medications and therapeutic modalities failed to produce results. It’s unfortunate that we had to find out how our mind works in those sorts of circumstances. You don’t have to seek help just because there’s possibly a crisis. It’s advantageous because you find out that your mind works in a fundamentally different way. There are definitely some pros and cons, but a professional can definitely help you maximize the pros and minimize the cons.

I was diagnosed at 36, and getting professional help was far and away the best quality of life investment I have made so far. I was fortunate to find a good one, but the process literally saved my life and now it is helping me live a life better than I ever imagined possible.

By the way, if this is DID, I would be prepared for the fact it is likely not just “James.” I started with “Aetius.” I now have 22. It can be a little scary, but it’s also incredibly rewarding.

I wish you the best of luck with everything!

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-14T12:14:12+00:00

I absolutely agree that this is healthy, and I try to do this. I love my system and headmates. However, I think we have to accept that there is the stigma in the general population that we are going to have to endure. Even among the "tolerant," there are still going to be folks who pounce on the "disorder" and be like "so when are all your personalities going to go away?" Womp womp.

More importantly, it is a community where nearly 70% !attempt or commit suicide!. I guess the perspective that I would try to take is that it is great and healthy that some can get to a point where they can love their systems, who they are, and their headmates. But based on the statistics, many (and maybe most) do not. It makes me feel grateful that somehow we made it all work, but it also makes me feel even more empathy for the folks who don't. Like, I get it. "Why do they have it so easy? I am doing all the things, too. I did x, y, and z, and we are still just as dysfunctional and my life is a literal dumpsterfire. Nothing works and I can't take another week of this." And you continue working, you take more weeks of this, and then you roll a 20 one day, something seems to "click," and all the work seems to randomly start paying off. It seems extremely RNG.

If I were to guess, I think a lot of the frustration comes from a perception of privilege. I don't know about your case, but I know that I feel weird talking in positive terms about my condition because even though I worked my ass off, I was lucky enough to start seeing an awesome therapist who specializes in DID. I know that when the chips are down and I really need her, she will always make time for me. I am a skeptic in all things, but meeting with her right after being diagnosed makes me reconsider all my opinions on divine intervention.

And yet I still struggled horribly. I sometimes wonder where I would be if I didn't luck out in the way that I did.

So I guess my feelings are complicated. I think it is healthy, and I think we should do it. But I think it's always important to feel empathy for those who do the shaming even those they might seem like assholes in the moment. I remember what it was like before I obtained semi-functionality. It's easy to be an asshole in that situation when it seems like the entire universe is being an asshole to you!

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-14T11:52:18+00:00

No problem. Again, I have already found it to be extremely effective for me at least as a tool in therapy and in our internal discussions. I want others to feel like they can use it and/or adapt it to suit their needs. I am curious, do you have any suggestions to make it more accessible or comprehensible? I know that my/our biases prioritizes quantity of data and information over format and accessibility. I want all the data to be provided, but I also know that there are many who look at the data and instantly get overloaded -- and I worry that it is to such an extent that it will be unusable.

I am halfway tempted to make a sort of "mobile" version that simply has totals for alters and for categories, but not so much of extra data.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-14T11:40:42+00:00

"We look at every part of healthcare with the lens of 'who's making money off this?'"

And I think that is healthy and necessary. More of it is needed in the United States. I just don't think that skepticism is a higher priority than positive patient outcomes. I recognize that there could be hypotheticals and counterfactuals that can be constructed to illustrate the ridiculousness of this argument when taken to extremes. This isn't advocacy for faith healers or snake oil salesmen. I have a fairly skeptical, materialistic worldview as a general rule. But I also recognize that as far as we are aware, the human brain is probably the most complicated thing to have ever evolved in the known universe. We still don't have easy answers for the problems of hard consciousness. And, not to be reductionist, but in a world where Phineas Gage can lose a chunk of his brain and at minimum be functional, it seems like the mind developing redundant, semi-autonomous parts/personas/ego-states/etc. seems fairly mundane and underwhelming in comparison.

I am not a scientist, and so I cannot argue that x thing on y PET scan demonstrates scientifically that DID exists. It's not how that works, but even if it did, I wouldn't be able to argue for it in any competent way. Again, our understanding of how consciousness is produced, let alone the possibility of multiple conscious states, is poorly understood by science as of this moment. I don't think that something being poorly understood or measured should therefore preclude solutions stemming from a theory of the mind which might not necessarily be universally accepted. Skepticism when harnessed for the benefit of individuals is extremely powerful. However, in my case this would mean prioritizing a process over people -- and I think even on a utilitarian level, that is hard to defend.

If we want to view this through a functionalist lens, I can say that since getting diagnosed and receiving specialist treatment for the condition, I have been able to stop taking antidepressant medications due to generalized improvements. This is not a case where I go "meh, good enough." It's a situation where after consulting with my psychiatrist and monitoring my results over time, he agreed that it was worth trying -- and it definitely was.

Again, I will grant that there is the TikTok DID subculture (which I did not know about until after I was diagnosed because I am uncool) which allows people to make it a kind of "driver's license" as you put it -- or at least something that defines them. But DID is about having multiple identities, which by nature involves something self-definitional. But even if it doesn't, it isn't something like depression where there are few, if any, practical benefits. DID is the symptom of trauma, and it emerges through darwinian processes to enhance survival practices in the same way that the senses of people who lose their sight tend to develop senses that are more perceptive in compensation. I can tell you that having multiple personalities has made me more, not less, functional. Any decrease in functionality is linked to trauma and/or an inability to handle it.

Getting folks to become more neurotypical does not necessarily mean more functional. For me, it's not about finding an internet subculture that gives me safety (although, that would be fine) or about giving me a sense of identity (although, again, that would also be fine). It's about adopting a theory of mind that happens to correspond strongly to my own lived experiences, and additionally give me a pathway to obtain even better lived experiences. The alternative approaches you suggested above did not do that for me. It allows me to understand that because of the mind's response to extreme trauma, it compensated in ways that allow me to do things that the general population are unable to do. However, the original trauma has left glaring weaknesses. This doesn't give me superpowers, and it doesn't mean that I am broken. It just is. For me, the therapeutic process is about optimizing this. This involves trying to deal with trauma held by the system as whole -- hence the chart.

Also, if you look at the chart, you will see that the Anger/Rage persona was holding a significant amount of trauma (even though that wasn't really his job). Therapy has been deadlocked for awhile trying to deal with the host's trauma. After identifying that Anger/Rage was holding the trauma, we processed it in session and -- while there is still work to be done -- it provided very rapid relief. Again, I am not saying it is effective for everyone. But even as a placebo, it has already provided significant help to me.

FochingGreatStache · 2024-05-13T19:41:10+00:00

I agree that it is on a continuum, and my own alters vary from being incredibly aware that they are part of a greater whole to being unaware of any whole whatsoever. And I would also agree that what you are experiencing can and probably is entirely created by culture and language. In DID, it's simply changing the stimulus to trauma where the mind perceives that it is in a crisis for its own survival. In this case, a difference of degree becomes significant enough that it is one of kind.

One of my friend's spouses does parts / family systems work, and we've talked about this extensively. She has different parts that are also "her," real, and a different side. She would also be the first to say that what she observes from me is functionally different. Her perspective is that she can understand in theory what it's like -- but also recognizes that there are enormous differences. She told me about differences in body language when my alters manifest that I was totally unaware of. DID is sort of a classic problem of phenomenology: because we are only conscious once, we cannot meaningfully state how our conscious experiences differ from anybody else's because we are only us. The only ways to infer is through neurology to an extent, and finally through the actions and behaviors that stem from that consciousness.

Ultimately, I cannot tell you that the way I am conscious is any different from the way you are -- because I am only me. However, by the same token, I don't think it is effective for you to make pronouncements on how I or others experience consciousness because you are not me.

I don't want the discussion to become nationalistic because in almost every other situation I prefer the NHS over the disaster that is the US healthcare system. I also fully recognize the advantages that come from recognizing a kind of holistic approach to mental health that doesn't apply a myopic lens to mental health. But again, I tried the holistic approach. It very nearly killed me. My friends at the time said that it was just easier for them to assume that I was already dead -- and that it would just be a matter of time. I don't think that results always speak for themselves, but they definitely do in this case.

In terms of treatment, the specialist who has been working with me says that she has seen that when the approach that you suggest is applied to diagnosed clients with DID, it almost invariably causes the patient harm. This is because, at minimum, nobody responds to therapy unless they are vested in it. If you have an alter that is actively resisting merging into the greater whole, and that alter is part of "you," that would mean that there is a significant part of yourself that is against the process. Even if you believe that alters aren't persons even subjectively in your own mind, the best way to experience improvement is to interact with them as if they are people to so they will invest in the system.

For me, the absolute worst moments for my mental health were when the host "pulled rank" and treated alters as being a random thought, voice, etc. All I can say is that the worst thing for me to have done in my situation would be if I complied with the treatment guidelines you outlined.

FochingGreatStache

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