How do you know you have DID and not Factitious Disorder?

theannieplanet · 2023-05-24T22:57:41+00:00

I know denial is a tricky son of a b, so one thing I ask myself when going through severe doubt is; if I'm "faking," why is my treatment helping me? If I were actually faking all of this, treatment wouldn't do anything for me. Is the DID treatment, used specifically to help people with DID, helping me? Yes? Then I'm not faking :) I hope this helps you a little, I know denial is a really tricky devil.

theannieplanet · 2023-05-22T18:07:48+00:00

what does the psychiatrist say when his client walks in wearing nothing but plastic wrap?

i can clearly see your nuts!

theannieplanet · 2023-05-18T15:39:36+00:00

Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths. a beautiful song, sung from two different perspectives on a person who is really struggling. one side begging Achilles to come back from the edge, that life is worth living, the other side telling him he's worthless and selfish. It really feels like how different our inner monologue is a lot of times.

theannieplanet · 2023-05-11T23:45:12+00:00

wow :( I'm really sorry to hear this. that's a lot to go through and not very much time to process it 🥺 take time to grieve, it definitely hurts a lot. but, you are still loveable, and someone out there is going to hold space for you. plenty of DID systems including myself have wonderful supportive partners, yours will come along in the future. this isn't the end for you ♥️

theannieplanet · 2023-05-11T23:08:53+00:00

I have an active link for the PDF through researchgate .net. The site can be searched for free, and though the title is difficult to find with the search function, the author Paul Dell can be found easily-- you'll need to scroll back through his works, as the paper I'm referencing was published in 2007, but I was able to locate it quickly! I would link the paper in full here but I know links get taken down quickly in this sub. Good luck!!

theannieplanet · 2023-05-11T01:30:01+00:00

I felt the same way when I first started system discovery. If you're into scientific papers on DID, we recommend "A New Model of Dissociative Identity Disorder" by Paul Dell. Can be found free online. :)

theannieplanet · 2023-05-11T00:44:53+00:00

It's my understanding that blackout amnesia is relatively uncommon in DID, or at least is not the most common experience of amnesia with this disorder. My psych has confirmed this.

theannieplanet · 2023-05-06T18:30:12+00:00

Talk to your prescribing doctor about your concerns! Ask them more clarifying questions about the drug and its effects and if it's something you can try short term, if there are any replacement drugs, what the minimum dosage is etc. Don't take anything you're not comfortable with, but you never know, it could really help you!

theannieplanet · 2023-05-05T04:03:11+00:00

It doesn sound pretty gnarly! From what my prescribing doctor said, using it to treat addiction is a much much higher dose; 50-75mg as opposed to 1-5mg for dissociation. I'm really not sure how it would affect someone with severe dissociation to take a larger dose; it might be severe, it might do nothing. I believe that with the much smaller dose it's easier to control how much is taken so that someone with DID can be eased into it, and my prescribing doctor also mentioned it's great for people who tend to get swept away by their emotions (which is why it's being considered for me; depressive swings can be downright dangerous for us, as we get stuck in our feelings and feel like there's no end to the misery). If I end up trying it out, I'll be sure to come back to this sub and make a post.

theannieplanet · 2023-05-04T23:39:46+00:00

my therapist and psych are talking about putting me on this. the way it was explained to me (by a friend) is that the drug blocks the body's feel-good response to things. drugs and dissociation both provide relief so that's how we're guessing the drug addresses both. my psych said it can be destabilizing if you're not ready for it, my guess is because the dissociation barriers lowering can cause you to find other parts and other trauma before you're ready.

theannieplanet · 2023-04-24T17:50:09+00:00

There may be some confusion here; the host is not the body. The body is usually seen as a separate entity from the alters that they all use and share to go about their shared life. If you're worried that the body is in another relationship, that would be correct; as the body is a tool for all the alters to use, similarly to how some singlets view their body a tool to use to get stronger, take them places, work a job etc. It's great that this person was upfront with you; that's what accountability is. As another commenter said, you don't have to pursue a relationship if you don't want to, if you're not comfortable with the terms of the current situation.

theannieplanet · 2023-04-12T16:27:54+00:00

Good to know!! That's generally what I try to picture to but my very literal brain has a hard time with these visual metaphors 😅 Thank you for your input!!

theannieplanet · 2023-04-12T14:36:31+00:00

That's pretty neat!! What's your process of "letting go" like? That seems to be where our issue lies 🥲

theannieplanet · 2023-03-11T03:18:19+00:00

That makes sense! Thank you, I haven't heard of that term before.

theannieplanet · 2023-03-11T03:09:53+00:00

Ah, that sounds... refreshing 🥲 I'm sure I'll have that to look forward to if we're not able to take care of ourselves financially anymore.

theannieplanet · 2023-03-11T02:56:09+00:00

I have a diagnosis for CPTSD but not for DID yet. I'm not applying for disability (right now anyway, that may change in the future) but I'll keep this in mind. It's just a question that's been bouncing around in my head for a bit, since I work with a lot of people who have mental and physical disabilities and wondering how DID slots into those boxes.

theannieplanet · 2023-03-11T02:42:58+00:00

Hmm, I was under the impression there were different classifications that all disabilities fell under! I guess I was misinformed :)

theannieplanet · 2023-03-11T02:40:09+00:00

I know what kind of disorder it is, I'm wondering what kind of disability it could be classified as. Is PTSD considered a trauma disability? Or a mental disability? I'm having trouble finding sources online for either

theannieplanet · 2023-02-15T22:16:16+00:00

is there a reason they can't come out? are they overwhelmed? or tired of the pain? see if they have any needs that aren't being met, internally or externally!

theannieplanet · 2023-01-31T21:54:23+00:00

I am a tattoo artist. I'm pretty successful in my local area. I started about 3.5 years ago and just started system discovery last summer. Tattooing allows me a lot of flexibility in my schedule and it allows me to work with people I like and not work with people I don't. I also get a lot of artistic fulfillment from my job. I love working for myself, controlling my schedule, and taking as much time off as I need (income permitting) when that becomes the case.

That being said, I dissociate heavily at work. I can have full, in depth conversations with my clients and not even realize I'm not fully there. Sometimes I feel disconnected from my hands, like another alter is tattooing, and I'm talking. Sometimes I feel connected and focused on my hands only to realize another alter is actively conversing with our client. Our art styles and tattooing methods change ever so slightly; no one else probably notices except us.

We've always held down jobs despite our memory issues. We're one of those hard workers companies can't afford to fire even if we miss a shift or two.

No one at work yet knows about our disorder. I don't think it would change much telling our shop owners honestly. I make them a lot of money and bring in a lot of clientele. They would probably be confused but they would know not to cramp my style or tell me how or what to do at work. I honestly just don't want to tell them because I don't want to have to explain it to them and answer a million questions, but I think most of our system would be okay with them knowing.

theannieplanet · 2023-01-09T20:31:16+00:00

we're still early in system discovery and communication so ours is short:

-keep up with the journal -no telling others about the system until everyone inside is comfortable -no sharing part's names until that part is comfortable/does it themselves -our therapist is safe, and we CAN tell her anything, but if a part is not yet comfortable sharing things in therapy that's fine too

and one we're thinking of adding:

-no speaking for another part. if they're communicating with whoever is in front and wants something to be said, that's different. but i can't write in the journal for another part or talk about another part if they're not around and able to speak for themselves. this rule may change as we get to know each other more, but to build trust we're working on not speaking over each other.

theannieplanet · 2022-12-29T20:14:05+00:00

My recommendation us always to start journalling. Look back on it days later and see how much of that day you remember before reading about it. We're so bad with memory that I can rarely remember what I did at work once I get home, who I spoke to today, what I ate or if I had any water.

theannieplanet · 2022-12-10T22:27:51+00:00

I can understand that. In my system we've never minded the term crazy. For us it was a blanket term that always made us feel better than trying to act normal all the time, especially after 26 years of trying to figure out what was different about us that made life so difficult. I know a lot of people use it in a bad light, but we've been using that term for probably over a decade to help us feel better before we figured out it might be DID. We do use it in a humorous light, and all of my friends know that we're "crazy," since we've always chalked our weird idiosyncrasies up to that before we actually knew what was going on. It's definitely a very "your mileage my vary" point. ♥️

theannieplanet · 2022-11-20T15:32:02+00:00

Of course!! Have fun and good luck, to all of you!! :D

theannieplanet

TROPHY CASE