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People may not become aware they are part of a dissociative system until adulthood for a variety of reasons. A big reason is that the system may not feel safe…

Fragments are often more focused or specific than alters. They typically hold a specific emotion, memory, or function. Alters tend to have a broader range of experience or a more…

While it might feel odd to think of yourself this way, yes, you are an alter like the others in your system. If you are the part who has been…

An alter’s sense of identity may develop from experience or need: an authority figure in their life may have told the part how evil they were, and the part took…

Alters do not have individual physical bodies, so they cannot physically kill another alter. Sometimes an alter doesn’t understand that killing the body will not only kill the other alter…

Alters in dissociative systems can have different ages because dissociation often separates experiences, emotions, needs, and survival responses according to developmental periods. Some parts may hold experiences connected to early…

No. Not every dissociative system has an inner world, and having one is not required for a diagnosis of DID or OSDD. Some systems have vivid, detailed inner worlds, while…

No, there is no “normal” number of alters in a dissociative system. System size can vary considerably, ranging from only a few alters to dozens or even hundreds. Systems with…

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is missed or overlooked for multiple reasons. One is that systems usually work very hard to be unnoticed. Another reason is lack of training among therapists…

Intrusive thoughts are thoughts that keep repeating in your head when you don’t want them to. They can occur in both Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD), but…