Work exhausts you more than it seems to exhaust other people because you are likely managing ongoing invisible tasks common to dissociative systems. These tasks can require a great deal…
Yes, you can experience decompensation even after years of stability. This is because decompensation is a reaction to severe stress. Major life changes, medical issues, sleep disruption, trauma anniversaries, relational…
Even if you are not consciously aware that a trauma anniversary is approaching, your nervous system may be. This can activate the nervous system, increasing anxiety, dissociation, hypervigilance, nightmares, shutdown,…
When you are approaching or in the middle of a trauma anniversary, it can be helpful to simplify where possible. That is, reduce the demands you and your system need…
If you notice a decline in how well you are functioning every year at around the same time, you may be experiencing a trauma anniversary. Decompensation often happens when the…
System communication includes any way parts share information, emotions, needs, memories, opinions, or reactions with each other. Many people think of system communication as verbal. In reality, many systems communicate…
Yes, it is very normal for system communication to take time. Many systems begin with little or no awareness of other parts. Even with awareness, the ability to communicate with…
Daily system meetings are one of the most powerful habits you can build for your dissociative system. This one habit accomplishes several important things: It creates predictability. Predictability increases safety,…
When alters go quiet, it doesn’t usually mean they’re gone. Silence in a DID system often reflects one of three things: overwhelm, conservation of energy, or stability. Sometimes parts withdraw…
Yes, witnessing violence or abuse, especially against someone you love, can be traumatic. Complex trauma is trauma that develops from repeated, ongoing, or inescapable experiences and changes how a person…