Every Symptom Was Once a Solution: Understanding Trauma Responses in DID

(Summary) Many adults with DID or OSDD struggle with symptoms that feel confusing, frustrating, or self-defeating in the present. This article explores a trauma-informed idea that can reduce shame and self-blame: many present-day symptoms once functioned as survival strategies in childhood. When children grow up in unsafe or overwhelming environments, they develop creative ways to cope without support, protection, or choice. Understanding how these early solutions formed — and why they may no longer be helpful now — can offer a foundation for compassion, clarity, and meaningful change.

It might sound unbelievable, but every present-day symptom was once an attempt at a solution to a problem.

Before I go any further, I want to be very clear about what I’m not saying. I’m not saying present-day symptoms are good. I’m not saying they aren’t causing problems now. And I’m not saying you shouldn’t want to change them.

What I am saying is that many of the things people struggle with now originally developed because they helped a child survive something very difficult.

For people with DID and OSDD, many present-day symptoms formed in childhood. Conditions then were very different from conditions now. Children didn’t have the ability to leave unsafe situations. They didn’t have power to change what was happening. They couldn’t choose their caregivers or set boundaries.

So children had to figure out ways to survive inside those conditions.

In most cases, they had to do that on their own. They often didn’t have healthy adults teaching them how to cope with overwhelming emotions, how to calm themselves, or how to have their boundaries respected. They couldn’t learn skills they didn’t know existed — skills that children in safer, more supportive environments were able to learn naturally.

The strategies they developed were the best alternatives they had at the time.

If you are an adult survivor of complex trauma in childhood, you developed your own coping strategies that may be less helpful now. It is possible to change this. I think the first step is to appreciate how creative and resourceful you were as a child. Even if they frustrate you now, those strategies truly helped you survive as a child.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this mean my symptoms are good or that I shouldn’t want them to change?

No. Understanding how a symptom once helped you survive doesn’t mean it isn’t causing problems now or that change isn’t needed. This perspective is about reducing shame and confusion, not about excusing harm or avoiding growth.

Why would a child develop strategies that later become harmful?

Children adapt to the environments they’re in, not the ones they wish they had. When safety, support, or choice aren’t available, children use whatever options are available to manage fear, overwhelm, or danger. Those strategies are shaped by necessity, not foresight.

If these strategies helped before, why do they cause problems now?

The conditions that made those strategies necessary often no longer exist. What helped a child survive an unsafe environment can interfere with relationships, health, or daily functioning in adulthood, where more options and supports may be available.

Does this apply to dissociation, self-harm, or other behaviors I feel ashamed of?

Yes. Many behaviors that feel confusing or distressing now developed because they reduced pain, overwhelm, or danger at an earlier time. Recognizing their original purpose can make it easier to approach change with compassion rather than self-blame.

Does understanding this mean symptoms will automatically go away?

Understanding alone usually isn’t enough to create change, but it often makes change possible. When symptoms are approached as attempts to solve a problem rather than failures or defects, systems are often more open to learning new strategies.

How does this perspective help with healing?

This way of understanding symptoms can reduce shame, increase curiosity, and support cooperation within a dissociative system. Healing becomes less about forcing behaviors to stop and more about creating enough safety, skill, and support that older strategies are no longer the only options.