Why Can DID and OSDD Create “Knowing but Not Knowing” Experiences?

People with dissociative systems can experience the often uncomfortable feeling of “knowing but not knowing” due to dissociation. Because of dissociative barriers, information contained within the system may not be accessible. Dissociative barriers can also cause information to feel uncertain or unreliable. In some cases, the person may have access to knowledge but it doesn’t feel like “theirs” in some way.

In dissociative systems, different parts may have different access to information and information is often shared unevenly across the system.

Common examples of “knowing but not knowing” experiences include:

• Knowing you have an appointment but feeling unsure where you learned about it
• Knowing a trauma occurred while feeling emotionally disconnected from it
• Knowing what another part likes, thinks, or feels without remembering how you learned it
• Being certain of something one day and questioning it the next

These experiences are common in many dissociative systems. While they may cause people to doubt information they know, they often reflect differences in how information is accessed within the system.

This page is part of the What Is Dissociation? section of the CommuniDID site, which explains how dissociation works and why it develops.

Explore related topics:

• Questions about dissociation
• How to Recognize When You’re Dissociating
• What Else Could It Be If It’s Not Dissociation?

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