#cdds

[sysmedsaresexist]

Sorry if this is annoying/you have been asked this already but we have been seeing more and more posts trying to deny that Alters/headmates are separate people and that they are actually just you but separated by amnesia barriers.

it’s very confusing to us since we have OSDD 1 and view ourselves as distinctly different people just inhabiting the same body

is that wrong of us to think? (We also get confused since a lot of said posts say it’s “scientifically accurate” but we have checked the DEM multiple times and talked to our therapist and we can’t seem to find where it says that headmates can’t be separate people)

I actually haven't been asked this in a long time.

First off, the "amnesia barriers" thing is an AI talking shit about nothing in Google results. It's inaccurate, and I wish it would go away. Dissociative barriers are not only caused by amnesia, and the result of them is not always amnesia, but that's me being pissy.

Now, as for how people view themselves.

You do you, boo ❤️

Fuck the haters.

I'm going to explain this as simply as possible. This is a very general overview.

The ToSD asserts that no one is born with an integrated sense of self. During normal, uninterrupted development, childrens' action and defense systems begin to cohesively work together to create... The person you would become, I suppose. You learn to prioritize your needs and wants and create plans for yourself using a cohesive set of thoughts. For example, you're hungry but also need a shower. Your experiences have shaped you to prioritize and perform actions in certain ways. Some people will eat first, then shower, some will shower first and eat second. And these decisions are influenced by the totality of all of your experiences.

In CDDs, these action systems become separated-- dissociated away, not hidden by amnesia. If your parents were particularly cruel around food, you may have pushed those needs away, and that action system develops within itself, beginning its own prioritization process. In many cases, we lose access to those systems, and they no longer play a normal part in our decision-making.

For many, we don't have any access to those parts that we originally rejected. Some parts become alters, some parts are just fragments, but we struggle to cohesively and strategically place those needs in our day to day lives. We struggle to communicate with those parts. They have drastically different wants and needs and priorities, and access to their own unique coping skills (that may or may not be good for the system as a whole).

At any given time, we only have full, cohesive access to parts of our lives, skills, techniques, needs, thoughts, the list keeps going.

This is "parts of a whole."

This is what parts language is.

It's what I believe and it's what's helped my system.

This does not have anything to do with how autonomous or individualized alters can become, how separate, how they view themselves.

Some people relate much more heavily to this particular framework, some can understand but don't like it applied to them, some don't feel it applies at all to their system.

It's a mechanism of how CDDs develop, and within this framework, you can use whatever language you prefer. Not all parts work is parts focused. Alters can see themselves as their own people, they can wish for their own lives and dream of having their own body. Therapists can and do empathize with these feelings, and they play no part in the success or failure of treatment.

Are you all working together to stay alive and keep out of jail? Does your whole system understand they share a body?

Yes? Great, you're good to go. Use whatever language feels right.

We are parts, but we're also people within our own rights, and that's okay.

It's a huge framework. Explore it.

[butterednuttered]

🌈SYSTEM EDUCATION DISCORD SERVER!⭐

🌀HELLO! DO YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COMPLEX DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS SUCH AS DID, OSDD, OR PARTIAL DID? WE HAVE A WONDERFUL SERVER FOR YOU! 🌌WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS SERVER

a diverse group of people with different experiences

research papers, case studies, dsm-5 pages, books, etc on dissociation

a silly funny community

an application system for gaining access to channels that discuss personal experiences, questions, and general chat

a screenreader and dyslexic friendly environment!

a syskid safe environment

we accept tons of people into our server!

🪐SOME BASIC RULES

endos and their supportters are heavily encouraged not to join, as we don't support endos in this server, however, people who are neutral on the topic are fine

if you are found to have been actively fakeclaiming people, especially on r/SystemsCringe, you are still welcome to stay, but you will be perma-banned from social and discussions channels! (we have had to do this before.)

13+ server!! meaning NO NSFW. INVITE: https://discord.com/invite/E2raRCk6QR

[mischiefmanifold]

okay kind of interested in this so

didn't include an option for neither because I don't want screwy results. also endos do not touch thanks

reblog for reach please 🙏

[cdd-safe-haven]

Hello, weary traveller!

An exciting update!

So, we're not going to talk about it, but this blog was hidden for a bit. That's okay, though, because it's fixed!

Remember to always keep going, keep trying, keep your chin up. I know we've all taken a lot of hits over our lives already. I know you're tired.

But sometimes the blows don't land.

Remember to find humor in the bad, to laugh, breathe out, relax your shoulders, and let the ones that don't matter roll off of you.

An easy fight is still a battle won.

I bet you've got more wins under your belt than you think.

I mean, you're still here, right?

Enjoy the small things. Take a rest. You deserve it.

You've come a long way, haven't you? ❤️

[circulars-reasoning]

Hey! I’m not touching this discourse directly with a 10 foot pole, especially since drama hungry folks are on the prowl for anything with an acronym in it, but!

I started using CDD as an acronym to take the place of DIDOSDD, primarily because CDD felt more obviously inclusive of the disorders often unmentioned. I feel like writing out DIDOSDDDDNOSUDDPDIDMPD would be… a mouthful.

I’ve seen a few folks stirring up this idea that it was being used as a way to exclude traumagenic non-disordered systems or endogenic systems… Nope! I feel like I’m partially why it gained so much popularity in syscourse since I started using it so regularly, and I can attest, it had literally nothing to do with non-disordered individuals. I just wanted a clearer way to abbreviate “any dissociative disorder with a medically complex structure that forms a system.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[flirts-with-dragons]

Girls with DID will be thinking everything is normal until they full blackout switch in the middle of therapy with no idea why they have tears all over their face

It's me im Girls

[korya-elana]

I've been thinking a lot about the discourse around "is bullying bad enough to cause CDDs" and I came to the realization that I think bullying is why the brain created me at all.

Coming to the conclusion that I am not the "original" alter and specifically a fictive, was a very difficult realization for me and it's taken a long time for me to accept it. It still makes me uncomfortable if I think about it for too long. I don't have any memories before first grade. And that school was ... bad.

We grew up in the ghetto. The bus ride to school was an hour and a half. The school (which was eventually shut down for poor testing scores) had barbed wire on top of the fence and frequent creepy men that would walk outside the fence. We were told under no circumstances were we to talk to the people outside the fence that surrounded the playground. My brother and I were two out of the only three white kids at school, so we were picked on and bullied by kids and teachers alike.

I remember frequently sobbing for the entire hour and a half home after school, curled up and huddled as much as I could, because the girls on the bus were actively trying to cut off my hair while the bus driver ignored the situation. The principal herself would tell my family that I was faking illness or injury. I had to read a book for English that dealt with child abuse and that made me extremely uncomfortable (gee wow, I wonder why) and the teacher lectured me in front of the entire class, threatened to send me to detention and forced me to finish the book. I was hit a lot by other kids. The situation was so bad that my brother and I were eventually pulled from the school and we did homeschool for a few years.

All this to say that yes, I do truly believe that bullying when young can create CDDs. If this was adult on kid violence, it would be called child abuse. If it was an adult insulting a kid, it would be verbal and mental abuse. Bullying is just abuse between children and it can go on for years. Very rarely is bullying a single instance.

~Em

[multiplicity-positivity]

is it normal for people with cdd's to have less dissociative barriers or more disociative barriers ? or just the same amount as an adult ?

it’s definitely normal for people with cdds to have more dissociative barriers than their peers without dissociative disorders.

that’s a big part of the nature of dissociative disorders. these disorders create dissociative barriers between alters which in turn blocks alters and memories off from each other.

we’re not certain about the existence of dissociative barriers in singlets, but we have a strong feeling that people without dissociative disorders deal with dissociative barriers incredibly rarely, if at all.

you can learn more about dissociative disorders in our resource post for questioning systems. there is a whole section with links to articles and info on dissociative disorders.

🐢 kip, 💫 parker, and 🌸 margo

edit: it’s also true that people with ptsd and other trauma disorders may struggle with dissociation and dissociative barriers!

[circular-bircular]

Reassurance for those out there: Emotional amnesia is absolutely valid, real, and something many systems experience. You’re valid if that’s your primary form of amnesia.

[aurangg]

Something really not talked about with trauma disorders is the paranoia.

Being scared and jumping to conclusions when people stand a little too close to you, not believing people’s compliments and thinking they have hidden motives, not believing when people tell you they like/love you, thinking that strangers you see on the street want to hurt you, etc.

[sysmedsaresexist]

The notion that one has options from which to choose is often more important than the particular option one initially selects.

Anthony, W. (2000). A Recovery oriented service system: Setting some system level standards. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 24(2), 159-168.

Dignity of Risk vs Duty of Care is one of the most frustrating things I had to learn and fight to understand.

It still holds me back, I still struggle with this concept.

Duty of care:

This is a legal term, with clearly defined meaning. Duty of care is the responsibility of organizations (and the people who work in them) to ensure they do no harm to the people they support. But it doesn’t mean the organisation has to protect the person from themselves.

Dignity of risk:

Dignity of risk refers to the right of an individual to make choices and take risks in order to learn, grow, and have a better quality of life.

The right to make choices for self-determination and medical autonomy is assumed until it is established that assistance is required.

This threshold is very high.

And the duty at that point will never fall to you. It'll go to family and friends, court appointed officials.

It will never be your decision, and it will never be appropriate for you to judge those decisions.

Capacity for decision-making

Capacity is decision specific. Someone can have capacity in one area of life and not in another.

It is important to assess the person’s capacity to make the decision, NOT the decision they are making.

This is further complicated by mental health topics over physical health, and by the rise of the internet and new dangers.

Striking the right balance between dignity of risk and duty of care is not always straightforward, and it requires ongoing reflection, flexibility, and a commitment to upholding the rights and dignity of every individual-- not the people that would hurt those individuals. People will define these concepts differently for themselves, and it's possible you will completely disagree with their decisions.

And that's fine.

Dignity of risk is a human right that we all have.

Teaching safe skills and having conversations regarding safety isn't that hard, though.

It's not appropriate to tell people what to do on their healing journey. It is appropriate to kindly remind people of certain risky behaviors.

It's not appropriate to judge people for their decisions, behaviors, or for living life in a way that makes them happiest. It is appropriate to stand up to people that take advantage of those with diminished capacity and harm those exercising their right to risk in non-harmful ways.

You disagreeing does not mean something is harmful.

Instead of telling people what NOT to do, maybe we should try educating others about these concepts and stand against cringe culture, which affects EVERY disorder.

Instead of telling people to hide things and live their lives in a bubble of mock safety, maybe we remind others that it's kind of shitty to make sweeping judgements and cruel remarks about things they neither experience or understand, and about people they don't know at all.

Instead of telling people what NOT to do, maybe we support people and be shoulders to lean on, while calling out the actual problematic behavior.

I hope no one laughs at your life decisions and posts you to a cringe site, putting you in a position to have to justify your right to autonomy and happiness, and forcing you to "prove" yourself.

Let people live.

For those trying to go into the mental health field, I hope you're never licensed because you'll be shit at it.

If you wouldn't say it to a client or patient sitting in front of you, maybe don't say it all.

[butterednuttered]

🌈SYSTEM EDUCATION DISCORD SERVER!⭐

🌀HELLO! DO YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COMPLEX DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS SUCH AS DID, OSDD, OR PARTIAL DID? WE HAVE A WONDERFUL SERVER FOR YOU! 🌌WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS SERVER

a diverse group of people with different experiences

research papers, case studies, dsm-5 pages, books, etc on dissociation

a silly funny community

an application system for gaining access to channels that discuss personal experiences, questions, and general chat

a pretty good middle ground for people who use typing quirks and keep proxies for comfort as well as people who use screen readers and/or are dyslexic

a syskid safe and non-infantilizing environment

🪐SOME BASIC RULES

endos and their supporters are heavily encouraged not to join, as we don't support endos in this server, however, people who are neutral on the topic are fine

if you are found to have been actively fakeclaiming people, especially on r/SystemsCringe and r/FakeDisorderCringe, you will be perma-banned from social and discussions channels, or even the entire server. (we have had to do this before.)

13+ server!! meaning NO NSFW. INVITE: https://discord.com/invite/E2raRCk6QR

[mischiefmanifold]

Uh, small correction on your last post, different alters can hold symptoms for different disorders (like personality disorders and stuff) but they don't have the disorder on their own. the brain itself has the disorder, that alter just holds symptoms for it (making it seem like they're the only one who has it even if that technically isnt true)

while this is true for disorders that are genetic or occur from birth (e.g. autism, cerebral palsy, ehlers-danlos syndrome), it’s different for disorders that are acquired by stress or trauma.

there is evidence that different alters can have different visual prescriptions, medication response, allergies, heart rate, blood pressure readings, muscle tension, EEG readings (brain activity readings), immune function, and more [source]. there are even accounts of alters having diabetes when the rest of the system doesn’t and reacting wildly differently to anesthesia depending on the alter fronting [source].

it’s common knowledge that alters can have different gaits, handwriting, handedness, styles, music tastes, literal tastes, sensory issues, etc., and it’s also pretty widely known that we don’t actually know all that much about the brain and how it works.

disorders like autism are present from birth and so are always present in every single alter no matter when they split off because they’re splitting off from a wholly autistic brain. when different alters experience different traumas (e.g. specific alters being forced out to be abused in ritual abuse), they develop their own trauma responses and their own coping skills that are separate to the other alters. if they get severe enough there’s no reason why one alter can’t have a specific mental disorder like agoraphobia or narcissistic personality disorder.

[candyrain-collective]

a comic about my experience with other people's perception of my DID/OSDD. might do more pages in the future? we'll see.

[boyswillbedogz]

trauma so bad my coping mechanisms have names and pronouns

[interstellarsystem]

Shoutout to singlets that accept systems for who they are. Singlets who ask respectful questions and try to understand us. Singlets who do their best to accommodate different headmates and make them feel included. Singlets who listen to what systems have to say. You're so important. Please keep doing what you do.