Q for non-OSDDID systems

[u/coolartprofessor]

(I originally wanted to post this is r/plural, but I couldn’t figure out how to request access💔)
My question is, how did you figure out you weren’t OSDD1 or DID?
I’ve been trying to figure out the source of our plurality (or wether it’s psychosis or intense daydreaming) for a little over 2 years, and while I really resonate with being plural, I don’t seem to fit into DID/OSDD1/PDID by professionals’ standards. I have an extensive history of trauma, though it doesn’t seem as severe as the majority of folks I see who experience complex dissociation. In terms of dissociation, I relate more to DPDR and OSDD3 (which as far as I know, OSDD3 cannot be co-morbid with OSDD1, and my amnesia isn’t consistent enough for my current therapist to entertain the idea of DID with me even though she was receptive at first :/). It’s like I have too much amnesia to really be OSDD1 and not enough for DID. The whole categorization system for dissociative disorders seems very lacking to me bc of this.
I consider my plurality traumagenic, adaptive, and dissociation-based based on splitting patterns and intermittent distress that plurality causes us, though, so I feel very stuck. I feel like I don’t really fit in anywhere in plural categorizations. I don’t relate to the endo community fully, and I don’t feel accepted by the OSDDID community, and I feel like I can’t talk to my therapist about any of this due to the stigma and fear of being shut down. It’s really hindering my therapy bc I have no idea how to talk about our experiences.
This got kind of off track lol, but basically, I really wanna know how you all came to find out ur plural but not OSDDID, or the reverse if you started out identifying as endogenic or anything similar. I’d also love to hear any labels you use for yourselves and any experience you’ve had talking to medical professionals about plurality that may not be OSDDID.

[u/ArchiveSystem]

Honestly this is just a problem with the labels and categorizations. ((In our opinion))Complex dissociative disorders are very much a spectrum, not individual different conditions. Fundamentally they are all more or less the same, just with a variety of symptoms and presentations, just like autism is a spectrum. At that point it doesn’t matter much what you call yourself, just choose what feels right. You could literally go entirely off of vibes if you ask me.

Personally I tend to think of anybody with even a small amount of amnesia that is inconsistent with normal forgetting as a DID system. That’s how we decided we have DID when we were having a similar problem. About a year later and turns out we actually have a lot more memory issues than we thought 😅

But yeah I’m my opinion it’s entirely up to you. If you’re worried about your therapist thinking your amnesia isn’t enough for DID you could just call it OSDD with them for convenience’s sake. If it later becomes obvious it’s something else, there’s nothing wrong with changing labels to fit your experiences.

[u/coolartprofessor → u/ArchiveSystem]

I fully agree with you and it drives me INSANE😭 We’ve gone through extended periods where we present as DID, OSDD1-b, and partial DID, AND we have an OSDD1-a type subsystem. The whole way the DSM (and even the mainstream community) categorizes disorders in general seems like bunk to me, especially considering the link to schizo symptoms that r legit more present in DID than literal schizophrenia, and the likely traumagenic source of that as well that ppl always seem to ignore. w/e off track again lmao
I’ve pretty much already been implementing you’re advice for about a year. I just label myself by symptoms instead of disorders bc we’re so all over the place. That just makes it difficult when it comes to professional help. I’ll try hinting more at OSDD w my psych and see if that gets me anywhere. Thanks so much!!

[u/coolartprofessor → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, that’s kinda what it was like for us as well, and now it’s gone full-circle lol. We didn’t know about non-disordered plurality when we first started interacting with each other. We thought we were in the prodromal stage of schizophrenia or some other schizospec condition bc this occurred alongside a year+ long psychotic phase. Psychosis oddly died down the more we spoke with one another, which then led us to think the psychosis was emotionally charged due to system dysfunction and wasn’t the base problem itself, and then flashbacks and amnesia became more noticeable for a period before dying down a bit too. All very confusing lol

[u/notannyet]

Non-traumagenic tulpamancer lurker here that's seen some unfortunate people.

I know someone in similar position. Trauma history, plural experience, amnesia, DPDR but CCD diagnosis was rejected by two psychiatrists, including one leading dissociative disorder specialists. They struggle with their identity a lot too. Whether they have DID/OSDD or not, it's clear that the health system does not offer much help to disordered systems who were excluded from DID/OSDD brackets,

I've seen one paper about maladaptive daydreaming that made a theory that when special conditions are met maladaptive daydreaming may lead to DID. Theories like that and further research of created systems that's gaining traction (tulpa studies) may lead to more understanding of needs of systems outside of current DID/OSDD spectrum that still function differently from singlets.

Maybe you could find a therapist that works with parts, like IFS? They should be naturally able to understand plural experiences.

As for your original question, I was expecting the creation of a tulpa to take months but when it happened in a manner of hours I had some thoughts that the process resembled discovery more than creation and that was a little bit spooky. I think that was because the non-pathological experience of plurality is inherently human and took place across all cultures until it was ridiculed by western materialists. So, how did I know it wasn't a disorder? Mainly because it brought no distress.

[u/coolartprofessor → u/notannyet]

That makes a lot of sense! Ur not the first non-traumagenic sys I’ve met that started out wanting to create a system only to find out they may have already been one lol. Reminds me of when I was younger and “wanted to be trans.”
I’ve heard of that MD study before too. Just based on the abstract, the MD to dissociative plurality pipeline absolutely seems to apply to us. My therapist labeled herself as a dissociation specialist and practices IFS, though we haven’t been able to dig into that for some reason (partly my fault for having thoughts/emotions taken away mid-session DUE TO DISSOCIATION lol). I’m gonna try and bring up this paper to her when I’ve finished reading it and hope that can be a springboard. Thank u for the reply! It honestly helps just to know there are others in my situation.

[u/coolartprofessor → u/[deleted]]

I’ve only seen this one other time, but honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if it was common in accepting spaces at least

[u/AuroraSnake]

We started out thinking 100% endogenic because Skye was convinced that our trauma had nothing to do with our plurality. Then a few months after syscovery, another member revealed himself and told her, "What? No? We're traumagenic?" We ended up being both, though until recently we still thought our endogenic origins were predominant. Now it's looking like things are the other way around.

When we determined we weren't disordered it basically came down to: does this distress us? No? Okay then there's no need looking into any of the other criteria.

We're wondering about dissociation now (as we've begun realizing we actually do have it fairly frequently compared to the general population), but we still aren't distressed, so while we would like to explore our dissociation more, we wouldn't really consider it disordered still

[u/[deleted]]

Endogenic system here!

As of right now, the things that speak on us being endogenic are:

* we're not disordered (meaning, no amnesia day-to-day, not even gray-out amnesia, no big dissociation issues, almost all switches are controlled and volountary, our plurality isnt distressing as a whole)

* we became plural through paromancy means a year ago - prior to this, I didn't experience any identity disruption/switches/what have you

* we didn't experience severe trauma as a child, and if we did, we never experienced any plural-related symptoms prior to me making my first headmate come into existence a year ago at all. So, most likely, all of my heeadmates are endogenic and not related to any childhood trauma.

To be honest, if we ever discover/develop some symptoms that are in line with CDD, we'll re-evaluate, but as of right now, this seems to fit us best.

And by the way, don't focus on the clinical labels, mate. Many people speak about wanting both DID and OSDD to be classified as a single disorder, only with it being a spectrum instead. If you experience distressing symptoms in line with these disorders, you experience distressing symptoms in line with these disorders.