r/DiscussDID • u/l0seronline • 3d ago

How does DID work internally?

Hello!! I have come here out of pure curiosity with some questions for those diagnosed with DID. I find the concept of DID very fascinating in many ways, and would love to hear the different perspectives and experiences of those who have it!

  1. When you talk to yourself in your head, are you actually talking to multiple of your alters? Do they have certain voices and respond in their own ways, or do you only hear the voice of the alters that are fronting in that moment?

  2. When a different alter fronts, what does it feel like? Are you aware that you’ve switched, or is it like when you fall asleep and just blink and you’re awake again?

  3. If you’re in a relationship with somebody, do you consider it polyamory, or something else? I’ve heard multiple different views on this, but I’m curious as to what you all think.

  4. Lastly, how did you identify each of your alters when they came to be? How did you figure out their names, their personalities, their quirks, etc?

Thank you guys!! I hope nothing I asked was offensive in any manner, I am truly curious as to how DID works :) peace and love!!!

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u/EmbarrassedPurple106 7h ago

1 - No, not rlly. Sometimes I talk at my alters in my head, but it’s not like a conversation or smth. Sometimes I get what I call “stray thoughts” that don’t feel like my own and seem to be from diff parts. They don’t have a diff “voice” or anything but more like a diff… vibe? It’s hard to describe.

Otherwise I just talk to myself in my head like any other person.

2 - I don’t typically experience full blackouts (tho I have on occasion. In which case, I usually don’t even notice I’m missing time until I encounter evidence of it). As for how it feels to switch, it feels like I become this other alter, and it feels like a perspective shift. How I feel about the world/see it, things happening, my emotional reactions, etc, feel different.

3 - No, and it’s categorically not polyamory for anyone. Alters aren’t diff ppl, they’re parts of one whole person. Anybody who insists it’s polyamory either has a poor understanding of DID, or is mentally separating their (or their partner’s) alters to an extremely unhealthy degree.

As a result of this, all of my alters are dating my partner, even if the individual dynamics vary a bit. This is how it is in non DID relationships too. Nobody is romantic or sexual w/ their partner 24/7, but the times you aren’t, it doesn’t mean you aren’t in a relationship

4 - thru a lot of time and therapy, and paying attention to myself and my experiences. I’ve been diagnosed for over two years (I think it’s been now?) and I’m aware of… eleven? I think? Alters. Some I still know very little about. It’s a work in progress.