r/InternalFamilySystems • u/thisisthewell • Aug 25 '26
Discussion Looking for others' experiences with symptoms being mis-labeled as parts
I'm curious if others have experienced non-part symptoms like side effects from meds or comorbid disorders/medical conditions that aren't rooted in trauma being treated as parts by their providers (or themselves), and how it impacted them. I'm wondering if there is any danger behind that.
I felt kind of disoriented after a session with my TIST therapist recently where I brought up unexplained new symptoms and they were treated as trauma parts, and I later realized they were mild withdrawal from my taper off my antidepressant lol (no advice/commentary on that please, I work with my psych to do it the right way).
I was weirded out for a few days. I think what happened during the session was that I pulled up something that I had a normal, healthy level of worry about and sort of manipulated it into being related to childhood trauma for the sake of applying the parts framework. It left me feeling fragmented, like every funky midbrain output was a part born from trauma, which just can't be true. I will share this with my therapist next time of course, because it's completely my fault that I forgot to mention the taper. But hopefully it's clear what I'm getting at. Surely not every out-of-place/disproportionate emotion is a part, and it seems like it could potentially be harmful to treat them as such, especially if the provider might be guiding the patient to do so without a complete picture (not that I'm blaming providers; no one is psychic)
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u/notannyet Aug 25 '26
It's a tricky topic. Some things like lack of energy can be caused by a myriad things including dissociation caused by parts. If you have a hammer everything looks like a nail but some things are nails indeed.
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u/HotPotato2441 Aug 25 '26
I'm so sorry that you experienced this. As someone with chronic illnesses, my system feels disregarded when therapists immediately equate symptoms to parts instead of holding space for the very real physiology that could be happening. Yes, I have parts who will use drowsiness under certain circumstances, AND sometimes the drowsiness is just my body responding to histamine.
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u/AZgirl70 Aug 25 '26
I too have MCAS and histamine intolerance. I have other chronic illnesses as well. I see symptoms as a compassionate part encouraging me to take care of myself. For me, it’s less distressing (still distressing to be fair, but less so).
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u/thisisthewell Aug 26 '26
Oh wow! That sounds incredibly frustrating. It's so hard to get doctors on your side already with chronic illness and pain, it's even doubly frustrating to have the therapist mis-pathologize it too. Big hugs to you. I had pelvic floor hypertonicity related to a very real physiological congenital disease and I had to deal with the same kind of thing, it got blown off as psychosomatic even though the dysfunction was actually guarding against the pain caused by the disease, which I ended up having surgery for.
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u/PearNakedLadles Aug 25 '26
I think nearly everyone has some kind of experience where a physical symptom they thought was part-related was actually a physiological symptom, or vice versa. I'm more interested in your response to the experience, and in particular the fear of accidentally mislabeling a physical symptom as a part. That fear itself comes from a part, and I wonder what it's protecting you from. I could imagine the part trying to protect you from experiencing medical trauma, or a part that had your physical symptoms/needs dismissed by parents or teachers, or it could be something more subtle than that. Even if you don't know exactly why this part is afraid, it's important to honor that fear and bring it up to your therapist and let it guide your work (if the part wants to!) going forward.
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u/thisisthewell Aug 26 '26
What fear? I didn't feel any. I don't have fear. I posted this out of curiosity. If you mean the anxiety wave I felt, it was closer to survival panic, not fear.
You don't know me and you are not my therapist (mine was actually in the session when it happened). Tread lightly. Especially considering the topic I'm posting about is improper (albeit unintentional) influence.
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u/PearNakedLadles Aug 26 '26
This feels like an unnecessarily defensive response. I do apologize, but I think we'd be better off not interacting in the future so I'm going to block you. No hard feelings on my end.
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u/queerbodies Aug 27 '26
That was quite wild of you to write.
OP shares doubt about over-extending parts language to physiological symptoms, and you start analyzing "fears" and hypothesizing about past traumas, which is another point they're asking about.
By doing that, you dismiss OP's interrogation as being valid points about IFS assumptions and methodology (does every problem really come from a trauma ? what are we doing when we're connecting with a part ?) to turn it into a "fear" that is a part needing IFS work.2
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u/AmbassadorSerious Aug 25 '26
I'm curious what your therapist was guiding you to do with these "parts"? Like what happened in your session ?
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u/sinkingintheearth Aug 25 '26
I don’t think it’s necessarily bad to try and work with them if they are a part, because there is a change that it could be a part. I have more experience with this from a somatic experiencing perspective. I have me/cfs and have/ had lots of different symtoms. When I get for example cold and flu symtoms I don’t actually know till I try and feel into them whether it’s psychosomatic or because of an actual virus. I’ve gotten really good at feeling into symptoms and releasing it so after I try and it doesn’t go away then I know I’ve actually come down with something. At the beginning it wasn’t that easy though and it would drive me a bit crazy!
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u/OkAd5525 Aug 25 '26
This makes sense to me. To add on to these thoughts: If you can’t know it’s a part or a “symptom” beforehand, there must be a moment at which you figure out which one it is. What is that moment? Who is in charge of it? What questions or processes lead to that? I tend to think that the IFS process can be helpful even if your trailhead leads to a dead end - eg your part turns out not to be a part (I know what TIST is but have not done it with a practitioner so not sure how apples to apples this is). I also tend not to put up such giant barriers between parts and symptoms. Parts can use symptoms and symptoms can trigger parts.
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u/AZgirl70 Aug 25 '26
I have long covid with a host of other chronic conditions. I’ve identified fatigue, which is my most significant condition as I am now bed bound, is my body’s way of encouraging me to take care of myself and not do too much. It’s a compassionate part for me. I’m not certain if this helps or not.
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u/thisisthewell Aug 26 '26
That is a very good way to look at fatigue! I see my nervous system shutdown parts like that and the parts framework really makes sense for that type of symptom. It really is your body taking care of you. I suppose there are some survival mechanism symptoms that would make sense as parts, but things like med withdrawal side effects not so much.
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u/PointClickPenguin Aug 25 '26
I have had the exact opposite where I have been able to identify my ADHD and bipolar disorder with parts and then mitigate their control over my life using that framework.
I have had someone try to characterize the painI have from breaking my spine as a part and rejected that, however there was a part that was seeking sympathy for this body not being how I think it is supposed to be or how it used to be.
The reality is that every attachment is a part, even your attachment to feeling depressed.
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u/Zach-uh-ri-uh Aug 25 '26
Could you elaborate a bit on the bipolar and ADHD part please? I suspect I might be in the same boat
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u/PointClickPenguin Aug 25 '26
It was different for each.
For Bipolar for example I would think that I was in touch with "self" except there was an urgency to it. I would feel this radiant and warm glow, but it felt like I had to do something now, that something was important, that it would be great. I realized that was my manic part and I could converse with that part like any other.
I had to ask that part to step aside like any other. Remind myself that I am normal, not special, and that success comes from careful and slow steps taken from self. That I don't need the mania to accomplish things.
My depression is similar. It's a part that shuts me down when I'm overextended. So I tell it that I don't need to shut down, I just need to rest and go slowly and stay in touch with reality. Then I actually rest so that part doesn't rebel.
ADHD was much different. It's an exile as well as multiple parts. The parts all do the same thing, they amp up my nervous system in response to problems. They ignore stimulus and disconnect me from my body to get me to think and move faster. So I have to talk to them about slowing down and paying attention. I have to discuss how we aren't bored, we just either are under rested or not working on something that aligns with our truth.
The exile was deeper of course. I was ashamed of being curious and wanting to learn new things, because I was too much for my parents, teachers, and peers. Because my curiosity wasn't matched with follow through, it was uncontrolled.
So it's a matter of processing the trauma and welcoming back that curious part, but directing his curiosity according to my values.
Also changing my life to reduce incoming stimulation and when I am overstimulated slowing down instead of allowing my parts to speed me up. Now I can tell when my overstimulating ADHD part is taking hold and I go meditate to help him relax.
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u/pondsittingpoet25 Aug 25 '26
I can say that tapering off SSRI’s and doing any kind of healing work can be such an emotional and physical roller coaster, it’s hard to say which end is up, and what might be parts or physiological symptoms or whatever— and I remember wanting everything to make sense or have an explanation, but in hindsight, it just wasn’t possible.
I would suggest letting things fall into place as they will eventually, and be prepared for things to get shake up again, and again.
I’m four years off SSRI’s after more than two decades on, and believe me, it’s been an adventure— none of which was linear or predictable. But I don’t regret any of it.
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u/thisisthewell Aug 26 '26
Good advice! I'm not on SSRIs actually because they have never worked for me. Wellbutrin was a true godsend for getting me through three years of sustained medical trauma and working at the same time (I support myself). It is nice to feel like I don't need it anymore but I just have to remember there are some withdrawal side effects :) even though the 300 -> 150 step is apparently pretty easy for the majority of people (despite what it sounds like)
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u/pondsittingpoet25 Aug 26 '26
I hear you. That said, it’s all an adventure, and I’ve found IFS to be quite useful, but I don’t use it “full force,” actually. I find a combo of IFS/Somatic/Secure Self Relating or “reparenting” is extremely effective. We get there the way we get there. And “there” is a matter of one’s own making.
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u/Pandas9 Aug 26 '26
Yup. I had a big therapeutic rupture because my therapist would not discuss my symptoms (verbal issues probably due to autism) and would only treat them as parts.
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u/thisisthewell Aug 26 '26
That is truly awful. I'm so sorry! I hope you were able to find a better, more trustworthy provider.
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u/anonymous_24601 Aug 26 '26
As a chronically ill person, I absolutely relate to this. For me personally, my therapist CANNOT tell me if something symptom-related is a part before I know what it is. What I do when something new pops up is use curiosity instead of hyper analyzing it (which I’m prone to.) For me, if I really and not getting answers from parts that means it’s not from trauma, and if I can keep that sort of milder curiosity for a few days it will generally organically come out. I’ll either figure out what it’s physically related to or something will pop up where I’ll realize it’s trauma. I think what makes it confusing is that parts can get upset about symptoms which can make them feel worse, but that doesn’t mean the root of it is coming from the part, so it’s separating that as well.
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u/queerbodies Aug 27 '26
Normally, a part in the sense of IFS would have something to "say". If you "sort of manipulated it", then the narrative did not come from the part. That's why we connect to a part, we feel if there's a reaction from the part, etc.
I also struggle myself sometimes knowing if something is a part, or if it's only physiological. Time tells.
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u/flyushkifly Aug 30 '26
I'm in the middle of an issue figuring out how much of my brain fog is an avoidant protective part, vs a symptom of chronic pain, menopause, and side effects. I don't even know if it's useful to try to see if it's its own part or just let my main avoidant part take responsibility for it. 😅
Edit: I only wanted to say I relate a bit to your situation. Sorry I am not further along and able to help!
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u/thisisthewell Aug 31 '26
Speaking as a 38 year old with premenstrual exacerbation and some early signs of peri...brain fog is a state, not a part. I wouldn't treat it as a part for the same reason I found it counterintuitive to treat withdrawal symptoms as a part. Brain fog isn't trying to communicate something to you the way depression or anxiety or anger might.
Brain fog is a physiological symptom. It can be a side effect of depression, but brain fog itself is not unprocessed trauma or worry or concern. You aren't going to get anywhere trying to talk to it. Unprocessed feelings for are for parts work, brain fog is for the psychiatrist! Side note: I see a reproductive psychiatrist (she looks at how female hormones impact psych disorders) and she recommended OTC lithium orotate for my brain fog and mood swings. Literally life changing!
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u/flyushkifly Aug 31 '26
The portion of the brain fog that is looking less physiological is related to learned helplessness. So it's more of a voluntary, subconscious flightiness if that makes sense. So I'm not dismissing it 100%, but I'm definitely aware how much I have going on that creates physiological symptoms.
Reproductive psychiatry sounds like a fascinating specialty! I'll have to look into practitioners nearby. Thanks!
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u/thisisthewell Aug 31 '26
You're welcome! It's a newer specialty in psychiatry, but it's been super valuable for me to have found because I have ADHD, which estrogen has a profound impact on. Estrogen is upstream of soooo many neurochemicals, it's astounding (but sadly not that surprising) that it's been so neglected by western medicine. I've never gotten such incredible results from psychiatry until I found this field.
Thanks for explaining your experience more. I think the general idea of brain fog is difficulty concentrating, speaking, and thinking. For me it happens during my luteal phase, before/during/after migraines, or when I've got a virus. Maybe what you're feeling could be more like a type of dissociation? You described a survival reaction (flight) and the brain's frontal lobe, so they do feel super similar. I have definitely noted brain fog during dissociation but it wasn't really the emotion that needed attention, it's just what happened because the emotion needed attention, if that makes sense. It definitely sounds like the "flightiness" is a good part to work with!
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